Cold Facts Digital – Page 63 – The go-to place for Cryogenics and Superconductivity

Relativity Space Raises $650M to Scale Terran R Production

Relativity Space, the first company to 3D print an entire rocket and build the largest metal 3D printers in the world, announced it closed a $650 million Series E equity funding round. The round was led by Fidelity Management & Research Company LLC with participation from investors including Baillie Gifford,...

North American Helium Provides Corporate, Operational Update

North American Helium Inc. provides a corporate and operational update on recent substantial achievements by the company in Battle Creek. Commenting on today’s announcement, Mr. Nicholas Snyder, chairman and chief executive officer stated, “Bringing a facility like this online ahead of schedule and under budget despite numerous challenges from the...

Inside Microsoft’s Quantum Labs in Sydney

As their nuclear warheads decay, the US military captures the helium-3 and supplies it to physicists like Professor David Reilly who, with his team comprising some of the sharpest minds in the world, uses it to cool down the dilution fridges that help chip away at what could be the...

ESA’s Technology Image of the Week: Jupiter Antenna That Came in From the Cold

The Sub-millimeter Wave Instrument of ESA’s Juice mission will survey the churning atmosphere of Jupiter and the scanty atmospheres of its Galilean moons. Testing took place in ESA’s custom-built Low-temperature Near-field Terahertz chamber, or Lorentz. The first chamber of its kind, the 2.8-m diameter Lorentz chamber can perform high-frequency radio-frequency...

Developments Towards Memristor-based Cryogenic Control Electronics for Solid-state Quantum Systems Enable Future Quantum Devices

A quantum device can be defined as a device whose functionality or principle of operation depends essentially on quantum mechanical effects and are inescapable nowadays, primarily to satiate the ever-increasing appetite for slimmer gadgets. As such, the ever-increasing improvement of nanofabrication processes has led to promising demonstration of high quality...

No Visitors but Teeming with Life: What’s Going on Inside the Natural History Museum?

The main exhibition room at the Natural History Museum in London is filled with specimens collected by explorers, teaching us about the evolution of life on our planet. In the bowels of the museum—empty due to Covid-19—scientists are working to protect the planet for the future, as well as preserving...

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

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...

Latest in Ask the Experts

Power usage: cryogenic systems vs. regular refrigerators

A recent project highlighted to me that closed cycle cryogenic cooling systems use far more electrical power to reduce temperatures by a few watts than regular refrigerators. I am sure it must be something to do with the extra difficulty of removing the heat from the liquid nitrogen or similar...

Redundancy strategies for mechanical -80C freezers

I was wondering what kind of redundancy strategies are people using for their mechanical -80C freezers? I am aware of the following. Please add if you are doing something different. 1) 1 Backup freezer for every 10 freezers – Empty and maintained at -80C at all times 2) Backup C02...

Safety guidelines for handling cryo vessels of nitrogen

I am looking for any safety guidelines for handling cryogenic vessels of nitrogen indoors and outdoors. I am especially interested in recommendations for area monitors to detect leaks, flow detection devices, etc.

Method to move components in a cryogenic environment

Does anyone know of a method with which to reliably move components in a cryogenic environment? We are interested in moving detectors in a cryogenically cooled (2K) vacuum chamber, which is contained within a larger cryostat/isolation vacuum with thermal shields. As the desired horizontal or vertical displacement is between 10...

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