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DOE to Invest $30 Million in Hydrogen and Fuel Cells

The Department of Energy has announced its intent to invest $30 million to advance fuel cell and hydrogen technologies. Associated projects, subject to appropriations, will leverage national lab consortia launched under DOE’s Energy Materials Network (EMN) this past year and will support President Obama’s Materials Genome Initiative and advanced manufacturing...

Hydrogen Power Ruled Feasible for High-Speed Ferry

Nearly two years ago, Sandia National Laboratories researchers Joe Pratt and Lennie Klebanoff set out to answer one not-so-simple question: Is it feasible to build and operate a high-speed passenger ferry solely powered by hydrogen fuel cells? The answer is yes.

CGA Announces New Process Safety Committee

In an email to its members, the Compressed Gas Association announced the formation of a new Process Safety Committee to address process safety concerns and gaps that affect the industrial gas industry.

Auguste Acquires Taylor-Wharton’s European Operations

Auguste Cryogenics SK s.r.o. has acquired Taylor-Wharton International’s European Operations, including a cryogenic pressure vessel manufacturing facility, Taylor-Wharton Slovakia s.r.o., and the related warehouse and office complex of Taylor-Wharton Germany GmbH. Auguste says all employees have been retained and that the facilities will continue to operate under the Taylor-Wharton brand...

XFEL Commissions New X-ray Laser

Engineers at European XFEL, a large international research facility with 11 European member countries, have begun commissioning a 3.4-km-long underground X-ray laser. When operational, the laser will generate extremely short and bright X-ray light flashes that will enable new views of the structure and fast processes of the nanocosmos. Applications...

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Regenerators

Regenerators or regenerative heat exchangers are a key component of cryocoolers such as pulse tube cryocoolers (Cold Facts, August 2014). Regenerator performance greatly affects the coefficient of performance of cryocoolers. Improvements in regenerator design and, in particular, regenerator materials have been an important factor in the improvement of the performance...

Pulse Tube Cryocoolers

The development of pulse tube cryocoolers has been a significant topic of research and development over the past 20 or so years. Pulse tube cryocoolers have a number of advantages over other types of cryocoolers and are now available commercially. In order to understand pulse tube cryocoolers, it’s best to...

Thermal Expansion

Thermal expansion refers to the change in size (length or volume) that a material undergoes as its temperature changes. In cryogenic systems this effect can be quite large and must be allowed for in the design. In isotropic materials, which include most engineering materials, the thermal expansion is the same...

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...

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...