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

A Superconductor Story with a Twist

There’s a literal disturbance in the force that alters what physicists have long thought of as a characteristic of superconductivity, according to Rice University scientists. Rice physicists Pengcheng Dai and Andriy Nevidomskyy and their colleagues used simulations and neutron scattering experiments that show the atomic structure of materials to reveal...

Uganda’s First Cryopreservation Unit is Conserving Banana Diversity

Christopher Bendana of Cornell University’s Alliance for Science reports that Uganda’s National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO) is using liquid nitrogen to conserve banana cell lines in a pioneering effort that could help researchers striving to combat disease and climate threats. The science of storing tissues in liquid nitrogen, also commonly...

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.

Latest in Defining Cryogenics

Helium-3

Helium-3 (3He) is one of the two stable isotopes of helium. The other is the much more common Helium-4 (4He). Neither of these isotopes should be confused with He II, which is the second liquid phase of 4He. He II was discussed in this column in the Spring 2010 edition...

Cryopumping

Cryopumping refers to the use of cryogenic temperatures to produce vacuum in enclosed spaces. More broadly, it can also refer to the removal of gases via cryogenic temperatures from a flow stream or enclosure without necessarily resulting in vacuum pressures. This is an important application of cryogenics and is used...

Thermal Acoustic Oscillations

Thermal Acoustic Oscillations (TAO) are a common event in cryogenic systems that can have significant adverse effects on the performance of the system. TAOs are sustained pressure oscillations that can occur in tubes containing gas, closed at one end (the warm end) that have a very large temperature gradient along...

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

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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