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Booster 19 Rolls out to Masseys for Cryogenic Proof Testing

written by Ryan Weber  Following Booster 18’s failure during a pressure test, SpaceX went ahead and set a new record for stacking a booster in the Starship Program, to try and get Block 3 and the program at large back on track. And this weekend, crews rolled Booster 19 out to...

Provaris Delivers on First Phase LCO2 Tank Engineering and Design

By Dominic Ellison  Australian hydrogen and carbon dioxide storage and transport firm Provaris Energy has completed the phase-one delivery of an LCO2 tank front end engineering and design (FEED) program. The programme included detailed engineering and material and weld testing of a 25,000 cbm LCO2 low-pressure tank and class approval with...

New Partnership with Druck set for Major Breakthrough in Hydrogen-Powered Aircraft

The University of Bath has entered a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) with Druck, a Crane Company business, to develop the world’s first flight-certified cryogenic hydrogen pressure sensor, helping pave the way for net-zero aviation. Hydrogen is one of the most promising solutions to decarbonising air travel, with aviation currently accounting...

In Memoriam: Dr. Ray Radebaugh

It is with deep sadness that we share the passing of Ray Radebaugh. Ray was a pioneer, mentor, and friend whose influence on cryogenics spanned more than five decades and touched nearly every corner of our field. Ray’s passion for engineering began early. Growing up in Mishawaka, Indiana, he learned...

New Cryogenic Vacuum Chamber Cuts Noise for Quantum Ion Trapping

by John Toon, Georgia Institute of Technology Even very slight environmental noise, such as microscopic vibrations or magnetic field fluctuations a hundred times smaller than Earth’s magnetic field, can be catastrophic for quantum computing experiments with trapped ions. To address that challenge, researchers at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI)...

Remembering Bruce P. Strauss, a Steward of the Superconductivity Community

The superconductivity community has lost one of its most devoted stewards with the passing of Bruce P. Strauss, whose career spanned more than five decades and whose influence reached far beyond his own technical work. Bruce was not only a contributor to applied superconductivity; he was a builder of the...

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Cold Compressors

A common way to provide cooling below the normal boiling point of helium (4.2K) is to reduce the pressure above the bath of liquid helium, thus also reducing the bath’s equilibrium saturation temperature. For example, to produce a 1.8K bath of liquid helium, the saturation pressure has to be reduced...

Kapitza Conductance

Kapitza conductance refers to the heat transfer between a solid surface and a fluid that covers that surface. Fundamentally, it describes the inherent difficulty in transferring energy from a solid to the fluid covering the solid surface. This phenomenon was first observed by P. L. Kapitza in 1941 while studying...

Thermosyphons

A thermosyphon (or thermosiphon) is a device that transfers heat via natural convection in a fluid. The natural convection is driven by gravity with the colder, denser fluid flowing downhill and the warmer, less dense fluid flowing back up. Thus, thermosyphons connect an object to be cooled with a reservoir...

History of Cryogenics

From the Fall 1999 issue of Cold Facts magazine Millennium Breakthroughs A variety of CSA members give different perspectives on the past millennium: What were the most significant breakthroughs in cryogenics during the past millennium? Prof. R.G. Scurlock, Kryos Technology, scurlock@soton.ac.uk (“Breakthrough” = way through obstacles — Oxford English Dictionary)...

Cryobiology

Andreas Sputtek Past President Society for Cryobiology sputtek@uke.uni-hamburg.de or http://www.sputtek.de/. The word cryobiology (from the Greek words “cryo” = cold, “bios” = life, and “logos” = science) literally signifies the science of life at low temperatures. In practice, this field comprises the study of any biological material or system (e.g.,...

Cryogenic Insulation

James E. Fesmire Cryogenics Test Laboratory NASA Kennedy Space Center james.e.fesmire@nasa.gov Introduction In today’s world, the use of cryogenics and low-temperature refrigeration is taking a more and more significant role. From the food industry, transportation, energy, and medical applications to the Space Shuttle, cryogenic liquids must be stored, handled, and...

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...

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...