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SuperPower to build SFCL transformer for DOE Smart Grid demo

SuperPower Inc. recently announced that it will partner with Waukesha Electric Systems (Waukesha, Wisconsin) to build a superconducting fault current limiting (SCFL) transformer for the US Department of Energy's Smart Grid demonstration project.

CDMS results could be dark matter

From Fermilab Today, Special Edition, 12/17/09: In the analysis of new data, scientists from the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search experiment, managed by the Department of Energy's Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, have detected two events that have characteristics consistent with the particles that physicists believe make up dark matter.

LHC ends first period of operation

Wednesday, December 16 marked the end of the first period of operation for the Large Hadron Collider, during which new world records were set and the data-taking process began.

Budget cuts announced by UK’s STFC

The UK's Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) announced last week that it will withdraw from 25 leading international science projects over the next five years in an effort to make up for a £40 million shortfall in funding.

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Refrigerators and Liquefiers

Two of the most common terms used in cryogenics are “refrigerator” and “liquefier.” These terms describe similar and, as will be seen, in some cases identical components. A refrigerator provides cooling (that is, absorbs heat) at cryogenic temperatures. Refrigerators typically put a working fluid (such as helium) through one of...

Air Separation

Air separation is one of the largest, as well as earliest, industrial applications of cryogenics. In this process, cryogenic temperatures are used to separate air into its constituent gases: nitrogen (78.08%), oxygen (20.95%), argon (0.93%) and carbon dioxide (0.3%). Trace gases such as krypton, neon, xenon and helium total far...

Coefficient of Performance and Figure of Merit

The coefficient of performance (COP) is used to describe the effectiveness of refrigerators, including those operating at cryogenic temperatures. The COP is defined as the amount of heat removed at the cryogenic operating temperature of the refrigerator divided by the amount of work that must be applied to remove the...

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...

Designing a liquid oxygen bath

I’m designing a Liquid Oxygen Bath to place composite coupons in the bath and soak 96 samples for intervals of 8 hours, 24 hours, 7 days, 21 days, 42 days, 62 days and 90 days.

Metallic Salts Normally Used to Produce Ultra-Low Temperatures?

Regarding the method known as the Adiabatic Demagnetization of Paramagnetic Salts: What metallic salts are normally used to produce the ultra-low temperatures used for near-absolute-zero cryogenic research? Which salts are the most efficient? Which make the best cooling agents? And which are used most commonly by physicists? I am looking...