3D Printing, Cryogenics Create Super Soft Structures That Replicate Brain and Lungs
Imperial College London researchers have developed a new method for creating 3D structures using cryogenics and 3D printing techniques.
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The Kilo Is Dead. Long Live the Kilo!
An old artifact kept in a vault outside Paris is no longer the standard for the kilogram. Now, nature itself provides the definition.
Dark Energy Instrument’s Lenses See the Night Sky for the First Time
On April 1, the dome of the Mayall Telescope in Tucson AZ opened to the night sky, and starlight poured through the assembly of six large lenses that were carefully packaged and aligned for a new instrument that will launch later this year.
Advanced Superconducting Motor Experimental Demonstrator Addresses Environmental Concerns
Demaco Holland BV (CSA CSM) is lending its cryogenic expertise to the development of a rotor cryostat for the Advanced Supeconducting Motor Experimental Demonstrator, which will develop, build and test the first fully superconductive motor for aerospace applications.
Women in Cryogenics and Superconductivity 2019
CSA celebrates women in cryogenics and superconductivity. In this feature, six women in positions across the industry discuss current projects, how they entered the field and their thoughts on attracting more women to the profession.
NIST Explains the New Kelvin Definition
The definition of the kelvin (K)—the temperature unit of the International System of Units (SI), has been given a radically new definition. This redefinition was the result of 60 nations’ unanimous vote to revise the SI in November 2018.
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Regenerators
Regenerators or regenerative heat exchangers are a key component of cryocoolers such as pulse tube cryocoolers (Cold Facts, August 2014). Regenerator performance greatly affects the coefficient of performance of cryocoolers. Improvements in regenerator design and, in particular, regenerator materials have been an important factor in the improvement of the performance...
Pulse Tube Cryocoolers
The development of pulse tube cryocoolers has been a significant topic of research and development over the past 20 or so years. Pulse tube cryocoolers have a number of advantages over other types of cryocoolers and are now available commercially. In order to understand pulse tube cryocoolers, it’s best to...
Thermal Expansion
Thermal expansion refers to the change in size (length or volume) that a material undergoes as its temperature changes. In cryogenic systems this effect can be quite large and must be allowed for in the design. In isotropic materials, which include most engineering materials, the thermal expansion is the same...
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...
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?