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First Hydrogen-Powered Bus Deployed in France

A hydrogen-powered passenger bus has been deployed in France for the first time, a step toward the country’s goal of a 100% clean-fueled bus fleet. With a range of 300km, the bus will run between the towns of Versailles and Jouy-en-Josas in the Yvelines region, and refuel its hydrogen tank...

Quest Thermal Group MLI Enters Space

Quest Thermal Group’s integrated multilayer insulation (IMLI) is currently being used in space on the ISS with NASA's RRM3 flight experiment and on the NASA/Ball Aerospace GPIM spacecraft. The group is also currently designing IMLI for use on the Lucy spacecraft—scheduled to go to Jupiter's asteroids—and is expected to have...

Neutrino Energy to Power IoT Devices

In 2015, it was discovered that neutrinos have mass, so in theory, they can impact matter and give up some of their kinetic energy. Neutrino Energy Group is developing neutrino-based power generators by designing materials that can convert the kinetic energy of a neutrino into electricity. Such devices could be...

A Universal Symbol for Cryogenic Hazards

CSA was recently asked about a universal symbol to denote cryogenic hazards. Our contacts at NIST have helped answer those inquiries. While OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) does not provide a symbol, a cryogen “shipped” container would be labeled with the Gas Cylinder pictogram and a description of the...

Innovative Accelerator Achieves Full Energy Recovery

An innovative particle accelerator designed and built by scientists from the US Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory and Cornell University has achieved a significant milestone that could greatly enhance the efficiency of future particle accelerators. After sending a particle beam for one pass through the accelerator, machine components recovered...

Hydrogen-Powered Bicycles Offer New Electromobility Concept

Pragma Industries has received an order for 1,000 bicycles from Chilean president Sebastian Pinera after 200 hydrogen bicycles were made available to journalists and world leaders at the recent G7 summit in Biarritz. The company’s founder, Pierre Forté, envisions that the bicycles will have an environmental impact in developing countries.

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Refrigerators and Liquefiers

Two of the most common terms used in cryogenics are “refrigerator” and “liquefier.” These terms describe similar and, as will be seen, in some cases identical components. A refrigerator provides cooling (that is, absorbs heat) at cryogenic temperatures. Refrigerators typically put a working fluid (such as helium) through one of...

Air Separation

Air separation is one of the largest, as well as earliest, industrial applications of cryogenics. In this process, cryogenic temperatures are used to separate air into its constituent gases: nitrogen (78.08%), oxygen (20.95%), argon (0.93%) and carbon dioxide (0.3%). Trace gases such as krypton, neon, xenon and helium total far...

Coefficient of Performance and Figure of Merit

The coefficient of performance (COP) is used to describe the effectiveness of refrigerators, including those operating at cryogenic temperatures. The COP is defined as the amount of heat removed at the cryogenic operating temperature of the refrigerator divided by the amount of work that must be applied to remove the...

Wind Tunnels

Dr. Robert Kilgore The development of the cryogenic wind tunnel is one of many significant breakthroughs in both cryogenics and wind-tunnel technology made during the past millennium. Interest in the development of high-speed commercial and military aircraft resulted in a review of problems of flow simulation in transonic wind tunnels...

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...

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...