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

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...

DOE Announces $25 Million to Develop Next Gen Electric Machines for Industrial Energy Savings

The Department of Energy (DOE) on March 11 announced $25 million in funding aimed at advancing technologies for energy-efficient electric motors through applied R&D. The DOE intends to select eight to twelve projects that leverage recent technical advancements in nanomaterials research, high temperature superconductivity, magnet development and deployment of lead-free,...

NASA Glenn Invites the Public To Go Behind-The-Scenes

NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland will open its doors once a month beginning April 2 for a behind-the-scenes, one-hour guided tour of one of its world-class research facilities. Glenn tours, held through October, are part of NASA Glenn's 75th Anniversary. Two open house opportunities at Lewis Field in Cleveland...

Preserving the Innocents: Biosample Storage at -190°C

by Julian Warhurst, julian.warhurst@brooks.com; John Fink, john.fink@brooks.com; Tiffany Holmes, tiffany.holmes@brooks.com; Matthew Albert, matthew.albert@brooks.com; Bruce Zandi, bruce.zandi@brooks.com It seems to be universally accepted that storing at -190°C in a liquid nitrogen (LN2 )vapor-phase freezer is the best technique for biosample preservation. Brooks Automation (CSA CSM) decided to explore this idea further,...

Scientists Prep for DUNE Neutrino Study

Over 150 physicists from around the world collided at The University of Texas at Arlington in early January to further collaboration on DUNE, the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment. The international project, scheduled for completion in the early 2020s, will shoot a neutrino beam from Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (CSA CSM)...

Superconducting Radio Frequency Activities at CERN

CERN has a long history in superconducting radio frequency (SRF) technology. What started with a few SRF cavities in the 1980s has now become a major field of activity. Today CERN is not only running a variety of superconducting RF installations and projects but is also preparing for a new...

Latest in Defining Cryogenics

Dilution Refrigerators

Dilution refrigerators are a common technique for reaching temperatures below 1K, particularly where continuous cooling at these temperatures is required. Helium exists in two stable isotopes: 4He and 3He. Naturally occurring 3He is extremely rare, constituting less than 1 part per million of helium gas. However, 3He can be manufactured,...

Oxygen Deficiency Hazards

Oxygen Deficiency Hazards (ODH) are a significant safety issue in cryogenic facilities. ODH occurs when inert gases such as nitrogen, helium or argon displace room air and thus lower the percentage of oxygen in the space below that required for human life. OSHA defines an area as oxygen deficient if...

Kelvin Temperature Scale

The Kelvin temperature scale is the principal temperature scale used in cryogenics and science. The kelvin is also one of the seven base units in the Système International d’Unités (SI) and is the unit of thermodynamic temperature. Thermodynamic temperature is a fundamental physical quantity (like mass, length or electrical current)...

Latest in Cryo Central

Magnetic Levitation

From http://www.superconductors.org. Magnetic-levitation is an application where superconductors perform extremely well. Transport vehicles such as trains can be made to “float” on strong superconducting magnets, virtually eliminating friction between the train and its tracks. Not only would conventional electromagnets waste much of the electrical energy as heat, they would have...

Superconductivity

From Superpower website. History of Superconductivity Superconductivity was discovered in 1911 by the Dutch physicist, Heike Kammerlingh Onnes when he was able to liquefy helium by cooling it to 4 Kelvin, or -452°F. This enabled him to cool other materials close to absolute zero and investigate their electrical properties. He...

Medical Applications of Cryogenics

Neutron Therapy Cryogenics is at the heart of nuclear accelerators. Accelerators such as Fermilab’s Tevatron make neutron therapy for cancer possible. From Fermilab Today 4/20/09: Fermilab currently offers neutron therapy. But staff at Fermilab designed and built the proton accelerator used by the nation’s first hospital-based treatment center to use...

Nuclear Physics

Al Zeller National Superconducting Cyclotron Lab (NSCL) at Michigan State University zeller@nscl.msu.edu Cryogenics has a long history in nuclear physics. The technology has its origins in the use of cold traps for maintaining a vacuum, which is required to prevent beam loss and for generating high voltages used in acceleration....

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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