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Dark Energy Survey Publicly Releases Data Trove

Scientists on the Dark Energy Survey publicly released data from the project's first three years during a special session held at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Washington DC. The release includes information on about 400 million astronomical objects, from distant galaxies billions of light-years away to stars in our...

Separate Research Teams Advance Quantum Simulators

Researchers at the Harvard-MIT Center for Ultracold Atoms and at the Joint Quantum Institute at the University of Maryland have announced complementary advances in quantum studies that constitute a major step towards the realization of large-scale quantum machines.

ITER Passes 50 Percent Marker on Journey to First Plasma

The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), a project to prove that fusion power is both sustainable and producible on a commercial scale, reached a major milestone at the end of 2017 when construction work towards “First Plasma” passed 50 percent.

MSU Establishes Cryogenic Initiative at FRIB

The Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) should garner a lot of attention in 2022 when it first delivers the intense beams that scientists will use to study everything from nuclear astrophysics to fundamental interactions and applications for society including in medicine, homeland security and industry. But the facility is...

Argonne’s Advanced Photon Source Unravels Mummy, Leaves Linens Untouched

Northwestern University scientists and students are working to unravel the mysteries of a small female mummy, including how her body was prepared 1,900 years ago in Egypt, what items she may have been buried with, the quality of her bones and the composition of a foreign material present in her...

Niowave’s Electron Linacs Target New Projects

From the quaint neighborhood streets that run alongside its perimeter, Niowave, Inc. appears as unassuming as the converted local elementary school from which it operates. But inside, where water fountains and toilets still perch low to the ground and footsteps echo off hallway lockers, its employees have assumed the once...

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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...

Food Processing

Cryogenics and Food The industrial gas industry provides a host of products and services related to food. The various gases have useful and sometimes fascinating applications in food industry. “The food industry is not a homogenous industry. The needs of customers processing hamburger vs. poultry vs. strawberries vs. seafood, for...

Primary Standards

Elie K. Track Hypres, Inc. elie@hypres.com http://www.hypres.com/ Primary standards involve the exact definition and realization of units of measurement for various quantities, time, length, mass, voltage, resistance, current, etc. International agreements based on the latest scientific knowledge define those units, and their realizations vary depending on the unit itself. For...

Shrink Fitting

Robin A. Rhodes Cryogenic Institute of New England, Inc. rrhodes@nitrofreeze.com Shrink fitting, (or “compression fitting” as it is sometimes called), is a method used to insert a pin or bushing into a housing or other assembly requiring an extremely tight tolerance fit. It can be used as an alternative to...

Telecommunications

From the Winter 2004 issue of Cold Facts magazine The recent M-Calc IV — 4th Industry Assessment workshop discussing military and commercial applications for low-cost cryocoolers, held in November in San Diego, highlighted progress being made in cryogenics as applied in telecommunications. The reliability and long lifetime of projects now...

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...