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Cryo Legacy: Angela Krenn’s Reflections on Cryogenics and Space, a Trailblazer Revisited

In our annual “Women in Cryogenics and Superconductivity” feature, Cold Facts explores the profound contributions of outstanding women in the field. Drawing on its popularity, we wanted to have a candid conversation, reconnecting with a trailblazing woman in cryogenics, previously spotlighted as one of our “Women in Cryogenics.” In this...

Danaher Delivers Sub-Kelvin Pony Cryostat to Argonne

Scientists should spend their efforts on research, not on infrastructure! Scientists often need a reliable source of sub-kelvin cooling. Historically, because no reliable provider of such systems existed, many scientists were resigned to build their own. No longer. Identifying this unmet need in the science community, Danaher Cryo stepped up to...

ITER’s Magnets Conquer the 4 K Cryostat Challenge

Embarking on the frontiers of innovation, ITER, the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, heralds a new era with its superconducting magnets—a groundbreaking technological marvel designed to operate at an astonishingly low temperature of 4 K (-269 °C), just above absolute zero. ITER’s primary purpose is to explore and demonstrate the potential...

Oxford Cryosystems’ Evolution From Lab to Global Innovation Hub

In the 1980s, John Cosier and Professor Mike Glazier from Oxford University pioneered the creation of an open-flow cooler, initially designed for exclusive use in Oxford University’s Clarendon Laboratory. Its remarkable efficiency quickly gained recognition within the crystallographic community, leading researchers worldwide to seek similar systems. Responding to this demand,...

RIX Liquid Oxygen Generation Plant Supports US Navy’s Newest Aircraft Carriers

Aircraft carriers use highly concentrated gaseous and liquid oxygen for aviation and medical applications. These legacy systems consume large amounts of valuable ship space and require constant attention and adjustment to meet purity and production rates. With the development of USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) – the “first-in-class” nuclear-powered aircraft...

New Glenn Completes Initial Cryogenic Testing at Launch Complex 36

Blue Origin continues to take big steps forward with its New Glenn orbital rocket as hardware rolls out to the launch pad, cryogenic testing begins, and the BE-4 engine gains a new test stand. The company still aims to launch New Glenn at least once in 2024. Over the past month,...

Latest in Defining Cryogenics

Adiabatic Demagnetization Refrigeration

Reaching temperatures below 1K requires different techniques than the various helium gas cycles found in large scale refrigeration plants and small cryocoolers. One of these techniques is Adiabatic Demagnetization Refrigeration (ADR). This technique takes advantage of the fact that the entropy of paramagnetic materials in a magnetic field is lower than...

Cryogen-Free

A cryogen is any fluid that operates at cryogenic temperatures (below roughly 150K – 120K). Using this definition, helium gas at 40K is a cryogen. Another more restrictive definition is to use cryogen to refer specifically to liquids at cryogenic temperatures. This is generally how it is used in the...

Cryostats and Cryocoolers

A cryostat is any device designed to maintain things (including fluids) at cryogenic temperatures. In general usage, cryostats tend to be passive devices rather than providing active cooling. In this usage, cryostats keep things cold by thermally isolating them from room temperature. This generally is accomplished by a combination of...

Latest in Cryo Central

Cryogenic Electronics

Randall Kirschman, consulting physicist, Mountain View, California ExtElect@gmail.com Cryogenic electronics—the operation of electronic devices, circuits, and systems at cryogenic temperatures—has been a valuable technology for decades. Cryogenic electronics (also referred to as low-temperature electronics, or cold electronics) can be based on semiconductive devices, on superconductive devices, or on a combination...

Particle Physics: High Energy Physics

Cryogenics and High-Energy Physics 1. From symmetry magazine: http://www.symmetrymagazine.org/cms/?pid=1000627: Cryogenics is the study of how materials behave at temperatures near absolute zero. In high-energy particle accelerators, such frigid temperatures reduce the electrical resistance of wires in superconducting magnets, increasing the magnet strength and allowing faster particle acceleration. The same holds...

HTS Degaussing Systems

From the Spring 2009 issue of Cold Facts (Volume 25, Number 2): Thanks to a joint project by the US Navy and a number of industry partners, high temperature superconducting (HTS) technology is now at the heart of an advanced degaussing system aboard the USS Higgins at the naval station...

Magnetic Resonance Imaging

From http://www.superconductors.org: An area where superconductors can perform a life-saving function is in the field of biomagnetism. Doctors need a non-invasive means of determining what’s going on inside the human body. By impinging a strong superconductor-derived magnetic field into the body, hydrogen atoms that exist in the body’s water and...

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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