Cold Facts Digital – The go-to place for Cryogenics and Superconductivity

Novel Cryogenic Nanopositioning Technique Progresses into the Quantum Sensing Decade

Quantum Sensing: Necessity for low temperature and low vibrations-Most quantum states are only visible and controllable when the thermal energy KBT is comparable or smaller than the energy difference ΔE between the quantum states. Therefore, to see the quantum properties of materials or devices, they often need to be cooled...

NASA’s Quantum Detector Achieves World- Leading Milestone

A new JPL- and Caltech-developed detector could transform how quantum computers located thousands of miles apart exchange huge quantities of quantum data. Quantum computers hold the promise of operating millions of times faster than conventional computers. But to communicate over long distances, quantum computers will need a dedicated quantum communications...

2023 Women in Cryogenics and Superconductivity

The Cryogenic Society of America and Cold Facts celebrates distinguished women who embody the expertise and drive that is putting cryogenics and superconductivity at the forefront of energy, aerospace, quantum, and myriad other fields of industry. Congratulations! Cynthia Annema Maria Barba Ashley Blasiole Dr. Melissa Gooch Ioana Craiciu Tisha Dixit Roza Doubnik...

Cryogenic Treatment Applications Find Potential in the Energy Sector

Energy Sector and Metallic MaterialsSimultaneously improving known materials and exploring new alternative material options for applications in demanding environments for the energy sector (offshore wind power, solar power, biomass power, fission and fusion, geothermal power, hydroelectric power) is one of the leading engineering research endeavors today[1]. A unique combination of...

Inside ORNL’s Second Target Station’s Cryogenic Moderator Design

The Second Target Station (STS) is the future of forefront neutron scattering science at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which started with the first neutron scattering measurements in the 1940s at the X-10 Graphite Reactor and continues today at the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) and Spallation Neutron Source (SNS). STS...

Scientists Elucidate Heat Flows in Liquid Hydrogen Tanks

Hydrogen has been touted as the fuel of the future, but challenges remain in improving the storage efficiency of liquefied hydrogen fuel for large scale commercial transport and storage. Researchers from South Korea have conducted experiments and simulations to investigate the heat flows and phase changes within a cryogenic fuel...

Latest in Defining Cryogenics

Two-Phase Flows

Two-phase flows are those flows in which there is a mixture of two physical states (solid, liquid or vapor). In cryogenic applications, such flows are almost always a mixture of a cryogenic liquid along with its corresponding vapor. A mixture of liquid helium and helium vapor would be a typical...

Supercritical Fluids

A supercritical fluid is defined as a substance whose temperature and pressure exceed those of its critical point. Every pure substance has a critical point that is defined in thermodynamic space by a critical temperature and a corresponding critical pressure. For example, the critical point for helium has a critical...

Brayton Cycle

The Brayton cycle is one of the many thermodynamic cycles used to generate cooling at cryogenic temperatures. Strictly speaking, when referring to cooling we should call this the reverse Brayton cycle as the original Brayton cycle describes the process of power generation or propulsion via a gas turbine. In many...

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

Seeking recommendations for commercial sensors

I would like to measure vibrations in small LHe cryostats. Could anybody recommend commercial sensors which would be suitable for the purpose? I am interested in the frequency range between 1Hz and a couple of KHz, with particular attention to the low frequency side.

Estimating cost of carbon steel, pure helium storage tanks

In order to perform an indicative cost assessment of our helium cryogenic plant (still in the design phase), I need an estimation of the cost of carbon steel room temperature pure helium storage tanks. The storage pressure is 20 bar. Can anyone give me suggestions about how to estimate the...

Supplier of pressure sensor that works down to 4.2 K

In an actual experiment we would like to measure the static pressure in a cryostat in the range between one and four bar. Therefore we are looking for some (more or less) cheap pressure sensors that work in liquid helium in the pressure range up to five bar. Unfortunately all...

Looking for reference/textbook suggestions

Can you suggest some reference textbooks for practical thermodynamics applications in cryogenic fields? I need textbooks with cryogenics calculations and examples, dimensioning procedures, second principle applications in cryogenics, heat load calculations, cryogenic pump application, etc. Do such books exist? Does any similar source of information exist?

CATEGORIES