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Liquid Helium Ballast Refrigeration

The Need for Vibration-Free Cryogenics The measurement of local gravitational fields requires continuous, high precision and extremely stable measurements. In 1968, the development of the superconducting gravity meter (SG)[1] vastly improved the state of the art. In contrast to mechanical quartz or metal springs, SGs use a superconducting sphere levitated in...

Qubit Measurement Systems Right Out of the Box?

Necessity of mK-Cryogenics-During the past years, advances in both lithography and millikelvin cryogenics have supported and enabled vast improvement in the sophistication of experimental research on electrical circuits that display uniquely quantum mechanical behavior. It comes as no surprise that dilution refrigerator measurement systems have moved beyond basic physics research...

The Development of an AMRR for Sub-Kelvin Cooling of Space Science Instrumentation – ICC21 Best Student Paper Award Recipient

Introduction-Cryogenic detectors have higher sensitivity and better energy resolution than alternative sensors, making them an attractive option for space exploration and essential for observing low energy photons in the near- or far-IR, X-ray and submillimeter ranges.[1] Since NASA’s first cryogenic missions in the early 1980s, increasingly complex space detectors have...

Back to the Future: Combining Hydrogen Hybrid Technology and Enhancing Solar & Wind

The first time I saw the first prototype of the Dylan Energy system, I thought of old Doc Brown and Back to the Future. Remember them? Doc invented something called the ‘Flux Capacitor.ʼ With the Dylan Energy system and our partners, we are capable of consuming 400 tons daily of municipal...

The Next Generation in Cryogenics and Superconductivity

CSA’s annual Young Professionals introduces outstanding engineers, scientists, and technicians (under 40) who are making fascinating contributions to the cryogenics and superconductivity industries. Debuted in the summer of 2006, this spotlight shines on future leaders who show the promise of making a difference in their fields. We are proud to...

New Green Storage System Offers Renewable Energy On-Demand

Back to the Future movie fans may remember the term “flux capacitor” as a fictional device that allows for time travel. That device still doesn’t exist, but a University of Central Florida storage technology does use a different type of flux capacitor developed by NASA. While trying to find a way...

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

Cryogenic Treatment of Materials

F.J. Diekman Controlled Thermal Processing, Inc. info@metal-wear.com Cryogenic Processing (also called cryogenic treatment, and incorrectly “cryogenic tempering”) is a process that uses cryogenic temperatures to modify materials to enhance their performance. Cryogenic Processing involves the slow reduction in temperature of the material to at least -300°F (-185°C) and holding the...

Cryogenics in Space

Peter Kittel University of California-Berkeley pkittel@cal.berkeley.edu Space Cryogenics is the application of cryogenics to space missions. These applications fall into two broad areas, supporting space science missions and supporting the space transportation infrastructure. Science applications: The atmosphere is opaque to much of the electro-magnetic spectrum. In space, the absence of...

Cryosurgery

Review of Cryosurgery Boris Rubinsky, PhD Hebrew University School of Science and Engineering Research Center for Biomedical Engineering 78b Ross Building Givat Ram, Jerusalem 91904 Israel rubinsky@cs.huji.ac.il as published in Annual Review of Biomedical Engineering, August 2000, Vol. 2, pp. 157-187. Abstract: Cryosurgery is a surgical technique that employs freezing...

Liquefied Natural Gas

Liquefied Natural Gas as it relates to the Field of Cryogenics John W. Bonn VJ Systems, LLC johnbonn@vjsystems-lic.com Today the world is looking for a cleaner fuel and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) plays a large part in achieving this goal. LNG in a liquid form is at -162°C (-259°F) 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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