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

White Graphene Shows Promise for Unlimited Hydrogen Storage

Rice University engineers have zeroed in on the optimal architecture for storing hydrogen in "white graphene" nanomaterials, using a design resembling a skyscraper with "floors" of boron nitride sitting one atop another and held precisely 5.2 angstroms apart by boron nitride pillars.

Stephen Hawking Dies at 76, Cosmos Pauses to Welcome Its Brightest Star

Stephen Hawking died in the early hours of March 14 at age 76. His insights helped shape modern cosmology and he is widely credited with inspiring millions worldwide to look to the stars and challenge conventional thought. "He was a great scientist and an extraordinary man whose work and legacy...

Wunderkind Material is Both Superconductor and Insulator

Physicists at MIT and Harvard University report that graphene can exhibit a curious electronic property, behaving both as an insulator—where electrons are completely blocked from flowing—and as a superconductor—where electrical current can stream through without resistance.

Book Review: Thermodynamic Properties of Cryogenic Fluids

An accurate knowledge of the thermodynamic properties of fluids is one of the cornerstones of cryogenic engineering. These properties, which vary greatly with temperature and pressure, drive refrigeration cycle design, safety analysis and overall cryogenic system design. Having access to these properties and knowing the accuracy of their values is...

US Jury Sides with AMSC, Convicts Chinese Company for Intellectual Property Theft

A federal jury in Madison WI deliberated a mere three hours before convicting a manufacturer and exporter of wind turbines based in the People’s Republic of China of stealing trade secrets from AMSC, a US-based company formerly known as American Superconductor Inc.

Superconducting Magnet Sets 32-T World Record

The National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (CSA CSM) chalked up another world record in December when a new superconducting magnet at the facility reached a magnetic field of 32 teslas, a third stronger than the previous record and more than 3,000 times stronger than a common refrigerator magnet.

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

Air Separation and Liquefaction

by Nils Tellier, PE, President, EPSIM Corporation (CSA CSM) nils@epsim.us All illustrations courtesy EPSIM Corporation Background History of Air Separation and Liquefaction This section builds on a rich history of methods to develop deep refrigeration and cryogenic liquefaction during the 19th Century. You are encouraged to read Cryo Central’s History...

Bose-Einstein Condensate

A Bose-Einstein condensate, first proposed in 1925 by Albert Einstein based on work done by Satyendra Nath Bose (the same Bose from whom the term boson is derived), is a super-cold state of matter in which almost all of the individual atoms have “condensed” down to the lowest possible quantum...

Cold Technology for Pest Control

While it does not reach temperatures cold enough to be called cryogenic, carbon dioxide snow is at the heart of a new way of dealing with unwanted pests. It utilizes a quick freezing process that takes advantage of the properties of carbon dioxide snow and has a number of benefits...

Cryogenic Finishing

The following 3 articles discuss the uses and procedures of various type of cryogenic finishing. 1) By Robin A. Rhodes, Cryogenic Institute of New England, Inc. rrhodes@nitrofreeze.com Cryogenic Deflashing is employed to remove undesired residual mold flash that remains on molded parts after they are removed or ejected from 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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