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

New ‘Refrigerator’ Supercools Molecules to Nanokelvin Temperatures

MIT physicists have found a way to cool molecules of sodium lithium down to 200 billionths of a Kelvin, just a hair above absolute zero. They did so by applying a technique called collisional cooling, in which they immersed molecules of cold sodium lithium in a cloud of even colder...

How Industrial Gas Firms Are Meeting Medical Oxygen Demand for COVID-19 Patients

Gas companies worldwide have ramped up delivery of gas cylinders and are installing new on-site liquid oxygen tanks and supply systems in hospitals as demand surges for medical oxygen to treat patients with COVID-19. The European Industrial Gases Association says members such as Air Liquide (CSA CSM) and Linde (CSA...

Wagyu Calf Born after Conception with Freeze-dried Semen in Japan

On April 17, Japan's Miyagi Prefecture announced a Japanese black wagyu calf, conceived with freeze-dried semen, had been born--a breakthrough expected to lead the way to stably storing genetic resources of the premium beef.

Hot Qubits Made in Sydney Break One of the Biggest Constraints to Practical Quantum Computers

A group of researchers led by Professor Andrew Dzurak at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, has developed a proof-of-concept quantum processor unit cell on a silicon chip that works at 1.5 Kelvin—15 times warmer than the main competing chip-based technology using superconducting qubits being developed by Google, IBM...

Tempshield Publishes “How to Care for Cryogenic Gloves and PPE in Age of Infection”

Whether mitigating the risk of COVID-19, Norovirus or the common flu, it’s vital that researchers and other front-line workers can avoid infection while doing their jobs. As such, proper care and cleaning of cryogenic gloves, cryogenic protection, face shields and other personal protective equipment (PPE) cannot be overlooked. Tempshield (CSA...

FDA Clears ‘World’s First’ Portable, Low Cost MRI following Positive Clinical Research

The US Food and Drug Administration has provided clearance to the “world’s first” bedside MRI system. Connecticut-based Hyperfine said it will begin shipping its portable, low field modalities this summer. The machine’s 510(k) FDA clearance was granted as Yale researchers reported accurate and safe results from tests involving brain readings...

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

Magnets

From “Superconductivity: Present and Future Applications” by the Coalition for the Commercial Application of Superconductors. Particle physics uses accelerators to recreate the conditions of the early universe in an attempt to piece together the complex puzzle of how we got to where we are today. These huge machines are used...

Energy Storage

From “Superconductivity: Present and Future Applications” by the Coalition for the Commercial Application of Superconductors. With power lines increasingly congested and prone to instability, strategic injection of brief bursts of real power can play a crucial role in maintaining grid reliability. Small-scale Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage (SMES) systems, based on...

Astronomy

ASTRONOMY IN SPACE by Peter V. Mason, retired, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Visiting Associate, California Institute of Technology. Pmason@alumni.caltech.edu In thinking about the reasons to perform astronomy in space, we first consider the effect of the earth’s atmosphere. On a scale of decreasing energy, gamma rays, cosmic rays, X-rays and...

Cryocoolers

What is a Cryocooler? A mechanism that can extract heat from an object (cooler) and by doing so draw its temperature down below approximately 150 Kelvin (cryo). — (Courtesy Dr. Willy Gully) What is the difference between a Cryocooler and a Cryostat? A cryostat is any device designed to maintain...

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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