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Fermilab’s Alex Romanenko unlocks hidden secrets for improving SRF cavities

Fermilab’s Alex Romanenko recently unlocked secrets hidden beneath the mirror-smooth surface of niobium superconducting radiofrequency (SRF) cavities that may hold the key to the success of future linear colliders. Romanenko’s discovery, which was carried out as part of his doctoral thesis at Cornell University, has earned him “The Particle Accelerator...

UCLA Engineering establishes Endowed Chair in Cryogenics

UCLA Engineering has established the Traugott and Dorothea Frederking Endowed Chair in Cryogenics. The chair will support junior faculty for terms up to five years as they build their careers in areas related to cryogenics.

Lake Shore Cryotronics CEO appointed to PECSEA

Michael Swartz, CEO of Lake Shore Cryotronics, Inc., was appointed to the President's Export Council Subcommittee on Export Administration (PECSEA) by US Commerce Secretary Gary Locke earlier this month.

Roby named president of Praxair Asia

Anne Roby has been named president of Praxair Asia, where she will be responsible for industrial gases business in China, India, South Korea and Thailand.

Ability Engineering receives National Board “R” Certificate of Authorization

Ability Engineering Technology, Inc. has received the National Board "R" Certificate of Authorization.

Fire breaks out in Soudan mine

Fermilab Today reported on March 21 that a mine shaft fire that began in the Soudan Underground Mine last Thursday now appears to be out, though officials are unsure whether detectors for the MINOS experiment and the Cryogenic Dark Matter Experiment were damaged.

Latest in Defining Cryogenics

Mixed Refrigerant Cycles

Most cryogenic refrigeration systems, both large scale systems and cryocoolers, use helium as a working fluid. There are a number of advantages to helium, not the least of which is that helium remains a fluid down to the lowest achievable temperatures. In order to freeze helium, pressures of over 20...

Fountain Pumps and He II Phase Separators

Helium II (He II), the second liquid phase of the 4He isotope described in this column in Cold Facts Spring 2010 (http://2csa.us/he2), can be modeled as consisting of two interpenetrating fluids. One, the superfluid component, has zero viscosity and entropy and the other, the normal fluid component, has nonzero viscosity...

Turboexpanders

A vital technology in the refrigerators and liquefiers described in Cold Facts Volume 31 Number 3 is that of turboexpanders. These devices are rotating machines in which the process fluid (e.g., helium) does work against the turboexpander while moving from high pressure to a lower pressure and thus is cooled....

Latest in Cryo Central

Magnets

From “Superconductivity: Present and Future Applications” by the Coalition for the Commercial Application of Superconductors. Particle physics uses accelerators to recreate the conditions of the early universe in an attempt to piece together the complex puzzle of how we got to where we are today. These huge machines are used...

Energy Storage

From “Superconductivity: Present and Future Applications” by the Coalition for the Commercial Application of Superconductors. With power lines increasingly congested and prone to instability, strategic injection of brief bursts of real power can play a crucial role in maintaining grid reliability. Small-scale Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage (SMES) systems, based on...

Astronomy

ASTRONOMY IN SPACE by Peter V. Mason, retired, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Visiting Associate, California Institute of Technology. Pmason@alumni.caltech.edu In thinking about the reasons to perform astronomy in space, we first consider the effect of the earth’s atmosphere. On a scale of decreasing energy, gamma rays, cosmic rays, X-rays and...

Cryocoolers

What is a Cryocooler? A mechanism that can extract heat from an object (cooler) and by doing so draw its temperature down below approximately 150 Kelvin (cryo). — (Courtesy Dr. Willy Gully) What is the difference between a Cryocooler and a Cryostat? A cryostat is any device designed to maintain...

Latest in Ask the Experts

An Issue of Pressure and Flow Rate in a Supply Tank

Please help solve this problem: A supply tank requires a vaporizer to generate sufficient pressure to pump stored fluid up into a vehicle or tank. The available head is limited as the tank level falls and it is important to minimize the system pressure drop to maintain the desired flow...

Using MLI on VJ Line Joints or Cryo Storage Tanks

When installing Multi Layer Insulation (MLI) blankets on VJ line joints or cryo storage tanks should they be wrapped and tied down tight or loose? These are usually pre-cut to size. Also should they have an access hole at the point of where the molecular sieve is installed to help...

Separated layers of ice over a pipe

I want to know that why there are different layers of ice over a pipe carrying a cryogenic fluid, each layer separated with clear marks / lines? What do these layers signify?

Using nitrogen as a cryogen

Is it possible to achieve -200˚C using nitrogen as a cryogen?

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