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

Liquid Air Energy Storage: How Cryogenics Can Support a Greener Grid

The LAES system charges using an industrial air liquefier based on the Claude cycle used on the front end of existing air separation units. Electricity from the grid is used to produce liquid air at close to ambient pressure, thus avoiding the excessive cost of containing a high-pressure fluid in...

VNR Advances New Process to Ensure Reliability of Space-Flight-Critical Fasteners

In October 1989, while investigating the crash landing of United Flight 232 in Sioux City, the NTSB located the fan disk from the plane’s number two engine in a cornfield near Alta, Iowa. It was in two pieces, ripped apart, the agency later determined, when an undetected metallurgical defect resulted...

Chart Acquires VCT Vogel

On September 1, Chart Industries, Inc. (CSA CSM) announced its acquisition of VCT Vogel GmbH, a German firm servicing cryogenic and other mobile gas tank equipment and trucks. Founded in 2001, VCT has established itself as a provider of truck-mounted drive and control systems for the operation of cryogenic pumps...

New Director General at ESO

Xavier Barcons became the eighth director general of the European Southern Observatory on September 1, succeeding Tim de Zeeuw who had served since 2007. Barcons begins his tenure at an exciting time for ESO, as construction of its Extremely Large Telescope is progressing and it is set to see first...

New Report Buffers Possibility for Molecular Level Data Storage

New research from the University of Manchester (UK) suggests that storing data with a class of molecules known as single-molecule magnets is more feasible than previously thought. The result, published in Nature, shows that magnetic hysteresis, a memory effect that is a prerequisite of any data storage, is possible in...

Brooks Automation Expands Stored Sample Monitoring

Brooks Automation, Inc. (CSA CSM) has acquired FreezerPro® and other assets from RURO, Inc., a Maryland-based developer of computer software for research, biotechnological, pharmaceutical, healthcare and government laboratories. The software enables web-based access to information on stored samples from any location on any device.

Latest in Defining Cryogenics

Stability

Stability refers to the ability of a device employing superconductors to remain in its superconducting state after part of the superconductor transitions back to its normal conducting state due to a disturbance. While the concept can apply to many superconducting devices—transmission lines, generators, motors, etc.—it is most commonly considered in...

Cable-in-Conduit Conductors

Cable-in-Conduit Conductors (CICC) are a common form of superconducting cable used in large-scale applications. There are several varieties of CICCs, but they all consist of many small, stabilized superconducting wires contained within a conduit through which a coolant (typically supercritical He II) flows. Figure 1 shows the cross section of...

Bayonet Coupling

A bayonet coupling is a demountable joint that allows for quick and easy connection and disconnection of cryogenic components, including transfer lines, cryostats, liquefiers and refrigerators. Bayonets provide a number of advantages, chief among them the ability to connect and disconnect the bayonets while components they connect are still at...

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

Any experience with Tungsten or Tantalum metal springs in a low temp environment?

I would like to use metal springs made of Tungsten or Tantalum in low temperature environment. Does anybody have any experience with such springs? More precisely, I would like to make compression springs by rolling tungsten or tantalum wire on a rod. I expect that, typically, the spring constant will...

Standards & specifications for pipe & tube couplings

I am interested in finding out more about cryogenic applications and what standards, specifications and test methods (ASTM, etc.) are required for qualification of pipe and tube couplings.

Looking for a test house to test the static coefficient of friction under cryogenic conditions

I am looking to find a test house that is capable of testing the static coefficient of friction under cryogenic conditions. We can be flexible on most of the test parameters, including the test coupon configuration, but we’re looking for a test house that can provide the following test environment:...

Approximating pressure changes over time in cryogenic cylinders

I am an Air Resources Engineer with the California Air Resources Board (CARB). My senior management has asked me to investigate approximating pressure changes over time in cryogenic cylinders that contain LNG. So far, I have taken a stab at the problem, seeking to take a back-of-the-envelope approach (as directed...

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