Jan
12
Jigang Wang offered a quick walk-around of a new sort of microscope that can help researchers understand, and ultimately develop, the inner workings of quantum computing. Wang, an Iowa State University professor of physics and astronomy who’s also affiliated with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames National Laboratory, described how the instrument works in extreme scales of space, time and energy – billionths of a meter, quadrillionths of a second and trillions of electromagnetic waves per second.
Cryomech was founded in 1963 by William E. “Bill” Gifford. Gifford was a professor at Syracuse University from 1961 to 1978 and (in collaboration with Dr. Howard O. McMahon) invented the Gifford-McMahon (GM) cycle cryocooler in 1957. This invention made research at very low temperatures much more accessible to the scientific community. The new GM cryocooler was affordable, easy to work with and far more reliable than the “homegrown” equipment research institutions could build together at that time. In 1963 when Gifford began receiving requests from fellow scientists for GM cryocoolers for their labs, he founded Cryomech, Inc. – the era of cryocooler innovation began.
Since the late 1990s, advancements in communication technology and the advent of GPS expanded the desire for companies and governments to invest in satellite technologies that operate in higher orbit. Today, companies like SpaceX, Blue Origin, Virgin Orbit, Relativity Space and ULA are developing cost-effective, reusable launch systems. 
What is it about liquefied natural gas (LNG) for transport that has Cryospain’s teams hard at work across continents and oceans, on existing and brand-new vehicles and all over the world? Within the context of the global challenge of slashing emissions, LNG as fuel is taking a more and more central role: on land, a general shift towards rail for the ever-expanding heavy transport industry is coupled with a mission to make the trains themselves more efficient and environmentally friendly. The European Commission’s 2016 energy security package places gas front and center in the transition to a low-carbon economy. Of course, this means new-build natural gas engines, but it also must consider existing vehicles.
Whether designing shield coolers for life-saving MRIs, cryopumps for the latest smart device chips, or cryocoolers essential for hydrogen transportation, the SHI Cryogenics Group has been at the forefront of pioneering cryogenic technology for over 60 years. As an integral part of the Industrial Machinery Division of Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Ltd. (SHI), the SHI Cryogenics Group’s driving mission is to contribute to the development of science, technology, and healthy human life through its innovative products and services, including cryocoolers, cryopumps and helium compressors. Nowhere is this clearer than in the Group’s commitment towards carbon neutrality. 
STAR Cryoelectronics, founded in 1999, is a leading worldwide supplier of advanced ultrasensitive quantum sensors and X-ray detectors based on superconductors and related control and readout electronics. The company also offers custom thin-film foundry services for superconductor electronics applications, cryogen-free, adiabatic demagnetization refrigerator (ADR) cryostats, and high-resolution spectrometers based on superconducting detectors for X-ray microanalysis. The company is based in Santa Fe, N.M. 
The computing elements of a quantum computer can only be operated properly when they are free of electronic noise. In order to achieve this state, it is necessary to realize an ultralow temperature environment in the millikelvins at a minimum. However, it is not enough to simply provide a dilution refrigerator. It is essential to install coaxial cables that can be used under cryogenic conditions to facilitate the input and output of microwaves to and from the cryocooler. KEYCOM offers a variety of coaxial cables with low thermal conductivity (made of niobium titanium, copper nickel, beryllium copper or stainless steel) for use covering cryogenic and room temperatures. 
A New Zealand research institute and U.S. commercial firm Nanoracks are combining to send a superconducting magnet technology demonstrator to the International Space Station to test a novel type of space propulsion. The Paihau—Robinson Research Institute intends to test a type of electric space thruster known as applied-field magneto plasma dynamic (AF-MPD) thrusters, which uses high-temperature superconducting (HTS) magnet technology developed by the institute. 
Blood banks utilize freezers to rapidly freeze and store a range of thermally sensitive products such as blood plasma and cryoprecipitate. However, conventional compressor-based freezers can take hours to reach the ultra-low target temperature, slowing processing to a level that may not be sufficient for many operations. The challenge is that mid- to large-volume blood banks may need to process and freeze from 500 to 2,000 units a day. This can create a “production bottleneck” when the donor blood is brought in at the end of the day. 
Absolut Group, a French cryogenic technology provider, said Dec. 7 it has ordered a demo nanosatellite for a constellation that would use sensors at very low temperatures to detect greenhouse gas leaks. The company’s newly created Absolut Sensing subsidiary ordered the chassis for a 16U satellite it calls Gen1 from Lithuania’s NanoAvionics for a launch in early 2024. The size of 16 cubesats, Gen1 would test a cryogenic sensor Absolut is developing for detecting smaller methane leaks, typically from oil and gas companies, to help in the fight against climate change.
As the maritime industry mulls the ‘fuel of the future,’ a strong and growing case can be made for propane based on availability, cost and ease of use compared to competitive fuels. Darren Monzingo, president of FARO Industrial and VP of Engineering for GEM Marine, is a marine engineer and naval architect, and through his work, he’s gained exposure to propane as an industrial fuel. While the maritime industry is prioritizing using CNG/cryogenic fuels, through his research Monzingo noticed that propane is an easy-to-use, readily available energy source of fuel that accomplishes ship fleet needs for productivity, energy expenditure, and emissions reduction. Importantly, he notes that if a vessel is ‘LNG-Ready’, it is ‘Propane-Ready’.
In 2023, Helion Energy, Inc., an American fusion research company, will end operations on Trenta, its 6th fusion prototype. The team is now undergoing Trenta’s last-ever fusion test campaign. For two years, its scientists and engineers have carried out rigorous research to test the capabilities of this fusion machine. The Helion team’s results suggest that Trenta is currently the best performing privately funded fusion machine in the world. After these last weeks of plasma operations under vacuum, Helion will retire Trenta and move all focus to Polaris, its 7th fusion prototype, expected to demonstrate net electricity in 2024. 
Eta Space is excited to announce the commissioning of a Liquid Hydrogen (LH2) Test Facility (LHTF) now available at their location in Rockledge, Florida. Customers can test their hardware and materials using LH2 with the benefit of small batch production. Previously only available in large quantities at high costs, Eta Space has developed the LHTF to address the need for more affordable and responsive LH2 testing. The facility is intended to support the emerging LH2 aerospace, transportation, and energy industries.
A landmark study by researchers at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University reveals how a tiny cellular machine called TRiC directs the folding of tubulin, a human protein that is the building block of microtubules that serve as the cell’s scaffolding and transport system.
Gas Innovations LNG Refrigerants Inc. is seeking authorization to transport cryogenic ethane via rail in DOT-113C120W9 and DOT-113C120W tank cars, according to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). PHMSA, in consultation with the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), is handling review of the special permit application and requesting comments on it, since it “raises issues similar to the transportation of liquefied natural gas (LNG) by rail, a matter for which multiple rulemakings are currently pending at the agency.”
Semiwise in Glasgow has developed transistor SPICE models for cryogenic CMOS chip design and verification using the GlobalFoundries (GF) 22FDX 22nm fully depleted silicon-on-insulator (FD-SOI) process technology. The technology can be used for chips for quantum computers and also for data center processors with liquid nitrogen cooling.
In this exclusive SelectScience® interview, we speak with a panel of scientific experts to find out how cryogenic storage is helping to advance their novel research projects and break scientific boundaries. Our panel of experts include Dr. Ronan Chaligné, Director of the Single Cell Analysis Innovation Lab at Sloan Kettering Institute, Dr. Ernesto Diaz-Flores, Associate Professor at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and Dr. Anne Wyllie, Research Scientist at the Yale School of Public Health. The team will outline the key cryogenic challenges they each face, as well as sharing their hopes for the future. Plus, we will explore cryogenic technology, reveal why researchers no longer need to rely on liquid nitrogen (LN2) based cryogenic freezers, and discuss how mechanical freezers could soon provide a promising alternative.
Ever since the Stone Age, people have searched for the most effective ways to cut and shape materials for best use. This quest has most recently resulted in revolutionary breakthroughs and developments like lasers, plasma beams, and water jets as cutting instruments. Despite these advances, the overwhelming majority of cutting tasks still require metal with a sharpened edge, which has one key undesirable trait: it wears out and gets dull. Not so with CryoEdge, a sales and service company based in the Spokane, Washington area. CryoEdge’s essential issue goes back to prehistoric times: how can we cut things better and make the tools we use for cutting last longer? 
The industrial gas industry produces the elemental components of “air” (nitrogen, oxygen, and argon) that are used in other industries as part of their processes. Once separated from air, each element exists as an extremely cold cryogenic temperature liquid. Typical liquid temperatures are −185° C. Large, field-erected tanks are used to store these liquids, and these tanks range from 100,000 gallons to over 2,000,000 gallons in size. API-620/Appendix Q standards, or their equivalent, are the routine guiding design documents. These tanks are built as flat-bottom, domed-top tanks, typically with stainless steel inner containers, carbon-steel outer containers, and the top/side insulation space between these tanks filled with three to five feet (radial dimension) of granular perlite insulation. The inner tank sits on a sandwich structure of Foamglas® insulation and concrete. During cooldown and commissioning, these tanks need to be dried, inerted, and brought down to very cold temperatures to allow product to be introduced. If done incorrectly during cooldown, these tanks risk vacuum collapse. This article discusses the details surrounding one such occurrence. 
Stirling cryogenerators have been widely used since the 1960s and 1970s for the production of LH2 at various institutes and research laboratories all over the world. In materials sciences, small-scale production was used to study the properties and behavior of LH2 and its effect on materials.