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

Two-Phase Flows

Two-phase flows are those flows in which there is a mixture of two physical states (solid, liquid or vapor). In cryogenic applications, such flows are almost always a mixture of a cryogenic liquid along with its corresponding vapor. A mixture of liquid helium and helium vapor would be a typical...

Supercritical Fluids

A supercritical fluid is defined as a substance whose temperature and pressure exceed those of its critical point. Every pure substance has a critical point that is defined in thermodynamic space by a critical temperature and a corresponding critical pressure. For example, the critical point for helium has a critical...

Brayton Cycle

The Brayton cycle is one of the many thermodynamic cycles used to generate cooling at cryogenic temperatures. Strictly speaking, when referring to cooling we should call this the reverse Brayton cycle as the original Brayton cycle describes the process of power generation or propulsion via a gas turbine. In many...

Latest in Cryo Central

Wind Tunnels

Dr. Robert Kilgore The development of the cryogenic wind tunnel is one of many significant breakthroughs in both cryogenics and wind-tunnel technology made during the past millennium. Interest in the development of high-speed commercial and military aircraft resulted in a review of problems of flow simulation in transonic wind tunnels...

History of Cryogenics

From the Fall 1999 issue of Cold Facts magazine Millennium Breakthroughs A variety of CSA members give different perspectives on the past millennium: What were the most significant breakthroughs in cryogenics during the past millennium? Prof. R.G. Scurlock, Kryos Technology, scurlock@soton.ac.uk (“Breakthrough” = way through obstacles — Oxford English Dictionary)...

Cryobiology

Andreas Sputtek Past President Society for Cryobiology sputtek@uke.uni-hamburg.de or http://www.sputtek.de/. The word cryobiology (from the Greek words “cryo” = cold, “bios” = life, and “logos” = science) literally signifies the science of life at low temperatures. In practice, this field comprises the study of any biological material or system (e.g.,...

Cryogenic Insulation

James E. Fesmire Cryogenics Test Laboratory NASA Kennedy Space Center james.e.fesmire@nasa.gov Introduction In today’s world, the use of cryogenics and low-temperature refrigeration is taking a more and more significant role. From the food industry, transportation, energy, and medical applications to the Space Shuttle, cryogenic liquids must be stored, handled, and...

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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