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ISRO Successfully Tests the GSLV MkIII Cryogenic Upper Stage

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) completed a flight duration test for the cryogenic upper stage of its GSLV MkIII in mid-February. The move marked a significant milestone, according to ISRO, as the 640-second test was the last in series of engine and stage development hot tests before the launch...

Industry Team Developing High-Efficiency Hydrogen Compressor

Sustainable Innovations, Inc., Greenway Energy and Savannah River National Laboratory have announced a partnership designed to maximize the benefits of two cutting edge hydrogen compressor technologies by combining them into one hybrid compressor with both high reliability and efficiency.

Highview Expands LAES Offerings in NYC

Highview Power Storage, a designer and developer of large-scale energy storage solutions for utility and distributed power systems, has agreed to enter ACRE, New York City’s business incubator for smart cities, smart grid and clean energy at the Urban Future Lab (UFL) located at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering.

ITER Completes Niobium-Tin Procurement

The ITER community is celebrating a significant milestone: the end of a nine-year campaign to procure 88 km of niobium-tin superconductor for ITER's toroidal field coils. The total represents some 825 tons of material with an estimated market value of 350 million euros. Six ITER Members—China, Europe, Japan, Korea, Russia...

CERN Events Encourage Next Generation of Women in Science

In physics, as in many other branches of science, there is often a huge gap between the number of men and women. At CERN, for example, only 20 percent of the community are women. In an attempt to encourage and attract more women to choose science—and particularly physics—as a career,...

CSA Mourns Peter Gifford, a Friend, Colleague and Industry Leader

Peter Gifford, longtime leader of Cryomech Inc., has passed away at 69. Gifford was a fixture in the cryogenic community, a dedicated member of CSA and one of the second-generation industry leaders affectionately dubbed the “Cryomafia.” Under Gifford’s leadership, Cryomech has been a longstanding and strong supporter of CSA as...

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

Magnets

From “Superconductivity: Present and Future Applications” by the Coalition for the Commercial Application of Superconductors. Particle physics uses accelerators to recreate the conditions of the early universe in an attempt to piece together the complex puzzle of how we got to where we are today. These huge machines are used...

Energy Storage

From “Superconductivity: Present and Future Applications” by the Coalition for the Commercial Application of Superconductors. With power lines increasingly congested and prone to instability, strategic injection of brief bursts of real power can play a crucial role in maintaining grid reliability. Small-scale Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage (SMES) systems, based on...

Astronomy

ASTRONOMY IN SPACE by Peter V. Mason, retired, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Visiting Associate, California Institute of Technology. Pmason@alumni.caltech.edu In thinking about the reasons to perform astronomy in space, we first consider the effect of the earth’s atmosphere. On a scale of decreasing energy, gamma rays, cosmic rays, X-rays and...

Cryocoolers

What is a Cryocooler? A mechanism that can extract heat from an object (cooler) and by doing so draw its temperature down below approximately 150 Kelvin (cryo). — (Courtesy Dr. Willy Gully) What is the difference between a Cryocooler and a Cryostat? A cryostat is any device designed to maintain...

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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