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

NASA to Partner with US Companies to Develop ‘tipping point’ Technologies

NASA is partnering with US companies to develop “tipping point” technologies that have the potential to significantly benefit the commercial space economy and future NASA missions, including lunar lander and deep space rocket engine technologies. Several of these partnerships involve cryogenics. A technology is considered at a “tipping point” if...

Why Cryo-EM is Gaining Popularity in Structural Biology

Cryo-electron microscopy, also known as Cryo-EM, is a technique for visualizing macromolecular structures which has been developed over the last two decades. Shelley Farrar reports that Cryo-EM is a form of transmission electron microscopy which permits samples to be studied at cryogenic temperatures. Biological structures such as ribosomes and mitochondria...

Dr. Roger W. Boom: In Memoriam

It is with great regret that we report the death of Dr. Roger W. Boom, emeritus professor from the University of Wisconsin and mentor and inspiration to a great many leaders in the fields of cryogenic engineering and superconductivity. Dr. Boom’s career spanned more than thirty years during which he...

New Study Calls for US-based Electron Ion Collider Development

A new report, sponsored by the Department of Energy (DOE) and undertaken by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, argues that a domestic electron ion collider could unlock the scientific mysteries of atomic nuclei and maintain US leadership in accelerator science.

New CORC Cable Technology Delivers High Power to US NAVY

Through a grant program that encourages private industry to partner with university scientists, a research team from Florida State University’s Center for Advanced Power Systems and the Colorado-based Advanced Conductor Technologies LLC has demonstrated the first high-temperature superconducting direct current power transmission cable using ACT’s Conductor on Round Core (CORC)...

Cryogenics, Superconductivity Play Major Roles in Renewable Energy

Several technology developments demonstrate the importance of cryogenics and superconductivity in the quest for eco-friendly, affordable energy generation and storage. A keynote address and a facility tour at the upcoming ICEC/ICMC conference will highlight two of these developments.

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

Cryogenic Electronics

Randall Kirschman, consulting physicist, Mountain View, California ExtElect@gmail.com Cryogenic electronics—the operation of electronic devices, circuits, and systems at cryogenic temperatures—has been a valuable technology for decades. Cryogenic electronics (also referred to as low-temperature electronics, or cold electronics) can be based on semiconductive devices, on superconductive devices, or on a combination...

Particle Physics: High Energy Physics

Cryogenics and High-Energy Physics 1. From symmetry magazine: http://www.symmetrymagazine.org/cms/?pid=1000627: Cryogenics is the study of how materials behave at temperatures near absolute zero. In high-energy particle accelerators, such frigid temperatures reduce the electrical resistance of wires in superconducting magnets, increasing the magnet strength and allowing faster particle acceleration. The same holds...

HTS Degaussing Systems

From the Spring 2009 issue of Cold Facts (Volume 25, Number 2): Thanks to a joint project by the US Navy and a number of industry partners, high temperature superconducting (HTS) technology is now at the heart of an advanced degaussing system aboard the USS Higgins at the naval station...

Magnetic Resonance Imaging

From http://www.superconductors.org: An area where superconductors can perform a life-saving function is in the field of biomagnetism. Doctors need a non-invasive means of determining what’s going on inside the human body. By impinging a strong superconductor-derived magnetic field into the body, hydrogen atoms that exist in the body’s water and...

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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