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Report on ICCR2013 in Hangzhou, China

Held at Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China, April 6-9, the 5th International Conference on Cryogenics and Refrigeration (ICCR2013) attracted more than 330 participants from 17 nations and areas, with 220 papers presented.

Inside Fermilab’s New Strand and Cable R&D Lab

The mission of the Superconducting Strand and Cable R&D program is to understand and improve scientific and engineering aspects of superconducting strands and cables for accelerator magnets, including dipoles, quadrupoles and solenoids. Since 1998, the lab has also served as the ideal experimental environment for 30 graduate students in physics...

Cold Facts Tours NHMFL, ASC and CAPS

In February of this year, CSA was invited to the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (CSA CSM) at Florida State University to tour its facilities and meet key personnel at the forefront of cryogenic and superconducting technology at the lab. On our tour we were taken behind the scenes to...

Does Cryogenic Electronics Have a Role in Electric Power? 

Electric power systems—whether for electric utilities or on ships, airplanes or automobiles—require electronic power circuitry to change voltage levels and to convert between DC and AC, as well as for controlling power delivery. The use of superconductivity and cryogenics for motors, generators, energy storage and power distribution leads naturally to...

Cryogenic Circulators: The Solution for Cooling Problems? 

Cryogenic gas circulators (CryoFans) are not very well known in the industry as a possible solution for cryogenic process design. In case a complex system needs to be cooled and a direct connection of a cryocooler is impossible, difficult or causes other issues, such as vibration, a gas circulator might...

Developments in Superconducting Energy Applications

This feature explores developments in superconducting energy applications from contributors Ricerca sul Sistema Energetico SpA (RSE), Guina Research & Development, Nexans Deutschland GmbH, Air Liquide Advanced Technology and SuperPower Inc.

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Dewar

A dewar is a type of cryostat named after Sir James Dewar, the researcher who first developed the concept of a vacuum insulated container with silvered walls to reflect thermal radiation. Dewar was the first to liquefy hydrogen, and he created the device to store his discovery. The thermos bottle...

Stirling and Gifford-McMahon Cryocoolers

Stirling and Gifford-McMahon (GM) cryocoolers are two of the most commonly used cryocoolers in cryogenics. Both devices have a significant industrial base and operate at a wide range of temperatures and capacities. The thermodynamic cycles for both of these cryocoolers are quite similar. The Stirling cycle consists of a compressor,...

Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)

A significant commercial application of cryogenics is the liquefaction, transport and storage of natural gas. Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) is generally 95 percent methane with a few percent ethane and much lower concentrations of propane and butane. LNG liquefies at 111.6 K. Unlike many applications of cryogenics, the motivation for...

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...

Need help comparing chest freezers and upright freezers

Currently we use in our Biobank an upright -80 freezer to store all our samples. We are planning to buy a fully automated bio-repository storage that will do the picking of samples under restricted conditions. But in the meantime I foresee that we have to pick the samples manually. The...

Need recommendations for cryogenic vials

I am looking into standardizing our range of bio storage tubes (cryogenic vials). These will be for both blood and tissue samples and their derivatives. Any recommendations, comments on Micronics, Nalgene, Nunc and or others that are suitable for long term -80 C and -196 C storage, DNA/RNA suitable, would...

We need a custom machine for flash freezing of water

We are an ice making company and have started a new project, which is related to flash freezing of water. It is based on cryogenics technology and we need a custom made machine. I would kindly ask you to pass me a few companies who would be interested in such...

Looking for a pump suitable for cold liquids

I would like to construct a small cooling circuit (appr. 50 x 50 cm) pumping liquid at a temperature down to -120°C from a cold reservoir to the specimen to be cooled. The tubes and connections are not a problem, but does somebody know a pump (suction/compression for circulation) suitable...