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Argonne Announces Community Open House

Argonne National Laboratory (CSA CSM) will open its gates to the community on Saturday, May 21 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. for a day of discovery and family fun. The Open House will feature interactive demonstrations, exhibits and tours of world-class, cutting-edge research facilities. This is a great opportunity...

Maglab Researchers Demonstrate Method to Reduce Quantum Bit Decoherence

An interdisciplinary collaboration of physicists and chemists from the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (MagLab) (CSA CSM) has demonstrated a way to improve the performance of the powerful but persnickety building blocks of quantum computers (called quantum bits or qubits) by reducing interference from the environment. The research, which may...

UPS Adds Cryogenic Shipping to Its Temperature-Sensitive Portfolio In Europe

UPS has launched its Temperature True® Cryo system in Europe, providing healthcare customers there access to end-to-end product protection and the capability to ship parcels in a cryogenic environment. The system uses cryogenic containers from Cryoport, a manufacturer of custom built liquid nitrogen dry vapor shippers, to keep products frozen...

Major Breakthrough in MRI Scan Technology for Lung Disease

Scientists at the University of Nottingham have taken a major step towards providing a much clearer picture of lung disease thanks to new scanning technology developed at its Sir Peter Mansfield Imaging Center. The new process makes the spaces inside lungs show up on a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan...

Particle Physics Groups Again Signal Support for ILC

The Asia-Pacific High Energy Physics Panel (AsiaHEP) and the Asian Committee for Future Accelerators (ACFA) have issued a joint statement urging a redoubled international effort to realize the International Linear Collider (ILC) at KEK, Japan's High Energy Accelerator Research Organization. The joint announcement follows a similar one made by the...

Cryogenics Goes Radioactive in Search for Big Bang Neutrinos

Princeton University's Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) is readying a facility to detect Big Bang neutrinos by capturing them in tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen. The state-of-the-art project is named PTOLEMY, both as an homage to the second century Greek astronomer and as an acronym for Princeton Tritium Observatory for...

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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...

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...

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...