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Viewing Fast Vortex Motion in a Superconductor

S. Nakamura et al. [1] Peering into the vortex. Top: Vortices form in a superconducting film (gray) in the presence of an external magnetic field provided by a coil. The field generates a shielding current in the film (pink). An infrared pulse transmitted through the superconducting film provides information about the vortices’...

KLM Partners With ZeroAvia For Liquid Hydrogen-Powered Demo Flight

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has agreed to perform a flight demonstration of ZeroAvia’s ZA2000 hydrogen-electric engines in 2026. “We’re going to do a groundbreaking demonstration flight between two airports using liquid hydrogen fuel,” KLM CityHopper MD Maarten Koopmans says at the Farnborough Airshow. “KLM wants to be a front-runner in this field, and taking...

BHEX Leverages Cryogenics to Capture Black Holes

Introduction to BHEX-The Black Hole Explorer (BHEX) is a mission that will discover and measure a black hole’s photon ring, capturing light that has orbited a black hole. BHEX will extend the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) into space, producing the sharpest images in the history of astronomy, whilst operating a...

Looking Backward and Forward

Since 2018 I have been writing this column on pioneers in cryogenics. So far, a total of 30 people have been profiled. With this column taking a slightly different direction in the future (more below), it’s worth asking if these pioneers had anything in common. Here are a few common...

Equigas’ Strategic Acquisition is a Catalyst for Innovation

Equigas, Inc., a North Carolina-based gas equipment distributor, has embarked on an exciting new chapter with its recent acquisition of Correct Cryogenics, a respected cryogenic service provider headquartered in the Southwest US. This strategic move is a pivotal moment for Equigas as it seeks to expand its service offerings and...

Fives Pioneers Renewable Energy Storage and Hydrogen Mobility

The Largest Renewable Energy Storage Project-Fives, a global industrial engineering group, has been selected by Zhonglv Zhongke Energy Storage Technology Co. to supply cryogenic equipment for the largest renewable energy storage project on an industrial scale. This project, located in Golmud, Qinghai province, China, is set to be operational by...

Latest in Defining Cryogenics

Regenerators

Regenerators or regenerative heat exchangers are a key component of cryocoolers such as pulse tube cryocoolers (Cold Facts, August 2014). Regenerator performance greatly affects the coefficient of performance of cryocoolers. Improvements in regenerator design and, in particular, regenerator materials have been an important factor in the improvement of the performance...

Pulse Tube Cryocoolers

The development of pulse tube cryocoolers has been a significant topic of research and development over the past 20 or so years. Pulse tube cryocoolers have a number of advantages over other types of cryocoolers and are now available commercially. In order to understand pulse tube cryocoolers, it’s best to...

Thermal Expansion

Thermal expansion refers to the change in size (length or volume) that a material undergoes as its temperature changes. In cryogenic systems this effect can be quite large and must be allowed for in the design. In isotropic materials, which include most engineering materials, the thermal expansion is the same...

Latest in Cryo Central

Air Separation and Liquefaction

by Nils Tellier, PE, President, EPSIM Corporation (CSA CSM) nils@epsim.us All illustrations courtesy EPSIM Corporation Background History of Air Separation and Liquefaction This section builds on a rich history of methods to develop deep refrigeration and cryogenic liquefaction during the 19th Century. You are encouraged to read Cryo Central’s History...

Bose-Einstein Condensate

A Bose-Einstein condensate, first proposed in 1925 by Albert Einstein based on work done by Satyendra Nath Bose (the same Bose from whom the term boson is derived), is a super-cold state of matter in which almost all of the individual atoms have “condensed” down to the lowest possible quantum...

Cold Technology for Pest Control

While it does not reach temperatures cold enough to be called cryogenic, carbon dioxide snow is at the heart of a new way of dealing with unwanted pests. It utilizes a quick freezing process that takes advantage of the properties of carbon dioxide snow and has a number of benefits...

Cryogenic Finishing

The following 3 articles discuss the uses and procedures of various type of cryogenic finishing. 1) By Robin A. Rhodes, Cryogenic Institute of New England, Inc. rrhodes@nitrofreeze.com Cryogenic Deflashing is employed to remove undesired residual mold flash that remains on molded parts after they are removed or ejected from the...

Latest in Ask the Experts

Power usage: cryogenic systems vs. regular refrigerators

A recent project highlighted to me that closed cycle cryogenic cooling systems use far more electrical power to reduce temperatures by a few watts than regular refrigerators. I am sure it must be something to do with the extra difficulty of removing the heat from the liquid nitrogen or similar...

Redundancy strategies for mechanical -80C freezers

I was wondering what kind of redundancy strategies are people using for their mechanical -80C freezers? I am aware of the following. Please add if you are doing something different. 1) 1 Backup freezer for every 10 freezers – Empty and maintained at -80C at all times 2) Backup C02...

Safety guidelines for handling cryo vessels of nitrogen

I am looking for any safety guidelines for handling cryogenic vessels of nitrogen indoors and outdoors. I am especially interested in recommendations for area monitors to detect leaks, flow detection devices, etc.

Method to move components in a cryogenic environment

Does anyone know of a method with which to reliably move components in a cryogenic environment? We are interested in moving detectors in a cryogenically cooled (2K) vacuum chamber, which is contained within a larger cryostat/isolation vacuum with thermal shields. As the desired horizontal or vertical displacement is between 10...

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