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Laurentis Energy Partners Launches Helium-3 Production

Laurentis Energy Partners, in the fall of 2021, launched its program to produce Helium-3 (He-3), a rare and valuable isotope used in quantum computing, neutron research, border security and medical imaging. Laurentis will obtain the He-3 from tritium stored at the Darlington Nuclear Generating Station, about 100 kilometers east of...

Three Argonne Scientists Elected American Physical Society Fellows

The American Physical Society (APS) Fellowship is an honor signifying recognition by one’s professional peers, awarded each year to less than one-half of 1% of APS members. Each nominee is evaluated by the fellowship committee of the appropriate APS division, topical group or forum. After review by the APS fellowship...

‘Space: Science & Technology’ Explores Fission Energy Use in Space Exploration

Nuclear or fission energy has revolutionized the supply of energy worldwide in the past few decades and will likely transform outer space explorations. Radioactive power, a commonly applied energy source in space missions, has production and cost limits, with the power range falling within 1 kW. On the contrary, fission...

Scientists Achieve the Coldest Temperature Ever Recorded

The absolute coldest a substance can ever achieve then is when all molecular motion is stopped. This occurs at -459.67 °F / -273.15 °C, also known as absolute zero, or 0 degrees on the Kelvin scale. It was this limit that scientists at the University of Bremen, Germany, approached when...

Ten Things You Might Not Know about Antimatter

Antimatter is the stuff of science fiction. In the book and film Angels and Demons, Professor Langdon tries to save Vatican City from an antimatter bomb. Star Trek’s starship Enterprise uses matter-antimatter annihilation propulsion for faster-than-light travel. But antimatter is also the stuff of reality. Antimatter particles are almost identical...

CERN to Provide Two DUNE Cryostats

The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) in the US is set to replicate that marvel of model-making, the ship-in-a-bottle, on an impressive scale. More than 3000 tonnes of steel and other components for DUNE’s four giant detector modules, or cryostats, must be lowered 1.5 km through narrow shafts beneath the...

Latest in Defining Cryogenics

Dewar

A dewar is a type of cryostat named after Sir James Dewar, the researcher who first developed the concept of a vacuum insulated container with silvered walls to reflect thermal radiation. Dewar was the first to liquefy hydrogen, and he created the device to store his discovery. The thermos bottle...

Stirling and Gifford-McMahon Cryocoolers

Stirling and Gifford-McMahon (GM) cryocoolers are two of the most commonly used cryocoolers in cryogenics. Both devices have a significant industrial base and operate at a wide range of temperatures and capacities. The thermodynamic cycles for both of these cryocoolers are quite similar. The Stirling cycle consists of a compressor,...

Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)

A significant commercial application of cryogenics is the liquefaction, transport and storage of natural gas. Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) is generally 95 percent methane with a few percent ethane and much lower concentrations of propane and butane. LNG liquefies at 111.6 K. Unlike many applications of cryogenics, the motivation for...

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

Specs and info on turbo expanders

I am a fourth year chemical engineering student doing a design project for the liquefaction of natural gas to DME and we are using a turbo expansion unit. I was wondering whether you would send me some specs and any additional information on turbo expanders that I could use as...

Colleges that offer cryogenic studies

Would you happen to know of any colleges in the US that offer cryogenics as a major? If not, should I major in something like biology or physics before, then branch off to the field of cryogenics? Any information that you could give me would be greatly appreciated, considering this...

Sudden loss of vacuum in LHe storage dewar

I’m trying to find data on what happens when a 100 Liter LHe storage dewar experiences a catastrophic failure such as a sudden loss of vacuum. If anyone has any info on this subject, it would be very helpful.

Data on hardness of Indium?

Where can I find experimental data on the hardness of Indium, as a function of temperature, as well as any existing data on the thermal contact conductance of junctions containing Indium foil, also as a function of temperature?

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