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

Fermilab Delivers First Cryomodule for Ultrapowerful X-ray Laser at SLAC

Scientists and engineers worldwide celebrated the delivery of a massive 40-foot-long cryomodule to SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in January, the first of 37 units to be included in the facility’s planned Linac Coherent Light Source upgrade.

Friction Found in Superfluid Helium near Absolute Zero

Friction shouldn't appear in superfluid helium at temperatures near absolute zero, but that's just what researchers at Aalto University in Finland report observing in a new experiment. Understanding the causes and effects of the friction could pave the way for explorations into the composition of neutron stars and our universe,...

Brookhaven Brings a Hidden Superconducting State to Light

A team of scientists has detected a hidden state of electronic order in a layered material containing lanthanum, barium, copper and oxygen (LBCO). When cooled to a certain temperature and with certain concentrations of barium, LBCO is known to conduct electricity without resistance, but now there is evidence that a...

Low Energy PBT More Effective than High Energy for Killing Cancer Cells

Collaborative research led by the University of Liverpool has identified the specific cellular process that helps cancer cells repair damage resulting from proton beam therapy (PBT), determining that low energy treatments are more effective in the battle against cancer.

First APAs Delivered for ProtoDUNE Detectors

The first prototype Anode Plane Assemblies (APAs) for ProtoDUNE have arrived at CERN, where two large liquid argon detectors are under construction to test the engineering specifications for the US-based Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE). Scientists will use the APA screens to record streaks of ionization charge inside the detectors.

WSU Recreates Titan Seas for NASA Submarine Mission

NASA's Cassini spacecraft ended its exploration of Saturn in 2017, but the space agency is already planning a more immersive return mission, aiming to plunge a submarine into the seas of Titan, the largest of Saturn’s many moons. Researchers at Washington State University are working with NASA, replicating the moon's...

Latest in Defining Cryogenics

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...

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

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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