In general, quantum technologies must be operated in the sub 1 K regime, a demanding area of cryogenics. In fact, the technologies to reach below 1 K with continuous operation are few and far between, and therefore the dilution refrigerator, capable of continuous operation in the mK regime is often the preferred choice. I will begin by reviewing the principles of operation of a dilution...
In the coming hydrogen society, the development of hydrogen infrastructure is an urgent task. Hydrogen infrastructure can be broadly categorized into “production,” “transportation and storage,” and “utilization.” Among these, it is desirable to use liquid hydrogen for storage and transportation from the viewpoint of energy density. On the other hand, since the liquefaction temperature of...
Liquid hydrogen is attracting attention as an energy carrier derived from decarbonized power generation. Magnetic refrigeration is an application of the magnetocaloric effect, which is the reversible heating and cooling of magnetic materials by applying the external magnetic field. Active Magnetic Regenerative Refrigeration (AMR), which is one of the magnetic refrigeration methods, has been...
A thermodynamic study is carried out to investigate how the composition of helium-neon mixture in Brayton refrigeration cycle affect the liquefaction performance of hydrogen. Two-stage expansion Brayton cycle is proposed for pre-cooling of a Linde-Hampson hydrogen liquefaction system, because the operating pressure of hydrogen can be significantly reduced. As refrigerant of the Brayton cycle,...
The Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) utilizes the Cryogenic Moderator System (CMS) to provide supercritical hydrogen cooling at 20 K to three neutron moderators. As part of the Proton Power Upgrade (PPU) project, two significant enhancements were made to the CMS: the integration of ortho-hydrogen into para-hydrogen catalyst beds and an expansion of...
In 2024, ESS installed two hydrogen moderators, designed and optimized to achieve maximum neutron brightness while maintaining a parahydrogen fraction exceeding 99.5%. The cryogenic moderator system (CMS) was designed to meet two critical requirements: (1) a temperature rise of less than 3 K across each moderator, and (2) a parahydrogen fraction exceeding 99.5%. Subcooled liquid hydrogen at 17...
Hydrogen is expected to become a one of the major energy sources as an environment-friendly fuel because it emits no carbon dioxide when used. Rather than as a gas, hydrogen will be transported and stored as liquid hydrogen (LH2) owing to its higher density, which enables more efficient utilization of container capacity. However, LH2 has a very low boiling point of 20 K, so a small amount of...
Liquid sloshing in next generation sub-cooled liquid hydrogen aircraft fuel tanks can induce rapid pressure drops in the ullage space when wave breaking is present. Significant pressure drops can result in problems such as cavitation in cryogenic pumping systems, thrust oscillations in the combustion chamber and structural instabilities on the tank walls. In flight, civilian aircraft are...
Hydrogen is rapidly gaining recognition as a pivotal energy carrier capable of driving the transition to net-zero emissions by replacing conventional fossil fuels. When produced using renewable energy sources, hydrogen can achieve a completely net-zero lifecycle. Moreover, it provides an effective solution for addressing the intermittency of renewable energy by serving as a reliable storage...
Cryocoolers are critical components in space missions, providing the necessary cooling to maintain the functionality of sensitive instruments operating at cryogenic temperatures, such as superconducting devices and infrared detectors. This paper explores the design and application of Stirling and Stirling pulse tube cryocoolers (SPTCs) for spaceflight, emphasizing the trade-offs between...
With the advancement of deep cryogenic detection technology, spacecraft are required to operate at a background temperature of 100 K or lower, necessitating the use of pulse tube cryocooler as a critical support component. Traditionally, the compressor and hot-end heat exchanger of pulse tube cryocooler function at an ambient temperature of 300 K. Multi-stage pulse tube cryocooler typically...
As the fundamental component of the pulse tube cryocooler, the functionality of the regenerator exerts a direct influence on the overall performance of the cryocooler. In the design of a pulse tube cryocooler, two principal structural options for the regenerator are available, contingent on the specific requirements. One option is a non-variable cross-section structure, while the other is a...
An infrared detector represents a crucial instrument for human exploration of the universe. The pulse tube cryocooler is a widely utilized technology for the cooling of various types of infrared detectors. At present, the development of pulse tube cryocoolers, which can operate at lower temperatures and have higher cooling capacity, has become an important development direction in this field....
With the rapid development of space technology, the demand for 20K thermal-coupled two-stage pulse tube cryocoolers (PTC) for space infrared detection equipment is increasing. The entire machine is composed of two parts: compressor and cryocooler, so the coupling characteristics of compressor and cryocooler have a serious impact on the performance of the entire machine. In this paper, the...
Currently, most high-precision infrared detectors used in space operate in the liquid hydrogen temperature range and require a two-stage pulse tube cryocooler (PTC) to provide a cryogenic environment. However, the existing two-stage thermal-coupled PTC suffer from low cooling capacity and efficiency. Therefore, in this study, the 2nd-stage of the PTC is considered as a whole system and a Sage...
The Stirling type pulse tube cryocooler (SPTC) eliminates moving parts at the cold end and is driven by a linear compressor at the hot end, thus offering the advantages of low vibration at both ends, high reliability, and long service life, which makes it attractive for various special fields, such as the space field.In practice, there is an increasing interest in providing cooling power at...
Phase shifters (inertance tubes and reservoirs) can perform the function of maintaining a proper phase relationship between pressure and mass flow rate. Although many theoretical models of phase shifters have been proposed in previous studies, it is not clear how the parameters of the phase shifters affect the compressor characteristics of pulse tube cryocoolers. How the inertance tubes and...
The development of the 3rd generation infrared technology enables the pulse tube cryocoolers to become lighter, smaller and more efficient. The phase shifter has a significant effect on the performance of the cryocooler. Moreover, as the weight of the compressor and the cold finger decreases, the phase shifter, especially the reservoir increases its weight ratio in the whole pulse tube...
With the increasing demand for miniaturized and high-performance pulse tube cryocoolers in space exploration, infrared remote sensing and other fields, how to improve the refrigeration quantity of pulse tube cryocoolers per unit volume has become the key to meet this demand. To improve the refrigeration quantity of a pulse tube cryocooler per unit volume, it is necessary to increase the energy...
Regenerative 4 K cryocoolers, such as Gifford-McMahon (G-M) and G-M type pulse tube cryocoolers, have been required for superconducting applications. A problem with these cryocoolers is the low efficiency to achieve the attainable temperature of 4 K. An electrical input of 6-7 kW is required to achieve a cooling capacity of one watt level at 4 K. To solve this problem, a new operating method,...
Cryocoolers are an excellent go-to solutions when cryogen-free dry cooling is essential. The existing cryocoolers in the market are certified with the cooling capacity specified only at generic points (such as 4.2 K, 10 K and 20 K). However, if the cryorefrigeration is to be obtained in any other cryogenic temperature range, the cryocooler capacity is not readily available. It is indeed...
The rapid advances in quantum technologies have significantly increased the demand for reliable cryogenic refrigeration systems capable of cooling quantum devices. Quantum device requires a temperature level of 10-20 mK and quiet environment, because the entanglement of the superconducting qubit may not be sustained due to thermal fluctuations and mechanical vibration. This phenomenon is...
Gas-coupled type multi-stage high-frequency pulse tube cryocoolers (HPTCs) whose different stages are coupled directly through mass flow offer unique advantages in terms of compact structure and small volume and weight, leading to significant application prospects in special fields such as deep space exploration. However, limited by the subtle intrinsic interaction of gas proportion and energy...
2K-class or 4K-class mechanical Joule-Thomson (JT) throttling refrigeration system is crucial to cool far infrared detector or extremely high sensitivity and resolution detector，such as SQUID（Superconducting quantum interference device）, SNSPD（superconducting nanowire single photon detector）
A novel efficient precooled JT throttling refrigeration system is currently under development. In this...
With the development of the frontier domains such as quantum computing, condensed matter physics and space exploration, there is an urgent need for the multi-stage ultra-low temperature refrigerators to reduce the internal thermal noise and external thermal interference. The superfluid 4He system is a key component at the 1 K stage of ultra-low temperature refrigerators. The cooling capacity...
Dilution refrigerators, as the key instruments of quantum research, greatly contribute to the development of quantum computing. Continuous heat exchanger is an indispensable core component in the dilution refrigerator, which precools the incoming concentrated phase by exchanging heat with the return diluted phase. In this study, we propose a thermodynamic model of a continuous heat exchanger...
Cryogenic technology plays a significant role in ground experiments and space exploration. ³He sorption refrigeration is one of the few methods capable of achieving temperatures below 500 mK, and due to its advantages such as small size, light weight, no vibration, no electromagnetic interference, and simple operation, it has considerable competitiveness in the field of space ultra-low...
A continuous tube-in-tube heat exchanger (TTHx) is used to pre-cool the concentrated stream (99.9% He-3) from 700 to 100 mK (or below) using a dilute stream (6.4% He-3 and 93.6% He-4) in a dilution refrigerator (DR). In commercially available DRs, the inner tube carrying the concentrated stream in TTHx is helically wound (H-TTHx) to increase the compactness and improve the effectiveness....
In this study, a counterflow heat exchanger for a Joule–Thomson (JT) cryocooler was developed and integrated into a closed-cycle cryocooler. The cryocooler uses a two-stage Gifford–McMahon refrigerator as the precooler and helium-4 as the working fluid for the JT cooling circuit. The cryocooler achieved temperature below 2 K, with the cooling power dependent on its operational settings. A...
Notification of remarkable helium loss in early stage is crucial, especially in the shortage period of helium supply market, for operating a cryogenic plant with its downstream cryostats of superconducting devices. This paper proposes an indicator representing the amount of helium gas remained in the cryogenic plant and associate cryostats during their normal operation period. The indicator is...
The Electron Ion Collider (EIC) at Brookhaven National Laboratory consists of one existing hadron ring and new electron accelerator. The EIC incorporates beamline and detector elements that require superconductivity, which is achieved by cooling these elements to cryogenic temperatures. The EIC cryogenic systems are designed to provide cooling for various components, including heat shield...
The European Spallation Source ERIC (ESS) is a neutron-scattering facility being built with extensive international collaboration in Lund, Sweden. An essential part of the project is the linear 2.0 GeV proton accelerator (linac). Its superconducting part is cooled by means of a dedicated 2K refrigerator, the Accelerator Cryoplant (ACCP). 2K are achieved with three serial turbo compressors and...
The SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory houses LCLS-II, a superconducting linear accelerator (LINAC) that began operations in October 2023. Central to this advanced accelerator technology are two 4 kW @ 2.0 K Cryoplants. Supporting their operation is a dedicated Cooling Water System (CWS) with a total capacity of 2,000 m³/h. Most of the water is directed to the Warm Helium Compressor (WHC)...
The future operation of the 4 kW 15 Kelvin MOLLER experiment at Jefferson lab necessitates an increase of cryogenic capacity at the End Station Refrigerator. The current plant is the former 1.5 kW (4.5 K) ESCAR plant that has been operating at Jefferson Lab since 1995. The existing 1.5 kW plant is not able to support the load for MOLLER and will be replaced with a refurbished plant comprised...
Liquid Air Energy Storage (LAES) is an emerging energy storage technology characterized by its high energy density and non-polluting nature. It stores surplus electricity through the processes of compression, cooling, and liquefaction of air, and releases electricity to compensate grid loads through the pressurization, gasification, and expansion of liquid air. The core process involves the...
This project features a tumultuous low pressure (5psi) liquid nitrogen delivery system feeding an NMR instrumentation lab via a two-phase buffer pot, exhibiting a stability analogous to a spinning top. Currently, the system requires frequent valve adjustment to maintain a stable pressure range; where without input, the two-phase buffer pot reaches a chaotic state of constant filling and...
Following the failure that ended the RHIC run 23, a review of the original 12x150A RHIC current leads has uncovered a series of design issues that granted a replacement of these leads before the EIC operation begins. Taking advantage of the lesson learned from 24 years of operation, significant design improvement to the old design have been studied. Going back to thermal and electrical...
In developing large-scale next-generation superconducting radio frequency (SRF) linear accelerators using superconducting films on Cu, the design and development of dissimilar welding and joining metals, such as Cu to Inconel, stainless steel, and Nb, are essential. In this talk, we present the development of procedures for electron-beam welding of Cu-Inconel 625 and evaluation of the...
An integrated computational model based on a multiscale modeling approach was developed to utilize niobium sheets in forming processes required for high-performance superconducting radio frequency (SRF) cavities. The effects of microstructural features, such as crystalline texture and grain morphology in polycrystalline niobium, on mechanical properties were evaluated based on crystal...
Transition niobium (Nb) metal has been widely accepted in superconducting technology due to its strong isotropic superconductivity. Its high mechanical formability allows the application of the radio frequency (RF) resonator (cavity) by fabricating a complex device form. The residual resistivity ratio (RRR: 300K/10K) is used to define the purity of superconducting Nb. To date, high RRR Nb (>...
Adequate heat transfer is essential for components and systems that operate in cryogenic environments. In conduction-cooling applications, bolted joints are commonly employed to facilitate the heat transfer between the devices and cryocoolers. The performance of these joints is dependent on a multitude of factors such as material properties, surface topography, pressure distribution, and the...
The cryogenic helium plant for SCL3 section of Korean heavy ion accelerator (RAON) has been successfully operated in approximately 16,000 hours during past 3 years. Therefore, several maintenance activities are necessary to prevent any failures and keep the performance of the cryogenic helium plant. The maintenance items are divided with two parts according to its characteristics. The first...
Superconducting motors offer high power-to-weight or -to-volume ratios and are the natural choice for applications such as the electrification of heavy transport. A particular challenge is the cooling of the superconducting rotor coils. While one option is to use a stationary cryocooler and to provide the cooling via a gas circuit on the rotating side – which introduces other technical...
Quantum computing has recently gained interest from industry, opening new fields of applications. Air Liquide Advanced Technologies, thanks to its experiences on ultra-low temperature systems (CryoConcept, subsidiary has been commercializing Dilution Fridges for 20 years for scientific labs) and on Helium Refrigeration and Liquefaction systems for Physics and Industry, is actively developing...
There is growing interest in superconducting technologies for large electric transport platforms such as electric aircraft and ships to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector. Superconducting technologies have high efficiency and power density, which are necessary to achieve the electrification of large transport platforms. Liquid hydrogen (LH2) fueled platforms...
The LCLS-II X-ray light source, powered by a 700-meter superconducting LINAC, is supported by two 4 kW @ 2.0 K cryoplants. The first cryoplant, commissioned in 2021, successfully cooled the LINAC in March 2022. This paper provides a detailed analysis of the cryoplant's operational performance and reliability over the subsequent three years of continued operation. Key metrics, including Mean...
Energy efficiency and reduced power consumption are critical for modern cryogenic systems. Gifford-McMahon (GM) cryocoolers provide an economical, cryogen-free solution across a broad range of temperatures, offering high energy efficiency, reliable long-term performance, and easy maintenance thanks to their simple mechanical design. Compact size and low vibration levels make them especially...
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory hosts the LCLS-II, a 700-meter LINAC supported by two large 4 kW @ 2.0 K cryoplants. Located in Menlo Park, on the Stanford University campus in the heart of Silicon Valley, a hub for groundbreaking advancements in quantum technologies, which often rely on cryogenic temperatures. PsiQuantum, headquartered in Palo Alto just a few miles from SLAC, employs a...
Jefferson Lab operates two large (18 kW at 4.2 K equivalent) central helium liquefiers (CHLs) in support of its upgraded 12 GeV electron beam accelerator. Both machines utilize full cold compression from the saturation pressure at operating temperature (approximately 2.1 K) to just over atmospheric pressure. The original plant, CHL1, was recently outfitted with a replacement subatmospheric...
At only about 1% of Carnot, the overall efficiency of 4 K, Gifford-McMahon cryocoolers and Gifford-McMahon type pulse tube refrigerators is not impressive. These refrigerators are most often studied from the perspective of minimizing losses in their regenerators and/or thermal buffer tubes, which are important topics, especially in the real-fluid regime where regenerator losses are very large....
In this talk, we present the development and implementation of the world's smallest fully automated cryostat system designed to operate below 3K, achieving a base temperature of 2.3K. This ultra-compact system is specifically engineered for seamless integration with Superconducting Nanowire Single-Photon Detectors (SNSPDs) and deterministic single-photon sources (SPS), making it an ideal...
The US Navy has been investing in superconducting and cryogenic technology since the 1940’s when the Navy Research Lab published its first scientific article on the subject. Since then the Office of Naval Research and the Naval Sea Systems Command have worked towards developing applications of the technology including motors, generators, cables, and magnets. When designing such complex...
In the context of the energy transition, numerous cryogenic applications - both historical and emerging - such as the long-distance transport of electricity from offshore wind generation or hydrogen mobility, require the use of compact, flexible and efficient cryogenic systems.
The TurboBrayton technologies proposed by Air Liquide advanced Technologies for more than fifteen years have met...
With the further advance of cryogenic technology and high helium cost, more cryogenic environments are designed to be hermetically “sealed”, requiring a detailed understanding and analysis of parasitic heat fluxes crossing into a cryogenic environment. A thermal balance sheet therefore includes operational states but also needs to cover outages.
One of the frequently underestimated heat...
A single-shot dilution refrigerator (SDR) features a compact and lightweight design without the need for heat exchangers, allowing it to achieve approximately 0.1 K with a small amount of Helium-3. This study conducts a conceptual design of the key components of the SDR, including mixing chamber, still, and thermal shield, to achieve the target temperature. To utilize the auxiliary cooling...
More than 6’000 hours of nominal cryogenic conditions were provided for the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) physics run during 2024, allowing to reach a record integrated luminosity of 124 inverse femtobarns. The cryogenic system availability during this year was of 96.5% (target 95% to 98%). Out of the total downtime, 80% came from a series of events that led to five trips of the same 1.8 K...
In recent years, with the widespread adoption of hydrogen as a clean energy source, low-temperature hydrogen turbine expanders have played a crucial role in the production of liquid hydrogen. Currently, there is limited focus on the brake side, despite the interdependence and mutual influence between the brake impeller and the turbine impeller. To improve the efficiency and reliability of...
Pulse tube (or piston) expansion cryogenic refrigerators are a type of refrigeration equipment capable of highly reliable operation in low-temperature environments and are particularly suitable for medium-sized cooling requirements. In this type of refrigerator, intermittent flow cold storage surface heat exchanger is required to improve the refrigeration efficiency. In this research, we...
The storage and transportation of liquid helium inevitably lead to overpressure and leakage due to its extremely low boiling point and high evaporation rate, resulting in helium loss. By introducing cooling through a cryocooler, the thermal losses can be effectively reduced, potentially achieving ZBO(zero-boil-off). However, research on liquid helium lossless technology is still limited. This...
In view of cryocooler-dependent dry cooling of superconducting magnets and systems, efficient heat transfer devices that can function independent of the gravity effect are in high demand. One of the recent candidates gaining popularity are cryogenic pulsating heat pipes (PHP), synonymously called as oscillating heat pipes. These wickless heat pipes, made by simply meandering capillary tubes,...
High speed turbo expanders for hydrogen and helium serve as critical components in large-scale cryogenic systems. Their efficient and stable operation directly determines overall system performance. Due to the low density and high enthalpy drop of hydrogen and helium, turbo expanders must operate at extremely high rotational speeds, to achieve high thermodynamic efficiency. Aerostatic bearings...
To achieve the GHG reduction goals, hydrogen, Natural Gas and ammonia are considered as marine fuel in their liquefied form. Hydrogen and Natural Gas need to be liquified at cryogenic temperatures, whereas ammonia can be liquefied through the application of moderate pressure, approximately 10 bar, or through the reduction of temperature to approximately -33 °C. LNG is already employed in...
As hydrogen continues to gain adoption as a global energy carrier, a renewed focus on hydrogen liquefaction technologies has emerged. The hydrogen liquefaction process requires extremely pure hydrogen feed gas to prevent the freeze out of impurities which can damage equipment. This study investigates the impact of temperature on the nitrogen adsorption performance of three widely used...
Hydrogen is widely regarded as an ideal clean and renewable energy source. Liquid hydrogen (LH2) is often used for storage due to its high energy density and suitability for various applications. However, in the event of an accidental LH2 release, the liquid rapidly and extensively evaporates into gaseous hydrogen, posing significant safety risks. To address these concerns, a study utilizing...
Investments in the hydrogen economy, including the 7-billion USD Hydrogen Hub initiative, are poised to greatly expand employment in the hydrogen sector. Training and education at all levels will be essential for ensuring hydrogen fuel maintains an excellent safety record amid expanding use. However, few cryogenic hydrogen safety programs are available and little to no data on program...
Liquid air energy storage (LAES) is a cryogenic energy storage technology that stores electricity in the form of liquid air, with operating temperatures as low as 80 K. Currently, LAES is still in the stage of critical technological development and exploratory demonstration applications. Its quantified environmental impacts remain unclear, and research on the carbon accounting of LAES...
To achieve carbon neutrality, the contribution of renewable energy to electricity generation is steadily increasing. However, renewable energy sources often experience significant output fluctuations due to varying weather conditions. Consequently, the demand for high-capacity energy storage systems is gradually rising to ensure grid stability. The Liquid Air Energy Storage (LAES) system...
In the global pursuit of energy transition, energy storage technologies play a pivotal role in integrating renewable energy into the grid, maintaining grid stability, and ensuring energy security. Liquid air energy storage (LAES) technology offers a scalable, cost-effective, and geographically unconstrained solution for large-scale, long-duration energy storage, making it a promising solution...
Cryogenic desublimation carbon capture (CDCC) has attracted widespread attention due to its high capture efficiency, environmental compatibility, and the production of high-purity CO2. However, limitations in cryogenic visualization technology have hindered a comprehensive understanding of CO2 desublimation characteristics in mixed gases, confining the application of CDCC to small-scale...
Helium turbine expanders are widely used in low-temperature refrigeration applications, and the efficiency and performance of their brake impellers directly impact the overall equipment efficiency and stability. This study employs the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software ANSYS CFX to analyze the performance characteristics of ten brake impellers of varying sizes in helium turbine...
The sorption pump is a critical component of helium sorption cryocoolers operating in the liquid helium temperature range. Current research on porous materials for sorption pumps predominantly focuses on activated carbon, with limited exploration of alternative porous materials such as carbon nanotubes. Due to differences in elemental composition and molecular structure, the helium adsorption...
The efficient and long-term storage of cryogenic liquids, such as liquid oxygen and liquefied natural gas, relies heavily on the use of various insulation materials. However, the apparent thermal conductivity data for many insulation materials, including foam glass slabs, high-density polyisocyanurate, and aerogel, under cryogenic and atmospheric pressure conditions remain insufficiently...
The transient heat transfer in superfluid helium (He II) from curved surfaces presents unique features that differ significantly from planar geometries. We numerically investigate this process by solving the two-fluid model coupled with Vinen's equation for vortex-line density, focusing on how surface curvature affects the propagation of the second sound wave. The numerical model is first...
The helium turbine expander is one of the core components of a helium cryogenic system. The operation of the helium turbine expander varies during variable load adjustments in a helium cryogenic system, and has significant time-varying characteristics. In this paper, numerical simulations are conducted to investigate the time-varying flow field characteristics of the helium turbine during...
Bi-2212 round wire is the only viable HTS superconductor to produce high-field magnets. It can be fabricated in a variety of multifilamentary architectures, and it can be fabricated into Rutherford and six-on-one cables. Rutherford cabling degrades JE of the round Bi-2212 wire, and the isostatic overpressure heat treatment (OPHT) used for Bi-2212 distorts the shape of the wires. Single...
In the last years, the search for high critical-temperature superconductors has focused on metal and molecular hydrides, which may exhibit superconductivity at room temperature under very high pressures [1]. Actually, such behavior has been suggested by N. W. Ashcroft in 1968, since hydrogen-based materials possess elevated vibrational frequencies, as a consequence of the low atomic mass of...
Cryocoolers are used in space instruments to cool detectors and superconducting devices to cryogenic temperatures. Inside a cryocooler, a flexure spring is used to ensure the cryocooler piston is axially free to move but is radially restricted, preventing off-axes forces that could cause piston contact with the sides of the cylinder, which is the primary cause for failure in a space...
Niobium plays a critical role in a range of cryogenic applications, including superconducting magnets, superconducting radio frequency (SRF) cavities, and cryogenic electronics, owing to its superior superconducting properties, high strength, and excellent resistance to embrittlement. Although tension, compression, and the shear behavior of niobium has been studied at cryogenic temperatures,...
REBCO high-temperature superconductor tapes offers remarkably high critical current density in high magnetic fields. It has been used successfully in ultra-high field superconducting magnets. To address the challenge of high mechanical stress in these magnets, co-winding REBCO tapes with insulated stainless-steel tapes has emerged as a promising technique to enhance their overall performance....
Depositions of superconducting Nb3Sn (Tc ~18K) layers on Cu is a promising approach to developing superconducting radio frequency (SRF) cavities comprising the next generation's high-efficiency linear accelerators operating at 4K. This technology can significantly reduce costs beyond the 2K state-of-the-art Nb-based technology. Developments in physical and chemical vapor depositions of...
The Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) at Michigan State University (MSU) stands as one of the world’s leading experimental facilities for research in rare isotope science. At FRIB, the High Rigidity Spectrometer (HRS) is a new system that combines a magnetic spectrometer with an associated analysis beamline. Designed for experiments utilizing fast beams (≳100 MeV/𝑢), the HRS accommodates...
Magnetic drive is a technology that utilizes magnetic force to achieve non-contact driving, which has advantages such as high efficiency, reliability, and environmental protection. It can meet the needs of different working conditions and has important application prospects. In this presentation，we conduct researches on magnetic drivers based on superconducting materials, explain the principle...
Polyimide (PI) aerogels have the advantages of low density, low thermal conductivity, excellent thermal stability and a wider range of working temperature than other organic aerogels, making them promising materials for cryogenic thermal insulation. The use of aerogel materials to replace the traditional porous perlite materials can further reduce the insulation cost, weight and space. Up to...
Polymers play a crucial role as packaging materials for flexible electronic devices. Along with the rising power of electronic components, enhancing the thermal conductivity of hydrogel materials can greatly improve the performance of flexible electronic components. Herein, we designed a hydrogel material composed of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) doped with 500nm boron nitride nanosheets (BNNS),...
Thermoplastics have long been a focal point in materials science, particularly in applications such as liquid hydrogen infrastructure and space fuel tanks. Their lightweight make them highly advantageous in such advanced technologies. However, the exploration of novel polymers for cryogenic applications has remained restricted to a limited subset of materials due to the high costs associated...
In this work we consider multi-mode, multi-scale heat transfer within a cryogenic storage system and demonstrate the importance of using gaseous conduction functions derived from low pressure gas theory in converging to published experimental data. Through validation of modeling data against experimental cryostat data available in the academic literature, we develop the framework for...
The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) is an international flagship venture to unlock the mysteries of neutrinos. Hosted at the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) and supported by the Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility (LBNF), DUNE relies on nearly 70,000 tonnes of ultrapure liquid argon (LAr) housed in state-of-the-art cryostats. Transporting such vast quantities of LAr to its...
To ensure the safe and efficient operation of the liquid hydrogen (LH2) infrastructure, it is crucial to understand the thermodynamic processes in LH2 tanks. All LH2 tanks, both stationary tanks and tank trailers, experience pressurization due to heat inleak through their thermal insulation. The self pressurization rate over time is important for safe operation, but the complex thermodynamic...
Effective management of the heat transfer into cryogenic piping and storage reservoirs is accomplished with low thermal conductivity insulation systems. Polymer aerogels are renowned for their low density, high mesoporosity, high internal surface area, low thermal conductivity, mechanically robust structural integrity, and high acoustic impedance. These unique properties present in one...
With the growing interest in utilizing liquid hydrogen to decarbonize the aviation and transportation industries, understanding the effective thermal conductivity of insulations utilized in vacuum-jacketed liquid hydrogen vessels is critical to predicting heat leak and boil-off characteristics. Moreover, the ability to predict the transient heat flux during a loss of vacuum event is a critical...
The Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) will host the Far Detectors of the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE), an international multi-kiloton Long-Baseline neutrino experiment that will be installed about a mile underground in Lead, SD. Detectors will be located inside four cryostats filled with almost 70,000 metric tons of ultrapure liquid argon, with a level of impurities...
Liquid hydrogen storage is accompanied by boil-off losses as heat leak penetrates the tank. However, these losses are also affected by tank operational scenarios which have been relatively unconsidered in the literature. To address this need, a reduced-order model capable of analyzing different operational scenarios was developed. Using this model, the present study investigates the effects of...
This paper explores the cooling demands of high-temperature superconducting microwave receiver front-ends, specifically aiming at microstrip antennas within a cryogenic subsystem. Firstly, a transient heat transfer model was developed based on experiments with a 3W@77K pulse tube cryocooler. Then, a cryogenic system with a 15W@77K cryocooler was designed from this model, achieving a cooling...
The Mainz Energy-recovering Superconducting Accelerator (MESA) is an electron accelerator currently under construction at the Institute of Nuclear Physics, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany. MESA is designed as a superconducting multi-turn energy recovery linac (ERL) to provide high-intensity, low-energy electron beams for precision electron scattering experiments testing the limits...
The self-pressurization behaviour of a cryogenic liquid due to the inevitable heat inleak into a closed cryogenic storage system is of great importance for the design of such a storage vessel. In recent years, the resurgence of cryogenic liquid hydrogen as a fuel in future sustainable transportation and logistics sparked new interest in this field of research. The cryogenic fuel tank...
The Composite Cryogenic Hydrogen Insulated Lined (C-CHILL) Storage System, developed by Dynovas, addresses the need for advanced reusable liquid hydrogen storage. The C-CHILL system is engineered to support spacecraft, surface systems, and hydrogen aircraft requiring long-duration cryogenic hydrogen storage. Leveraging a Type IV composite overwrapped pressure vessel (COPV) with a carbon fiber...
The Second Target Station (STS) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory will be a 700 kW pulsed spallation neutron source optimized to deliver 18 high brightness cold neutron beams. To supply the optimum neutron performance, two compact liquid hydrogen moderators are located in the peak neutron production zones, immediately above and below the rotating tungsten spallation target, resulting in a...
Hydrogen is increasingly recognized as a cornerstone of the transition to sustainable energy systems. Storing hydrogen in liquefied form (LH₂) is particularly advantageous due to its relatively high energy density and scalability for storage and transport. However, managing boil-off rates (BOR) during storage and transportation remains a significant challenge. Hydrogen boil-off leads to safety...
Accelerator magnets based on Nb3Sn superconductor are often prone to severe training. Previous works in literature found that stored strain energy in the coil’s impregnant, usually epoxy resin, is released as heat during cracking, debonding and subsequent friction. This heat affects locally the temperature margin of Nb3Sn eventually leading to a quench, and it can contribute to elongated...
Density wave oscillations (DWO) are one of the most common instability types in flow boiling systems. In liquid hydrogen (LH2) pipe flow with heat ingress, DWO can cause large fluctuations of temperature, pressure, void fraction, and flow rate, which puts strain on the system and makes LH2 transfer processes unstable. Predicting the onset of these oscillations and the magnitudes is important...
Developing advanced infrastructure components, including Liquid Hydrogen (LH2) storage tank, is crucial to LH2 supply chain pathway development for maritime & international trade applications. Because of extreme cryogenic temperatures of LH2 at 20 K, the storage tank needs to be well insulated to minimize the boil off rate (BOR). While high vacuum insulation technology is commonly used for LH2...
Notable cost is invested in the liquification of cryogenic fluids such as liquid Nitrogen, Helium, Hydrogen, and Argon. End users have an interest in knowing the level of heat leak cryogenic systems experience, and convenient methods of heat leak calculations. End-users value pump designs that minimize heat leak in cryogenic systems to improve system efficiency and reduce operating costs. At...
Michigan State University (MSU) has refurbished the superconducting K500 cyclotron and installed it as the heart of a new semiconductor / electronic chip testing facility at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB). The K500 cyclotron used to be a part of the Coupled Cyclotron Facility (CCF) at MSU but was decommissioned in 2020 following the reconfiguration of the beamlines for the FRIB...
In 2023, the global LNG industry's operational mandate reached a record high of 404 Million Metric Tonnes (MMT). In contrast, the long-term sustainability of LNG as a primary fuel is declining, particularly in view of the carbon-neutral objectives established for 2050. The proposed decarbonisation objectives for 2050, would render many re-gasification and liquefaction facilities at numerous...
By using TELENE® resin as superconducting magnet impregnation material, training and magnet retraining after a thermal cycle were nearly eliminated in Nb3Sn undulators. This allows reducing operation margins in light sources, and increasing the on-axis magnetic field, thereby expanding energy range and brightness intensity. TELENE is Co-60 gamma radiation resistant up to 7-8 MGy, and therefore...
The Electron-Ion Collider (EIC) at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) will involve superfluid helium cooling of superconducting magnets and Superconducting Radio Frequency (SRF) cavities at several sites around the existing Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) accelerator tunnel. While the majority of the cooling power for these loads is provided by BNL’s central cryogenic plant, Jefferson...
Liquid hydrogen (LH2) storage offers significant advantages in storage density and operating pressure, showing promising prospects for mobile applications. However, experimental studies on tank internal thermodynamics typically involve smaller tank sizes and primarily focus on vertical tanks. Detailed studies of horizontal tanks, which are more suitable for vehicle applications, are limited,...
A new helium liquefaction system with high capacity is under design and will be built at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBL) in the next couple of years to replace a 43 years old liquefier. The new liquefaction system will provide at least a mixed 80 liter per hour liquefaction rate and 35 W refrigeration capacity at 4.5K without liquid nitrogen pre-cooling, or a mixed 140 liter...
Unconventional superconductors differ from conventional superconductors in that they typically exhibit a ubiquitous phase diagram with intriguing, correlated electron phases that break the symmetry of the underlying lattice at temperatures well above Tc. These non-Fermi liquid phases remain some of the greatest unsolved problems in physics. After an introduction to the MagLab and an overview...
In the past, a compact single-stage centrifugal pump for liquid helium was designed and successfully tested at TU Dresden University. The pump is an integral part of a dual-flow transfer system which reduces the decanting losses of liquid helium from 30% down to 4%. Since the pump transfers the liquid close to saturated conditions, the cavitation characteristics of the pump need to be further...
Heat switches play a crucial role in cryogenic systems, regulating thermodynamic cycles or accelerating cooling processes. Among them, active gas-gap heat switches (AGGHS) are extensively employed, typically utilizing activated carbon and helium as the adsorbent-gas pair. Thermal conductance in AGGHS is controlled by driving gas adsorption or desorption through heating or cooling of the...
Cryogenic control valves are one of the critical components of a cryogenic fluid distribution system. They are used for both control (process and safety) and isolation of the cryogens within the distribution system. In many cases, control of the cryogenic process flow needs to be directly or indirectly accompanied by accurate flow measurement. Fundamentally, cryogenic flow measurement can be...
Hydrogen energy, as a clean and efficient power source, plays a key role in the global energy transition. Hydrogen turbo-expanders, essential in liquid hydrogen production, significantly impact system performance. However, their efficiency is relatively low, primarily due to improper coupling between the nozzle and the impeller. This interaction greatly influences both efficiency and...
At the European Spallation Source (ESS), the high-energy neutrons produced through spallation reaction are moderated to cold and thermal energies using a combination of hydrogen moderators and a light water premoderator, which are optimized to achieve a high cold neutron brightness. The ESS employs two hydrogen moderators positioned above the target wheel, with an estimated nuclear heating of...
At the European Spallation Source (ESS), a cryogenic moderator system (CMS) has been designed to circulate subcooled liquid hydrogen at 17 K with a parahydrogen fraction exceeding 99.5% and a flow rate of 0.25 kg/s for each hydrogen moderator. The nuclear heating for the 5-MW proton beam power is estimated to be 6.7 kW and is projected to increase to 17.2 kW for the four moderators in the...
A high-speed cryogenic helium centrifugal turbine expander with an electric generator brake for experimental helium refrigerator is presented in this paper. This design differs from traditional compressor-braked cryogenic helium turbine expanders. The turbine expander is braked by a permanent magnet generator (PMG), and its shaft is coupled to the PMG to enhance operational stability. The...
As the core equipment of a helium cryogenic system, the safe and stable operation of a helium turbine is critical to the smooth operation of the entire system. During the processing and assembly of the rotor, it is inevitable to produce unbalance. The unbalance force generated by the unbalance measure may affect the stability of the turbine and even cause damage to the equipment. In order to...
Compressor is the key component of pulse tube cryocooler. It introduces the structure of a linear vibration compressors specifically designed for pulse tube cryocoolers. The paper delves deeply into the impact of compressors on four key aspects: support systems, control systems, compressor efficiency, and vibration and noise reduction. Based on the findings, a compressor weighing 160 grams has...
RAON (Rare Isotope Accelerator complex for ON-line experiments) is a heavy ion accelerator built under the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) in South Korea. The RAON facilities are composed of SCL3 linac (QWR cavity (81.25MHz, 4.5K) & HWR cavity (162.25MHz, 2K)) and SCL2 (SSR1 cavity (325MHz) & SSR2 cavity (325MHz), 2K). The total capacity of the cryo-plant is 17.7kW, divided between two...
The Cryogenic Distribution System (CDS) of PIP-II will distribute cryogenic helium from Cryoplant (CP) to the 23 SRF cryomodules for supporting various operating modes of the PIP-II accelerator. The CDS is being designed as a collaborative effort of Fermilab, USA and Wroclaw University of Science and Technology (WUST), Poland. The largest section of the CDS is the Tunnel Transfer Line (TTL)...
The Cryogenic Distribution System (CDS) is a key cryogenic sub-system of Fermilab’s upcoming Proton Improvement Plan II (PIP-II) accelerator, responsible for supplying cryogenic helium to support all of PIP-II operating modes and handling overpressure safety. The CDS is being designed and manufactured as a collaborative effort between Fermilab, USA and Wroclaw University of Science and...
Low energy linac(SCL3) of RAON (Rare isotope Accelertor comples for ON-line experiment) has been commissioned since 2023. SCL3 is composed of two types of superconducting cavity, which are QWR (Quarter wave resonator) and HWR (Half wave resonator). The stable operation of cavities was limited due to the imperfect performance of tuners in QWR cryomdules. Also, the various disturbances...
The cryogenic system for accelerator complex for ON-line experiments (RAON), is designed to maintain extremely low temperatures to support superconducting equipment, such as superconducting linear accelerators and low-temperature superconducting magnets. Proper operation of this system is essential for ensuring high efficiency, stability, and safety in the experimental processes. A robust...
The Dalian Advanced Light Source (DALS) test facility has completed the com-missioning of the cold box in June 2024, and the first cooldown of the distribu-tion system began in September of that year. The whole cryogenic system re-quires helium inventory of 1.4 tons. For a more rational use of this helium, the helium distribution and the total inventory in the system are monitored, and a tool...
Water contamination represents a critical challenge in helium cryogenic systems, presenting multifaceted operational risks for advanced industrial and scientific facilities. These water contaminants undergo complex phase transformations during system operations, crystallizing under extreme low-temperature conditions and posing significant threats to precision engineering infrastructure. Such...
Ability Engineering Technology (AET) has developed a system capable of receiving helium at very low concentrations (less than 10% by volume) and effectively separating out undesirable gases to yield high purity helium (5.0 – 6.0 grade) at high recovery rates (greater than 90%). This is accomplished with membrane separation and a subsequent cryogenic adsorption process. The operational...
The increasing need for optimal and sustainable use of cryogenic resources to support Fermilab’s scientific mission has highlighted the necessity of improving the Laboratory’s helium management practices. An assessment of cryogenic test facilities identified the Technical Division’s Industrial Building 3a (IB3A) as a key site requiring upgrades to integrate a helium recovery system. The IB3A...
The cryogenic boil-off from liquid hydrogen can be utilized to harness the endothermic para- to orthohydrogen quantum state conversion, providing cooling, for example to superconducting motors, thereby enabling high efficiency sustainable transportation. Magnetic catalysts, such as Fe2O3, are used to accelerate the rate of parahydrogen conversion to achieve higher cooling rates. However, the...
The storage and handling of liquid hydrogen (LH₂) are critical components of cryogenic hydrogen engineering, particularly as LH₂ is poised to play a pivotal role in future energy systems. At ambient temperature, hydrogen gas consists of approximately 75 % ortho-hydrogen and 25 % para-hydrogen. However, at the normal boiling point of LH₂ (20.3 K), the equilibrium para-hydrogen concentration...
Cryogenic hydrogen plate-fin heat exchangers (PFHXs) with continuous ortho-para hydrogen conversion are crucial for large-scale, efficient hydrogen liquefaction. However, most existing research relies on numerical methods, and detailed experimental data under cryogenic conditions remain scarce. To address this gap, experiments on catalysts-filled plate-fin heat exchangers (CPFHXs) were...
Large-scale, low-energy-consumption hydrogen liquefaction technologies are crucial for the widespread adoption of liquid hydrogen. However, fundamental data on continuous ortho-para hydrogen conversion at cryogenic temperatures remain limited. To address this, a series of test platforms has been established to investigate ortho-para hydrogen conversion under a wide range of cryogenic...
Most cryogenic regulating valves used in CERN cryogenic facilities rely on the Siemens Sipart™ intelligent valve actuator and for future deployment in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) High Luminosity (HL-LHC) upgrade it is necessary to better understand the effects of particle radiation on the operation of these control valve actuators. When used in radiation environments, the Siemens™...
The need for superconducting magnets in high energy physics investigations currently drives much of the research and development in cryogenics. With collider energies and fusion reactors continuing to reach new levels, it’s necessary to constantly push the operating limits of supporting technologies. A crucial component in these experiments is the cryogenic temperature sensor used to monitor...
The helium cryogenic plant of the Comprehensive Research Facility for Fusion Technology (CRAFT) is equipped with four helium refrigerators, to meet the demands of testing superconducting magnets, conductors, and materials. A digital twin platform, Cryo-DT, has been developed based on the cryogenic plant control system. Cryo-DT uses the Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System...
The Cryomodules are critical components in the European Spallation Source (ESS) accelerator, playing a crucial role in connecting spoke cavities to high-beta elliptical cavities in the SRF Linac. These Cryomodules provide the necessary environment for operating, Spoke (Spk) cavities, Medium-Beta (MBL) and High-Beta (HBL) elliptical cavities, which are responsible for accelerating protons from...
We present a helium gas flow meter designed to measure power dissipation in Superconducting Radio Frequency (SRF) cavities by quantifying the evaporation rate of helium vapor. The meter operates in the 3–7 K temperature range, measuring helium flow rates with a resolution of 0.05 g/s (~1 W) and functioning at gas velocities from 1 to 14 m/s.
At the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator...
CRAFT is a fusion reactor research facility initiated by the Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, as part of the national scientific strategy. CRAFT 6kW helium refrigerator is used to provide 4.5K cryogenic test environment for superconducting magents.The EPICS (Experimental Physics and Industry Control System) architecture allows direct access to the PLC controller via...
Liquid air energy storage (LAES) is a promising large-scale energy storage technology that supports renewable electricity integration and reduces carbon emissions. The cold energy storage unit plays a critical role in determining the efficiency of the LAES system. Currently, solid-phase packed beds are commonly used as cold energy storage units in LAES due to their safety and ease of...
The Central Helium Liquefier (CHL) for the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) supports a primary superconducting linear accelerator (LINAC) load up to 2.4 kW at 2.1 K. Sub-atmospheric saturation conditions in the LINAC are generated and maintained by a sub-atmospheric cold box (SCB) within the CHL. The SCB contains four magnetic bearing cold compressors...
Cryogenic mixed-refrigerant cycles (CMRCs) are a promising technology for providing cryogenic temperatures in several areas of research and technology, offering high power density and high efficiency combined with scalability and inexpensive process design.
In order to achieve high process efficiency, the ideal mixture composition and operating conditions for a specific application need to be...
Spatial homogeneity is one of the most important requirements of REBCO coated conductors (CCs) for practical applications. We demonstrated automatic detection of local obstacles in a PLD processed long length REBCO CC by introducing image classification based on machine learning into reel-to-reel scanning Hall-probe magnetic microscopy [1, 2]. This allows us to classify magnetic images...
High magnetic fields of up to 20 T in tokamak-type fusion devices, such as in Central Solenoids of European DEMO and the Chinese BEST fusion reactors, require High-Temperature Superconductors (HTS). Among the potential candidates, ReBCO tape has emerged as a promising choice. However, the substantial Lorentz forces in these environments can lead to localized mechanical stress, which can...
Characterizing Second-Generation High-Temperature Superconductors (2G-HTS) or REBCO Coated Conductors (CC) (RE = Rare Earth, Barium, Copper Oxide) requires multi-modal approaches to evaluate critical current density (Jc), chemical and structural uniformity, and defect distribution. Laboratory-scale methods are often limited in speed and throughput, limiting their viability for quality control...
Previous simulations have shown that the current sharing level decreases with increasing defect density in the middle layer of a three-layer stack cable. Earlier studies focused on a five-layer YBCO tape structure composed of copper, silver, YBCO, Hastelloy, and copper. However, in real-world applications, the buffer layer exists between YBCO and Hastelloy, which has not been accounted for in...
GdBCO, EuBCO and YBCO tapes were irradiated at Japan Research Reactor #3. The samples were bundled and wrapped with cadmium foil with 25 m thick. The first bundle was wrapped with aluminum foil and no cadmium foil. The second bundle was wrapped with three turns (75 m) of cadmium foil and the third was wrapped with five turns (125 m) of cadmium foil. The maximum thermal neutron and the fast...
Next generation Astrophysics Science Missions seek to interrogate the Far-IR and X-ray wavelengths requiring ADR cooled detectors to 100 mK or less. Operation of these ADR systems requires efficient thermal rejection at 4-5 K coupled with observatory cooling needs at 4-5 K and parasitic load interception at nominally 20 K. One example is the ESA Athena Mission that focuses on X-ray...
Liquid hydrogen (LH₂) is emerging as a promising alternative to fossil-based fuels to reach net-zero targets by 2050 due to its purity, high volumetric density compared to compressed gas, and versatility. However, designing infrastructure to handle LH₂ presents significant challenges, necessitating rigorous testing at cryogenic temperatures (20 K) to evaluate the materials and systems...
The High Rigidity Spectrometer (HRS) will be the centerpiece experimental tool of the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) fast-beam program. The HRS project is staged in two phases: the High Transmission Beam Line (HTBL) phase followed by the Spectrometer (SPS) phase. The HTBL will contain 24 superconducting quadrupole magnets (in 8 triplet cryostats), four superconducting dipole magnets,...
At Airbus, our ambition is to bring hydrogen commercial aircraft to market by 2035. Our ZEROe programme was launched in 2020 to explore different aspects of hydrogen aviation encompassing the technologies that need to be adapted and the hydrogen ecosystem required to make this ambition a reality. One of the main challenges that was identified early on in the project is the limited cryogenic...
The Cryogenic Division at Fermilab is dedicated to designing and fabricating large cryogenic facilities for particle accelerators, as well as test facilities for superconducting magnets and cavities. The development of these large-scale facilities necessitates innovative numerical tools to aid in the design of various components and to provide more accurate estimates of heat loads. Several...
Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) is developing a high-field, compact tokamak, SPARC, enabled by REBCO-based high temperature superconducting (HTS) magnets. For the toroidal field magnetic coils, the REBCO tape is housed in austenitic stainless steel radial plates. The structural loads on the radial plates from Lorentz forces are extremely high during operation. Austenitic stainless steels are...
To mature the cryocooling system for the Probe far-Infrared Mission for Astrophysics (PRIMA) mission concept, a closed-loop JT stage using flight-like residual hardware from the JWST program was assembled to assess its cooling capacity at 4.5 K. The performance of the JT stage over a range of heat sink temperatures and system pressures was characterized. The paper presents test results without...
The European XFEL is under consideration for a High Duty Cycle (HDC) upgrade to enable Continuous Wave (CW) or Long Pulse (LP) operation, enhancing the user’s operational range. One of the key challenges for this upgrade is managing the increased heat load of the existing cryomodules while ensuring sufficient cryogenic capacity for stable operation. The two-phase pipe within the cryomodules...
Maraging steels are attractive alloys for engineering applications requiring high strength, good fatigue, and fracture properties. Although Maraging steel is usually used in room temperature or elevated temperature applications, it has found a place in cryogenic applications. Cryogenic data for maraging steels in the literature is limited. Since it is a precipitate-hardened martensitic steel,...
NASA has over 70 years of experience handling both gaseous and liquid hydrogen for space and aeronautical applications. As hydrogen comes back into the public sphere as a possible energy carrier, NASA can contribute in multiple ways to help US industry lead the way into these new ventures. Based on the results from workshops and discussions with US industry, academia, and other government...
CEA Grenoble DSBT (Low Temperature System Department) commissioned in 2004 a test facility with a cooling capacity of 400W@1.8K (or 800W@4.5K). This system comprises a cold box with two centrifugal cold compressors, a cold turbine, a wet piston expander, counter flow heat exchangers and a phase separator at 4.5 K and a large Multi-Test Cryostat than can include a phase separator at 1.8 K. It...
Fusion applications utilizing magnets require the use of materials that are capable of withstanding the cyclic electromagnetic forces during startup and shutdown at cryogenic temperatures. Because of the cyclic nature of loading, a fatigue model is essential to characterize the capability of these parts to determine operational life and prevent premature component failure. Thus, there is a...
At the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC), three hydrogen moderators operate using supercritical hydrogen at 1.5 MPa and 18 K. Nuclear heating induced in the hydrogen moderator during 1-MW proton beam operation is estimated to be 3.8 kW. A cryogenic moderator system (CMS) was designed to circulate the supercritical hydrogen at 162 g/s, effectively removing this transient heat...
The in-situ monitoring of strain field evolution and dissipative effects in advanced materials at cryogenic temperatures represents a significant milestone in understanding thermo-mechanical behaviour under extreme conditions. This research focuses on conducting full-field strain measurements at liquid nitrogen (77K) temperatures using an innovative DIC-enhanced experimental platform. Two type...
Laser and electron beam welding processes are advanced manufacturing technologies that are critical for the high precision and complex geometries prevalent in cryogenic systems. Implementation of these technologies is currently reliant on high skilled labor. Furthermore, designs are pushing the process physics and the material properties to their limits. In-situ and in-operando monitoring is...
This study presents a brief overview of the 1st and 2nd phases and an in-depth analysis of the 3rd phase heat load testing performed on the pHB650 (prototype High Beta 650 MHz) cryomodule at PIP2IT (PIP-II Injector Test Facility), with a focus on both the results and the methodological advancements that have improved testing efficiency and accuracy. A key challenge identified in the testing...
Conduction cooled HTS magnet have been developed due to their easy operation and compact size. REBCO coated conductors are widely used for the HTS power application, high magnetic field magnet application, and etc.. The thermal stability of the REBCO conductor is essential for the operation of HTS-based device, and thermal conductivities of the conductor are relevant parameters for modeling...
A Compact 7 T ultra-high field and fully sealed low cryogen Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) system has been developed at the GE HealthCare Technology & Innovation Center, Niskayuna, USA. The cold mass (magnet) has been cooled down to 4 K using only 12 liters of liquid helium liquified with three SHI GM type RDE-412 two-stage cryocoolers. A gas tank has been charged to 150 bar with pure helium...
MRI ( Magnetic Resonance Imaging) is a non-invasive medical imaging technique that uses strong magnetic fields to produce detailed images of the body's. which is generated by the superconducting magnet generates typical at low field, 1.5T, 3T, and 7T (typical for ultra-high field) in clinical practice. The traditional magnet is cooled by liquid helium, with safety features including gas...
At the European Spallation Source (ESS), a cryogenic moderator system (CMS) was designed to continuously supply subcooled liquid hydrogen at 17 K with a parahydrogen fraction exceeding 99.5% to the two moderators. Heat loads are removed via a heat exchanger in the CMS cold box, which is cooled by a large-scale 20 K helium refrigeration system, the Target Moderator Cryoplant (TMCP), with a...
At the European Spallation Source (ESS), two flat butterfly-shaped hydrogen moderator vessels have been designed and optimized to achieve a maximum neutron brightness under the condition of parahydrogen fraction higher than 99.5%. Currently, these hydrogen moderators are installed above the target wheel. Future plans involve replacing them with four moderators positioned both above and below...
The European Spallation Source ERIC (ESS) will provide long-pulsed cold and thermal neutron fluxes at very high brightness to the research community. Spallation neutrons are produced by a linear proton accelerator with an average beam power of ultimately 5 MW. These neutrons are moderated to cold and thermal energies by two hydrogen moderators and a thermal water pre-moderator. The nuclear...
The Cryogenic Moderator System (CMS) at the European Spallation Source (ESS) is designed to supply liquid parahydrogen at 17.5 K and 1 MPa for efficient neutron moderation. The hydrogen flow is circulated with the help of a series of two pumps through a piping network (CMS loop) with various components, including heat exchangers, tanks, valves and piping elements such as straight pipes, bends,...
Solid-phase cold energy storage represents a scalable approach to thermal energy management, characterized by its suitability for deep low temperature applications, along with advantages related to safety, environmental sustainability, and cost-effectiveness. This technology finds extensive application in large-scale cryogenic systems, such as liquid air energy storage. The thermodynamic...
Space cryocoolers are required to cool sensitive instruments such as infrared detectors and superconducting devices to cryogenic temperatures. Recent advancements have focused on optimizing the performance and reliability of Stirling pulse tube cryocoolers (SPTCs), a hybrid design combining high efficiency and low vibration. This study explores the integration of machine learning (ML)...
With the growing demand for green energy, hydrogen (H2) and liquid hydrogen (LH2) are gaining attention from the industry and research. A critical challenge arises in the supply of LH2, as industrial gas suppliers typically do not deliver small quantities. Consequently, several cubic metres of LH2 must be bought and stored even for small-scale tests. A need for small scale liquefiers with...
The European Spallation Source (ESS) in Lund, Sweden, is designed to become the most powerful accelerator driven spallation neutron source in the world. ESS is currently under construction, and the first beam on target is planned for the second half of 2025, with first user operation expected to start in 2026. As a key component of the neutron production, which was developed, built and tested...
Superconducting motors are a route to the high power-to-weight ratio required for the electrification of large aircraft. In a synchronous superconducting motor, a popular configuration is to have the rotor with DC field coils and the stator with AC coils. This configuration makes the rotor cooling easier, as DC superconducting coils have few losses. However, the heat from the rotor still...
Uninsulated surfaces exposed to cryogenic temperatures can result in the formation of liquid air, an oxygen-rich mixture. The National Fire Protection Agency NFPA 2-2023 code specifies a non-combustible material must be underneath the transfer line to prevent liquid air from dripping onto combustible materials. Concrete is a non-combustible material commonly used in infrastructure that is...
Pulse tube cryocoolers utilize pressure waves oscillating within a porous regenerator for active refrigeration. Using hydrogen instead of helium as the working fluid provides increased refrigeration performance over a range of operational conditions due to lower viscous dissipation. Hydrogen also provides the potential to augment the cooling capacity via ortho- to parahydrogen conversion which...
CERN, home of the 27 km long LHC (Large Hadron Collider) particle accelerator, operates and maintains the world’s largest helium cryogenic infrastructure. This complex system is essential to the LHC’s functionality, reliability, and availability.
Big data analytics and machine learning have been successfully applied to CERN’s cryogenic helium screw technology compressors. This approach...
New green technologies in the energy sector will use more and more Cryogenic gases like helium, hydrogen and sometimes also with neon, nitrogen, or air. Those technical gases have gained today more attraction as enablers as well as further industrial areas as in chemistry, semiconductor, steel and glass production etc.
Cryogenic helium in all stages is used to cool superconducting devices...
We present the design of an automated tool that can be used to extract a small amount of left-over liquid helium in an MRI magnet and push it into a helium recovery bag. The main design goals are to minimize the process time and overall footprint of the tool, and not to contaminate helium with hydrocarbons during the process. Also discussed in the paper is another potential application where...
Existing cryogenic refrigeration systems are both capital cost expensive and extremely energy intensive. Large scale H2 liquefaction plants achieve, at best, 10-20% of Carnot efficiencies (Carnot is theoretical maximum), while small and medium scale cryogenic systems operate with 5-10% efficiencies. These high costs and poor efficiencies are a major pain point for existing industries requiring...
Liquid air energy storage (LAES) technology has gained recognition as a promising energy storage solution, characterized by its high energy density and independence from geographical constraints. However, conventional cold storage methods, such as liquid-phase and solid-phase storage, suffer from inherent limitations, underscoring the need for more efficient and reliable cold storage solutions...
The implementation of cryogenic distribution systems with solid-state switches, such as those required in hydrogen-electric aircraft, faces challenges in achieving both electrical and thermal isolation for gate drivers. Traditional methods, including magnetic and capacitive isolation, are unsuitable for systems requiring thermal isolation. Power Over Fiber (POF) addresses both the thermal and...
To address the challenges faced by traditional supercapacitors in low-temperature environments, such as hardening, brittleness, and poor fatigue resistance, this study proposes and fabricates a novel low-temperature flexible supercapacitor. By utilizing low-temperature flexible conductive materials with excellent flexibility and stability as electrodes and incorporating PVA-LiCl gel...
In graphite or multilayer graphene, strain can lead to relative twist in the alignment of neighboring interfaces. This results in the formation of stacking faults between regions of different twist angles. In two dimensions, a saddle point in the electronic band structure leads to a divergence in the density of states, also known as a Van Hove singularity (vHs). The energy difference between...
Thermal conductivity is a critical parameter in cryogenics and plays a fundamental role in the design of components operating in cryogenic environments. As cryogenics gain increasing relevance in fields like energy, understanding the low-temperature thermal conductivity of novel materials becomes ever more essential. Meanwhile, the depletion of helium reserves requires the high-energy...
Radiation heat transfer is a crucial mode of heat transfer in vacuum as well as cryogenic environments. However, there is no optimal solution to accurately measuring spectral emissivity over a wide temperature range, especially at cryogenic temperatures. This work designed a cryogenic spectral emissivity measurement system based on radiometric methods, aiming to measure the spectral emissivity...
In the context of the hydrogen economy, transporting hydrogen in liquid state (LH2), instead of the gaseous one, is considered appealing due to the maximization of the energy density. The liquefaction of hydrogen is, however, an expensive process as it requires cryogenic conditions, typically in the range between 20 K and 30 K, depending on operating pressure. To maximize the economic revenue...
With the advancement of micro- and nano-machining technologies, the distance between components in devices has continually decreased, leading to heat fluxes that exceed the radiation limits predicted by Planck's law. These rapidly increasing heat fluxes can have detrimental effects on near-field devices in cryogenic temperatures, such as difficulties in heat dissipation and reduced operational...
Non-contact bearings are required in many applications where friction losses can be excessive. An option for realization of non-contact bearings with superconductors and permanent magnets exists. The bearings are expected to provide stiffness in the radial and axial direction. The present paper explores axial superconducting magnetic bearings (SMB). The axial SMB leverages the Meissner effect...
Residual trapped magnetic flux suppresses the quality factor of SRF Nb cavities and thus microstructural features that can trap flux are of particular interest for developing higher performance cavities. We have been investigating tools to help quantify the microstructure of Nb to make it easier to compare microstructures resulting from different cavity processing routes. EBSD mapping is the...
A well-known source of RF losses that lower the performance of superconducting radio frequency cavities is due to the residual magnetic flux trapped during cool-down. In this presentation, we demonstrate how manipulating the niobium microstructure by changing the strain state of the initial Nb sheet for an elliptical cavity geometry, can improve the flux expulsion behavior. In this study we...
High cryogenic efficiency, measured as the quality factor (Q$_0$, 2K), has been made possible in Nb superconducting radio frequency (SRF) cavities due to advances in understanding the sub-surface micro-chemistry and structure developed in cavity processing. Recent experiments in SRF cavities have demonstrated the role of bulk cavity microstructure and its influence on trapped residual magnetic...
The Electron-Ion Collider (EIC) is a proposed machine to explore the behavior of the fundamental particles and forces that bind atomic nuclei together. The design and construction of the EIC are underway at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) in collaboration with Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. EIC will use several different types of superconducting strands for magnets near...
This study presents a comprehensive analysis of magnetization in ReBCO-coated conductor tape and helical wound tape conductors using both numerical and finite element method (FEM) approaches. Magnetization is a crucial factor limiting the practical application of superconducting cables and coils, and accurate prediction and minimization of magnetization are vital for the development of...
In this work, semi-analytical models to compute alternating current (AC) power loss in stacks of high-temperature superconductor YBa2Cu3O7-x (or Y-Ba-Cu-O) tapes subjected to a time-varying magnetic field perpendicular to the tapes with zero transport current are developed. Both standard and non-standard arrangements of tapes are considered. The models take into account screening of the...
High-magnetic fields of up to 20 T in coils in tokamak-type fusion devices, such as in the Central Solenoid of European DEMO and the Chinese BEST, require use of High-Temperature Superconductors (HTS) and promising candidates are high-current cables comprising ReBCO tape. The large Lorentz force occurring under these operating conditions can locally generate very high values of mechanical...
Accurate prediction of mechanical stress within high-field superconducting magnets is crucial for ensuring their structural integrity and operational reliability. Friction between turns plays a significant role in load transfer and stress distribution within the magnet winding. However, limited experimental data, especially at cryogenic temperatures, hinders precise modeling and design. This...
Transverse resistance among adjacent conductors is a key parameter to
calculate AC losses in superconducting cables with non-insulated
conductors. The transverse pressure insert (TPI) previously developed
and used at Fermilab was modified to measure transverse resistance of
stacks made of non-insulated REBCO tapes as a function of transverse
pressure at liquid nitrogen temperature....
In support of the Electron-Ion Collider (EIC) at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Jefferson Lab is contributing to the design of three satellite cryogenic plants. These satellite plants will augment BNL’s central plant, which currently provides cryogenics for the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) at temperatures down to 4 Kelvin. The primary role of the satellite plants is to further...
NASA Glenn Research Center has been testing temperature sensors both internal and external to liquid hydrogen tanks for the past 70+ years. A range of sensors have been used including thermocouples, silicon diodes, and Cernox based RTDs. Different application processes for measuring the temperature of the hydrogen fluid, as opposed to solid materials, are used within a tank and within a pipe...
Liquid hydrogen systems require pressure control methods when flowing through complicated plumbing networks. Methods vary from autogenous pressurization, introducing a secondary fluid, buffer volumes, or utilization of transfer pumps. To address this need, a jet pump was designed, built, and tested with liquid hydrogen to assess variable primary nozzle position in relation to secondary fluid...
When cryogenic liquids or propellants are transferred from a storage tank to another empty atmospheric storage tank, a chill-down process occurs in the empty tank. The wall temperature of the empty tank is relatively high compared to the cryogenic liquids; thus, evaporation of the cryogenic fluid and a temperature reduction process occur during the filling of the empty tank.
The tank had a...
The fluorine-free metal organic decomposition (FF-MOD) method is considered to be the lowest cost one for mass production of REBCO thin films among various methods such as Pulsed-Laser-Deposition (PLD), Metal-Organic-Chemical-Vapor-Deposition (MOCVD), trifluoroacetate (TFA)-MOD and Reactive Co-Evaporation by Deposition & Reaction (RCE-DR). Fast crystal growth of REBCO via simple reaction, flat...
Institute of High Energy Physics (IHEP) and Air Liquide Cryogenic China Science (ALCCS) have started a new Helium refrigeration plant to provide 1kW of cold power at 4.5K to cool-down the superconducting cavity to accelerate electrons. The cold box delivering this power was manufactured by ALCCS in China and connected to a KAESER compressor. The Helium expanders manufactured by Air Liquide...
Germanium resistance thermometers (GRTs) have played a crucial role in the dissemination of both the 1976 Provisional 0.5 K to 30 K Temperature Scale and the International Temperature Scale of 1990 to cryogenic experimenters worldwide. GRTs combined a small physical package with a sensing element that possessed high temperature sensitivity and very high stability over thermal cycling and time....
As the hydrogen market expands, the need for the efficient distribution of liquid hydrogen (LH2) becomes increasingly important. Reducing flash gas losses during LH2 transfer and ensuring adequate pressurization of downstream applications, such as fuel cells and combustion engines, are challenges. It is therefore essential to develop pumps for liquid hydrogen. To overcome transfer losses a...
The Cryogenic Fluid In-situ Liquefaction for Landers (CryoFILL) tests were performed by NASA to demonstrate a technique for liquefaction of oxygen gas that will be produced on the Lunar or Martian surface. The test setup included a 2.1 cubic meter tank with a broad area cooling (BAC) network. A commercial cryocooler provided cooling to the BAC working fluid. Nearly forty steady state and...
The Shanghai High repetition rate XFEL and Extreme light (SHINE) facility is a free electron laser facility that is located at the Zhangjiang High-tech Park of Shanghai Pudong. The major facility is installed in the tunnels at the depth of ~29m underground and with a maximum length of 3.1 km. It is composed of five shafts, one accelerator tunnel and three parallel undulator tunnels and the...
Understanding boundary layer flows in high Reynolds number (Re) turbulence is essential for advancing fluid dynamics across a range of critical applications, from enhancing aerodynamic efficiency in aviation to optimizing energy systems in industrial processes. Accurate characterization of turbulence, including scaling laws for mean velocity and turbulence intensity, is vital for developing...
Recent development of hydrogen-powered aircraft and cryogenic-propellant-powered rockets has created demand for smaller, lighter, and lower-power solutions to classic fluid handling problems. Valves, seals, and couplings rated for use with liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen are critical to enable advanced aerospace system architectures. Creare is helping meet this need through development of...
As mankind expands its sphere of activity into outer space, such as the moon and Mars, it is expected that cryogenic fluids management technology in the environment that its gravity acceleration differs from that on the earth will be increasingly required. In general, when developing equipment that uses cryogenic fluids, especially for use in space, it is extremely difficult to conduct...
In a recent study in probing the effect of the pinning efficiency of BaZrO3 (BZO) nanorods in BZO-doped YBa2Cu3O7-x (BZO/YBCO) nanocomposite films, Ca diffusion from two Ca0.3Y0.7Ba2Cu3O7-x spacers that form multilayers through alternative stacking with three BZO/YBCO layers was found to significantly enhance the pinning by approximately five folds at high fields up to 9.0 T. This raises a...
Superconducting Radio-Frequency (SRF) cavities cooled by superfluid helium-4 (He II) are critical components of modern particle accelerators. Tiny defects on the inner surface of SRF cavities can cause Joule heating, leading to cavity quenching. Developing reliable technologies to locate these defects for subsequent removal is essential for improving the performance of SRF cavities. Existing...
Linde replaces an oil-bearing turboexpander, prone to oil contamination and component damage, with a maintenance-free dynamic gas-bearing turboexpander while adding a new cooling power control system to an existing cold box in a hydrogen process within a cryogenic tritium removal facility.
The dynamic gas-bearing turboexpander with proven technology, successfully used for years,...
In a cryogenic tank chilldown, cryogenic sprays are used to rapidly cool the ullage gas and the tank wall. During chilldown, droplets generated from the spray impinge on the tank wall and exchange heat through boiling regimes such as film boiling, transition boiling, nucleate boiling, and single-phase convection. Since cooling rates differ in each regime, developing computational sub-models...
Oxygen overdosing may be a way to further increase the critical current density of coated conductors. It has recently been shown that overdosing of of YBCO thin film coated with an Ag layer was achieved by processing at low temperature and 1 bar oxygen pressure, which allowed increasing the charge carrier density and achieving whatever high critical current 90 MA•cm−2 at 5 K, which corresponds...
The Electron Ion Collider (EIC) at Brookhaven National Laboratory represents a major advancement in particle physics, requiring sophisticated cryogenic infrastructure to support its superconducting elements. This effort involves the conversion of the existing cryogenic control system, originally developed for the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), to meet the specific demands of the EIC....
Oil-Injected twin screw compressors are widely used in cryogenic helium refrigeration systems as the prime mover. They provide all the thermodynamic availability for the cryogenic refrigeration system and account for more than one-half of the input power losses and two-thirds of total system availability losses. These machines are generally designed for freon or other common refrigerants and...
To enable the design of future terrestrial as well as in-space cryogenic propellant transfer systems such as Lunar and Martian ascent and descent stages, cryogenic fuel depots, nuclear thermal propulsion systems, and ground transportation equipment for liquid hydrogen systems, high accuracy analytical and design tools of various phases of the propellant transfer process are highly desired....
Superconductivity in iron-based materials is an active area of research due to the unconventional nature of the electron-electron interactions. The simplest material in this family is the layered 11 type iron chalcogenides. Iron selenide(FeSe) when alloyed with tellurium(Te) can alter many superconducting properties. The layered nature of this material allows for unique interactions with other...
Details on Final design for Cryogenic Electrical & Controls System for Fermilab' s next-gen particle accelerator PIP-II. Electrical Controls System includes instrumentation and controls of Cryogenics Distribution System and Cryomodules. Design includes Siemens PCS7 Controls System with 26 Remote IO Rittal Cabinets and 48 Relay Racks for Temperature Readouts, Valve Positioners, Level, Heater...
This paper presents a modeling approach for graded heat exchangers designed to support cryogenic power systems of hydrogen-fueled electric aircraft implemented within our comprehensive MATLAB/Simulink-based tool, AeroCryoX. The graded heat exchanger concept employs graded and partitioned to accomplish distinct temperature grades to provide multiple secondary cryogen flows to efficiently cool...
Managing heat in space is essential for spacecraft to operate within acceptable thermal limits, and ensure the success of extended missions. Future applications, such as the storage of cryogenic propellants in space depots, impose strict requirements on thermal control, making it necessary to adopt efficient means to meet these requirements. Consequently, while both active and passive thermal...
Driven by their exceptional superconducting performance at high fields, iron-based superconductors have been the focus of sustained efforts toward practical applications. However, challenges persist in fabricating high-performance iron-based superconducting long wires and tapes fabricated by the powder-in-tube method. Recent studies have identified key factors limiting the current-carrying...
The field of electrified aircraft propulsion is undergoing a transformative evolution driven by the breakthrough advancements in superconducting electrical machines and cables. This paper highlights the significant progress achieved in developing a superconducting electric drivetrain under the Center for High-Efficiency Electrical Technologies for Aircraft (CHEETA) project. The team is...
Liquid hydrogen is the highest specific impulse rocket fuel available and is used on roughly 25% of active United States rocket launch systems. However, these systems are informed by heat transfer correlations, the most recent of which has 50% root-mean-squared error when used with liquid hydrogen. No previous experiment has optically determined multiphase hydrogen flow regimes with heat...
Cryogenic applications require high complexity air and gas handling. Hydrogen is liquefied for ease of storage and transportation. Once liquefied, boil-off is avoided by cooling the hydrogen (zero-boil off). For both liquification and zero-boil off the reverse Brayton cycle is the most efficient and therefore preferred technology. Driven by a turbo compressor and a turbo expander, it is...
Due to aviation’s appreciable and growing share of humanity’s impact on our environment and estimates that CO2 emissions only account for 34% of aviation’s total effective radiative forcing [1], there is a need to reach beyond climate goals that focus only on CO2 emissions, such as the US Aviation Climate Action Plan’s [2] goal to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. There is motivation to...
This talk will showcase the transformative role of cryogenically cooled technologies in enabling next-generation high-power electrification for aerospace and defense applications. It will present the rationale for deploying multi-megawatt-class electric powertrains to drive greater efficiency and lower emissions in future aircraft. The session will highlight the key technical challenges...
Fermilab is conducting horizontal cryogenic testing of Q1/Q3 Cryo-Assemblies for the high-luminosity LHC upgrade (HL-LHC). Cryo-Assemblies are installed on the upgraded Fermilab horizontal test stand previously used for testing the LHC inner triplet quadrupoles. The cryogenic process requirements of these tests include controlled cool-down and warm-up with a 100 K maximum temperature...
A state-of-the-art binary fluid test bench has been developed enabling advanced experimentation with single and binary fluids across a wide range of thermodynamic conditions. The facility accommodates experiments with all fluid concentrations, ambient temperatures spanning 100 K to 600 K, and pressures between 1 bara and 10 bara. The system features dual inputs for binary gases and a third...
In-space cryogenic resource utilization (ISRU) is a critical technology for long-duration space exploration missions. The condensation of cryogen is a fundamental heat and mass transfer process of ISRU operations such as the liquefaction of gases at the colder wall temperatures, and the condensation-induced pressure collapse in a cryogenic tank during the fill. Due to their low surface...
National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center (NSRRC) designed, fabricated, and implemented a cooling system for a liquid nitrogen (LN2) tank in the storage ring in 2021. During cooling tests, two significant phenomena were observed: a boiling phenomenon associated with two-phase flow and a rapid cooling phenomenon influenced by the physical properties of oxygen-free copper. This article...
The European Spallation Source (ESS) is one of the largest science and technology infrastructure project being built in Sweden. Protons at 2 GeV are delivered by a superconducting linear proton accelerator and are injected onto a rotating tungsten target. Neutrons via spallation reaction are moderated to cold thermal energies by two dedicated moderators. The cryogenic moderator system (CMS)...
The European Spallation Source (ESS) is one of the largest science and technology infrastructure project being built in Sweden. Protons at 2 GeV (with a normal current of 62.5 mA) are delivered by a superconducting linear proton accelerator and are injected onto a rotating tungsten target at a pulsed repetition rate of 14 Hz. Neutrons via spallation reaction are moderated to cold thermal...
Liquid air energy storage (LAES) technology offers high energy storage density, long-duration storage capability, and independence from geographical constraints, making it highly promising for large-scale renewable energy integration and grid dispatch. The cold storage system is one of the most critical components of the LAES system, with cold storage methods categorized into liquid-phase and...
The efficiency of hydrogen liquefaction and other cryogenic applications is potentially increased by using mixed refrigerants. The cryogenic phase equilibria test stand CryoPHAEQTS at KIT enables the measurement of physical property data of all cryogenic fluid mixtures in a temperature range from 10 K to 300 K and at pressures up to 150 bar.
Neon and helium are essential components of...
An important aspect to enable widespread adoption of electric aircraft propulsion is to develop lighter and higher-ampacity cables to carry the high current and voltage at the same time. To address this, we developed a power transmission cable for electric aircraft that utilize cryogen-flow cooling to enhance transmission efficiency. The cable uses multi-stranded aluminum wire as the...
Cavitating fluid transients occur when sudden changes in flow, such as rapid acceleration or deceleration, cause significant pressure variations in a pipeline. These variations generate oscillatory pressure waves, leading to the formation and collapse of vapour cavities when the pressure during the rarefaction wave drops below the vapour pressure. During collapse, these cavities can emit...
A three-dimensional numerical simulation method is developed to predict the heat transfer characteristics during the flow boiling of cryogenic slurry in horizontal circular pipes, based on Euler-Euler model with a boiling model for liquid-vapor mass transfer. The model incorporates the Ishii model for vapor-liquid interaction and the Huilin-Gidaspow model for solid-liquid interaction, also...
A thermal multi-zone model is used to describe the self-pressurization process in a liquid helium storage tank. This model divides the liquid and ullage of the tank into multiple zones taking into account the effects of the boundary layer in each zone. Combined with helium property parameters from REFPROP, the model can calculate the self-pressurization process of a liquid helium storage tank...
In a decarbonized society, hydrogen is attracting attention as an energy carrier. There are several forms of hydrogen transportation and storage, including liquefied hydrogen, ammonia, methylcyclohexane, and compressed hydrogen, each of which has its advantages and disadvantages, so it is expected that hydrogen will be used in a form appropriate to the method of use. Of these, attention is...
Angle globe valves have been traditionally used in all cryogenic systems. The energy sector is transitioning towards environmentally sustainable technological facilities. Hydrogen represents a key value chain within this sector's focus. Nevertheless, the expansion of these plants presents certain inherent techno-economic challenges.
Ball valves can offer significant advantages to this...
Hydrogen, as a promising alternative energy carrier, has garnered significant attention. Liquid hydrogen (LH₂) exhibits a high density of 70.9 kg/m³, approximately 1.8 times that of hydrogen compressed at 70 MPa. Its high energy density, efficient transport characteristics, and ability to be stored and transported at low pressures make LH₂ an attractive solution for large-scale commercial...
Liquid hydrogen (LH2), known for its exceptionally high energy density and suitability for long-distance transport, is expected to play a pivotal role in the future of hydrogen energy storage and distribution. Central to this transition are port-based liquid hydrogen receiving terminals, which facilitate the seamless loading and unloading of transport vessels. These terminals integrate...
Liquid hydrogen is considered as one of the most promising carriers for large-scale hydrogen storage and transport. However, boil-off losses that occur during the transfer of liquid hydrogen from the trailer to storage at refueling stations pose a significant challenge to the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of these processes. Therefore, the design of the liquid hydrogen transfer system is...
Metal sealing joints are widely used in cryogenic fluid storage and transportation systems, where their sealing performance is critical under extreme low-temperature conditions. In cryogenic environments, changes in material properties can lead to uneven stress distribution at the contact interface, thereby affecting the sealing effectiveness. This study first investigates the variations in...
Hydrogen engines, compared to traditional gas engines, offer higher energy density and combustion efficiency. These advantages not only significantly enhance the propulsion performance of aircraft but also extend their range, presenting substantial potential for applications in the aviation sector. As a crucial component of hydrogen engine systems, the design and performance of liquid hydrogen...
The demand for extremely low temperatures in quantum computing and quantum devices has led to significant interest in advanced refrigeration methods. Among these methods, the continuous adiabatic demagnetization refrigerator (cADR) presents a promising alternative that does not rely on the increasingly scarce He3. While traditional dilution refrigerators (DR) are effective in reaching low...
As interest in quantum-related research continues to grow, so does the demand for ultra-low temperatures below 1 K. Cooling systems designed to achieve such ultra-low temperatures include Dilution Refrigerators (DR), Pulse-Tube cryocoolers with Joule-Thomson modules (PT-JT), and Adiabatic Demagnetization Refrigerators (ADR). Unlike DR and PT-JT systems, ADRs do not rely on fluids but instead...
The superconducting heat switch is a critical component in an adiabatic demagnetization refrigerator (ADR) to achieve a temperature lower than 50 mK, and its switching performance significantly affects the overall efficiency of the ADR. We have designed a superconducting heat switch utilizing high-purity tin (99.99%) as the superconducting material, and have carried out experimental testing on...
The Einstein Telescope (ET) is a 3rd generation gravitational wave detector planned in Europe, combining a low-frequency (LF) and a high-frequency (HF) laser interferometer. Cryogenic operation of ET-LF in the temperature range of 10 K to 20 K is essential to suppress the suspension thermal noise (STN), which dominates the detection sensitivity at frequencies below 10 Hz.
The ERC project...
The 4He Joule-Thomson cryocooler (JTC) utilizes the JT effect of 4He to typically achieve the temperature of about 4 K. It can be used to cool the detectors with the operating temperature of 4 K and precool the sub-Kelvin refrigerators, which is widely used in space missions such as Astro-H, SPICA, ATHENA, and etc. Based our laboratory’s research, an engineering prototype of the 4He JTC...
A 4K hybrid JT cooler is developed to precool the adiabatic demagnetization refrigerator (ADR) of Hot Universe Baryon Surveyor (HUBS) mission which is proposed to study “missing” baryons in the universe. The 4K hybrid JT cooler is composed of a 4He JT cooler precooled by a two-stage thermally coupled pulse tube cooler. Recently, the two-stage pulse tube cooler is optimized to provide more...
In cryogenic refrigeration systems, such as those used in space exploration instruments, heat loads (e.g., detectors) are typically fastened directly to cold sources (e.g., cryocooler cold heads) to minimize thermal resistance. However, in certain scenarios where a considerable distance exists between the detector and the cold source, direct connection is not feasible. In such cases,...
Handling cryogenic propellants in space is very difficult.
In particular, in micro-gravity, liquid and gas are not separated and mixed, so when the vent valve is opened to reduce the increased tank pressure due to external heat inflow, propellant loss occurs.
Therefore, in order to reduce propellant consumption and internal tank pressure, a thermodynamic vent system, TVS, is required to...
Chamber D is a Thermal Vacuum (TVAC) chamber that is currently being developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Crew and Thermal Systems Division (CTSD) Systems Test Branch (EC4) to simulate the thermal profile of a lunar Permanently Shadowed Region (PSR). To achieve the target thermal environments, a gaseous helium cooled shroud is being integrated into an existing...
Space cryocoolers permit cryogenic cooling of space-based astronomy instruments and a range of other sensors and detectors across electromagnetic wavelengths. This study investigates the energy requirements and performance of various cryocooler designs, with a focus on Stirling, pulse tube, and Stirling pulse tube cryocoolers (SPTCs). These systems are essential for missions requiring high...
In the manufacture of semi-finished metal products, metal billets need to be annealed at temperatures up to 1100°C in order to soften the materials for further forming. The annealing process can be performed in conventional furnaces using fossil fuels or by induction heating. The advantage of induction heating is a higher efficiency, shorter heating times and a better temperature homogeneity...
The Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) is a scientific user facility under the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science (DOE-SC) and an independent scientific user organization of approximately 1,800 researchers. The High Rigidity Spectrometer (HRS) will be the centerpiece experimental tool of the FRIB fast-beam program, enabling experiments with the most exotic, neutron-rich nuclei...
In this work, we performed numerical studies of a quench protection system relevant to MgB2 based 3T conduction cooled magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines using a lumped parameter model in Open Modelica. Our initial approach was similar to the CLIQ scheme, which we modelled for one coil (OD 901 mm, winding pack 44 mm thick×50.6 mm high, conduction-cooled, react-and-wind, with 1.7 km of...
Sumitomo (SHI) Cryogenics of America Inc has developed a novel cryogenic cooling system integrating a remote cooling gas flow circuit with a Gifford-McMahon (GM) cryocooler to cool a remote load. This innovative approach eliminates the need for a separate gas flow circuit and circulator, leading to an efficient, compact, and cost-effective solution for various cryogenic applications. This...
Superconducting radio frequency (SRF) cavities used in modern particle accelerators require operation at 2 K with sub-atmospheric (saturation) pressure. For large-scale systems, the most practical approach is to use multi-stage cryogenic centrifugal compressors (cold compressors or CCs) to compress the sub-atmospheric helium returning from the load to positive pressure. This compressor train...
Sumitomo (SHI) Cryogenics of America, Inc. has investigated the capabilities of a circulating cooling system utilizing a Sumitomo CH-160 High-Capacity Gifford-McMahon (HCGM) cryocooler and helium gas circulator for cooling a remote thermal load (e.g., a superconducting magnet). System cooling performance was investigated for circulation loop pressures of up to 20 bar-g. The system is...
Multi-stage cryogenic centrifugal compressor (cold compressors or CCs) trains used in 2 K sub-atmospheric refrigeration systems require a transient process operation (or ‘pump-down’) to establish the target low-pressure steady-state conditions. In sub-atmospheric refrigeration systems for superconducting radio frequency (SRF) cavities, the pump-down process establishes a pressure ratio of...
Stirling-type pulse tube cryocoolers are known for their compact design, reliability, and long operational life, but traditional systems are primarily limited to small-scale cooling applications. To meet the growing demand for high cooling capacity in fields such as superconducting power transmission, small-scale gas liquefaction, and BOG (Boil-Off Gas) management, this paper presents a...
The STEP program is an ambitious initiative designed to demonstrate, for the first time, a fusion energy prototype power plant capable of delivering net power (>~100 MWe) to the electrical grid. Planned for construction in West Burton, Nottinghamshire, UK, the tokamak system will utilise high-temperature superconducting (HTS) coils to generate and sustain the magnetic field needed to confine...
In regenerative cryocoolers, the regenerator plays a pivotal role, and often represents the largest source of losses among all components. Traditional materials, such as stainless-steel mesh, exhibit insufficient heat capacity below 20K, which leads to a decrease in system efficiency. While materials like HoCu2 and Er3Ni offer higher volumetric heat capacity, they are typically fabricated into...
The End Station Refrigerator 2 (ESR2) is the eventual replacement for the ESR1. ESR2 is a refurbished cryoplant comprised of the cold box and compressors of the 4 kW at 4.5K ASST-A plant from the Superconducting Super Collider in Texas. Additionally, ESR2 is equipped with a 10 m3 liquid helium Dewar, cryogenic distribution system including more than 50m long cold transfer line, control...
To achieve Net Zero CO2 Emissions by 2050, aircraft industries are conducting extensive studies for future aircraft using new technologies such as hydrogen aircraft and electric aircraft. Since those new aircraft should carry liquid Hydrogen, its cryogenic temperature of 20K could be expected to be used as a coolant for the efficient fan motor and generator. Super-high-purity aluminum is a...
Large-scale free-piston Stirling cryocoolers, capable of delivering several hundred watts of cooling power at 80 K, have significant potential applications in boil-off gas re-liquefaction and precooling processes. Recently, we proposed a novel parallel regenerator layout aimed at suppressing local acoustic streaming, which could enable further scaling of the cryocooler while maintaining high...
The SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory is home to LCLS-II, a world-class X-ray laser. The LCLS-II superconducting linac is supported by a cryogenic system comprising two identical subsystems, each featuring a warm helium compressor system, an 18 kW (at 4.5 K) coldbox, and a 5-stage 2 K cold compressor train with a cooling capacity of 4 kW at 2.0 K. Installed and commissioned between 2018 and...
It is essential to develop lightweight cables with low AC loss in the application of electric aviation. High Purity Aluminum (HPAL), which operates effectively at cryogenic temperature, has been developed to compete with superconductors especially in higher frequencies. HPAL, characterized by 99.999% aluminum purity, achieves a residual resistivity ratio (RRR) up to 1000. It has minimum...
So called moderators are key components of a neutron source and are used to slow down high energy neutrons, released by a nuclear reaction, to a required energy. Cold neutrons (ca. 10 meV energy) are required for a variety of experiments, which is why (cold) moderators are an important part of a neutron source. A pressure vessel filled with liquid para hydrogen is for example a suitable cold...
The Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) Pulse Tube Cryocooler System is a two-stage pulse tube cryocooler designed to service space applications requiring simultaneous cooling of two separate optical assemblies at different temperatures, ultra-high reliability, and long lifetime. The mechanical cryocooler is a two-stage variant of the Northrop Grumman HEC (High Efficiency Cryocooler), consisting of...
The ITER Cryogenic System is one of the largest Cryogenic facilities to build and commission. Main challenge is not only to demonstrate quite large cryogenic performance of machines but also to coordinate start-up and operation of a very large number and diversity of equipment in a multi-contract environment. To give overview, ITER Cryogenic System is mainly composed of three identical Liquid...
Cryogenic propulsion with hydrogen-burning electric generators and fuel cells is a promising way to reduce aviation carbon emissions. Liquid hydrogen serves as aircraft fuel and a 20 K heat sink for superconducting and other electrical devices. Power electronics are a crucial component of an electric aircraft power system. As aviation transitions toward electric aircraft, power conversion...
We aim to build and test a Bi-2212 insert prototype coil designed by Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) for the feasibility study of next step compact device such as compact stellarator or spherical tokamak (ST) ohmic heating central solenoid in a fusion pilot plant (FPP) beyond the present National Spherical Torus eXperiment Upgrade (NSTX-U). Low AC loss is critical for fast ramping...
High temperature superconducting (HTS) power cables offer promising solutions for electric aircraft and ships with power demands of up to 50 MW and 100 MW, respectively. However, their cryogenic cooling requirements present challenges. While liquid nitrogen is used for the grid applications of HTS cables, its limited temperature range (63-77 K) and asphyxiation risks make it suboptimal for...
The potential of geothermal resources is currently limited by existing drilling technology. To address this issue, the DeepU project is investigating the use of laser and cryogenic gas to drill deep wells (>4 km) to create a U-shaped closed-loop geothermal heat exchanger. This technology includes a high-power laser source and optics, a drill string, a drill head, a flushing system and some...
ITER liquid helium plants (LHe plants) provide 75kW of cold power at 4.5K to cool-down the 10 000 tons of magnets, the cryopumps and the current leads of the tokamak. The 3 cold boxes delivering this power are one the most powerful equipment ever built at this level of temperature. Before being connected to the tokamak, these LHe plants shall pass a complex series of tests to demonstrate their...
This paper focusses on the AC loss of round multifilamentary superconductors over a wide frequency range, but with a focus on higher frequencies. We review the loss expressions for multifilamentary conductors and apply them to specific cases including several MgB2 conductors (some intended for low loss) as well as a Bi:2212 conductor. The different critical frequency regimes (bounded by fc1,...
Electric machines for aviation applications are under intensive development at present. Pushing performance to 30kW/kg at the 10-20MW scale requires a step change in air-gap field and hence current density. Fully superconducting machines show great promise for achieving the power to weight ratios required, and the use of liquid hydrogen as the aircraft propulsion energy source presents the...
Our goal is to develop testing methodologies to evaluate the performance and reliability of commercial off-the-shelf fully packaged MEMS switches for cryogenic applications. RF Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) switches possess a number of advantages over conventional switches, such as lower insertion loss, high isolation and linearity, faster switching speed, smaller size, and very low...
Miniature coaxial pulse tube cryocoolers are widely used for cooling instruments in space science missions and military exploration fields due to their low vibration, long life, and high reliability and rapid cooling. In this study, a highly compact 0.91 kg miniature coaxial pulse tube cryocooler is developed. When the charging pressure is 4 MPa and 72 W of electrical power is inputted into...
The ITER project aims to build a fusion device with the goal of demonstrating the scientific and technical feasibility of fusion power. It is a joint project between the European Union, China, India, Japan, South Korea, the Russian Federation, and the USA. ITER is being built in Europe, at Cadarache in the south of France.
The ITER tokamak will be fuelled by streams of deuterium and tritium....
Achieving sustainability in commercial aviation hinges on the transformation of large transport aircraft (>150 passengers), which are the principal contributors to aviation emissions. These 150+ passenger aircraft have powertrains with rated power in excess of 20 Megawatts. System studies have shown that the highest possible aircraft efficiencies can be obtained for fully superconducting...
A NASA University Leadership Initiative program with The Center for Cryogenic High-Efficiency Electrical Technologies for Aircraft (CHEETA) and a separate ARPA-E Connecting Aviation By Lighter Electrical Systems (CABLES) program have been developing cryogenic, medium voltage, high amperage, and lightweight aerospace power cables. The research presented here includes the motivation behind these...
In 2023 Criotec Impianti Srl was awarded the CERN contract covering the design, manufacturing, and installation of the cryogenic system for the Neutrino Platform Dark Side-20k proximity cryogenics.
The DarkSide-20k experiment consists of an inner detector housed within a sealed stainless steel vessel and an outer muon veto, deployed within a ProtoDUNE-style membrane cryostat. It is currently...
Current cryocooler technologies rely on compressors and displacers to generate pressure oscillations requiring high electrical power and regular maintenance intervals. These requirements limit the convenience of cryocoolers for renewable energy, specifically zero-boil-off applications. Thermoacoustic instabilities are spontaneously excited sound waves in resonators, which transport energy...
The ITER, meaning “the way” in Latin, aims to achieve sustainable fusion energy through self-heating plasma with a gain ≥ 10. The United States is one of the seven members of this prestigious project, which is in the advanced stages of construction in the south of France. The vacuum systems at ITER are critical to the project as they handle the evacuation and exhaust of the gases from the...
High-current HTS cables made of stacked REBCO tapes are being considered for large superconducting magnet systems for fusion and other applications. AC losses are critical when analyzing a stack of non-insulated tapes. Using finite element software such as COMSOL, it is possible to model a 3D stack of non-insulated REBCO tapes and assess how AC losses vary, depending on factors such as the...
Purification of the process gas is vital for reliable operation of cryogenic systems. For helium cryogenic systems operating at 4.5 K or below, this is critical as any matter other than the process gas (helium) will freeze and act as a solid contaminant. Persistent low-level contamination (mainly the constituents of air and moisture) at levels greater than 1.0 ppmv, will degrade the...
Cryogenic pulsating heat pipes (PHPs) are considered as alternative efficient thermal link to cool moderate heat load superconducting devices to replace heavy thermal braids or gravity-assisted cooling loops associated in general to cryocooler as cold source. A perfect application to these type of heat pipe is rotating application such as Gantry system where gravity-assisted loops are...
The aviation industry is undergoing a transformative shift towards electrification to address urgent environmental challenges and reduce operational costs. While electric propulsion has been successfully demonstrated in small aircraft, the transition to larger aircraft presents substantial technical challenges, particularly in power distribution systems that must efficiently manage...
To achieve MW class high power-density aircraft propulsion motors, conductors with high ampacity but low overall losses are required. Aircraft powered by such motors are often designed to be zero or low emissions with the use of cryogenic fuel such as liquid hydrogen (LH2) or liquid natural gas (LNG). In this work we consider an operating point of 20 K, enabled by pool boiling LH2, which...
With the increasing cryocooler-based cooling techniques, there is a growing demand for thermal links that efficiently transfer heat load to the cryocooler stages. This demand can be addressed by pulsating heat pipes (PHPs) designed to operate effectively at cryogenic temperatures.
Despite progress in this field, the current literature does not allow for precise prediction of PHP performance...
Toward an early realization of fusion energy, a Broader Approach (BA) Agreement between Japan and the European Union was established in 2007. As part of this agreement, a tokamak-type fusion experimental device, JT-60SA, was constructed in Japan as a collaboration between Fusion for Energy and the National Institutes for Quantum and Radiological Science and Technology (QST). The JT-60SA uses a...
This study presents experimental measurements of the magnetization of ReBCO tape stack cables in magnetic fields up to 30 T at 4.2 K. The M-H response of these conductors is important for various applications, including particle accelerators, fusion reactors, and other emerging technologies. We employed a susceptibility technique, utilizing the NHMFL's Bitter magnet as the primary coil. A...
A NASA University Leadership Initiative program with The Center for Cryogenic High-Efficiency Electrical Technologies for Aircraft (CHEETA) and a separate ARPA-E CABLES program have been developing cryogenic, medium voltage, high amperage, and lightweight aerospace electrical wiring and interconnection systems (EWISs). The research presented here includes the design and results of derisking...
Cryogenics and superconductivity have revolutionized biomedical applications, particularly in cryosurgery and cryo-diagnostics. These technologies enable groundbreaking instruments and methods for precise medical interventions and advanced diagnostics. The development journey has been marked by significant technical challenges and milestones. This paper summarizes key achievements （including...
Cryoablation has emerged as a vital minimally invasive technique for treating localized cancers, leveraging cryogenic probes to freeze and destroy tumor tissues. The geometry of cryoprobe tips significantly influences the freezing dynamics, including heat transfer efficiency, ice ball propagation, and the preservation of surrounding healthy tissues.
This study investigates the impact of...
Superconducting coils are designed for carrying high electrical current at low losses for use in future superconducting power transmission lines, transformers, fault current limiters, and electric machines for aircraft. The coils in the armature (typically the stator winding) of electric machines are exposed to highly dynamic magnetic excitation. In this environment, it is critical to...
Responding to commercial space launch vehicle providers developing rocket engines fueled by liquefied natural gas (LNG) in recent years, NASA began exploring the so-called “weathering” of the cryogenic mixture—the preferential evaporation of lower boiling point constituents over time, leading to a change in the bulk liquid composition. Due to relatively long delays between launches...
The largest cryogenic multipurpose test facility at CERN (SM18), recently significantly upgraded, provides helium refrigeration capacity for testing at nominal conditions, superconducting magnets, power links, radiofrequency (RF) cavities and the IT String (Inner Triplet) for the High Luminosity - Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC) upgrade project, towards increased luminosity at interaction...
High resolution space IR detection requires the use of cooled detectors. The broadness of the landscape of cooling systems that are available nowadays allows to choose the suited cryocooler for each of the applications.
Yesterday, rotary Stirling coolers were usually not the preferred choice in space application context because of their lower level of reliability and availability compared to...
All-superconducting rotating machines, utilizing superconductors for both field windings and armature windings, are a promising candidate for future all-electric aircraft, due to their high-power density and low weight. However, very high AC loss can be generated in the armature windings because they carry AC current under AC magnetic fields. The resulting total AC loss consists of...
High quality materials are essential to the success of large magnet projects. National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (NHMFL) has been funded by the US National Science Foundation to design a 40 T superconducting magnet which uses REBCO coated conductor tapes for the insert coil winding co-wound with copper and stainless-steel tapes. Characterization and incoming quality assurance (QA) testing...
The transition of the energy market to sustainable resources demands a variety of energy storage technologies. Existing systems propose energy storage from kWh to GWh levels, each with its strengths and limitations. The presented research proposes a novel energy storage method (patent pending) of cryo-adsorbed hydrogen energy storage (CAHES), aiming for large scale applications, in order of up...
New superconducting magnets, many of them based on Nb3Sn technology, have been developed for the HL-LHC project, the High-Luminosity upgrade of the LHC (LHC Hadron Collider) at Interaction Points 1 and 5. These magnets require thorough testing in cryogenic conditions at 4.5 and 1.9 K before their installation into the LHC. Additionally, the HL-LHC includes high-current superconducting...
Over the past eight years, BAE Systems Inc. has been working with teammates that include Sunpower/Ametek, Iris, and SDL on next generation cryocooler systems. These cryocooler systems have been sponsored by both internal and external customers and has resulted in development of a product line of low cost, low EFT, high capacity, high reliability cryocooler systems. A key element is the high...
Liquid hydrogen-fueled electric aircraft is a promising approach to achieving zero-emission aviation goals, particularly when combined with high-temperature superconducting (HTS) power device technology. Liquid hydrogen serves as an energy source and a cryogenic heat sink, enabling multiple high power-density superconducting devices and conventional components onboard the aircraft. Liquid...
At the European Spallation Source (ESS), a 5 MW beam of 2.0 GeV proton with a nominal current of 62.5 mA driven by an accelerator will impact a tungsten wheel target at a repetition rate of 14 Hz and a pulse length of 2.86 ms. Fast neutrons produced via spallation process are moderated to cold and thermal neutrons of lower energy levels by passing through a thermal water pre-moderator and,...
Reliability is a major driver in design decisions for the products of Thales Cryogenics. In the past years Thales Cryogenics has put their attention to the High-Availability 24/7 application of cryocoolers in combination with detectors. Several technical decisions have been aimed at the improvement in increased availability.
This paper highlights an updated approach of Thales Cryogenics to...
The increased demand for hydrogen as an energy vector and storage medium drives the need for higher liquefaction capacities. However, the design of the necessary ortho-parahydrogen converters has long been associated with substantial uncertainty. Until now, the only available data on the activity of the standard catalyst, hydrous ferric oxide—commercially available as the “Ionex-Type O-P...
Thermal margins are critical to the development, the production, the test, and ultimately the performance of thermal subsystems. And, the subset of thermal subsystems that are cryogenic are even more reliant on thermal margins for success. Thermal uncertainty margins cover the inherent uncertainty, due to both design and analysis limitations, of predicting performance in space. They are not...
The SPARC tokamak requires large, strong, and tough cryogenic structures to enable its high-temperature superconducting magnets. Stresses induced in these structures scales linearly with magnetic field, driving the selection of a high strength (Sy>900MPa) and high toughness (KIC>200MPa*m1/2) austenitic stainless steel. A custom composition of 316LN(H) has been chosen as the primary structural...
As the demand for climate-friendly mobility solutions increases, hydrogen stands out as a key enabler, especially in heavy-duty sectors like transportation and aviation. Liquid hydrogen, with its high energy density, holds significant promise for these industries. Many studies focus on the application of liquid hydrogen in these sectors. However, also the supporting infrastructure – including...
Linear cryocoolers are being used for space sensor cooling for multiple proliferated and strategic space missions. The cooling, lifetime and cost requirements are unique to each mission. Multiple commercial or build-to-print versions of the mechanical cryocooler exist, but the development of mating and optimized cryocooler control electronics has lagged behind the mechanical cryocooler. To...
Nuclear fusion represents a promising pathway to a sustainable and virtually inexhaustible energy future, offering a low-carbon alternative to conventional power sources. Achieving fusion relies on high-field superconducting magnets to confine plasma within reactors, which in turn depend on advanced structural materials capable of withstanding extreme cryogenic environments, high magnetic...
Evaluating the boil-off rate (BOR) of liquefied natural gas (LNG) transported in cargo containment systems is crucial for assessing system performance. Research has focused not only on static cryogenic storage tanks but also on tanks under sloshing conditions. Numerical simulations have demonstrated that sloshing significantly affects the thermophysical processes and boil-off gas (BOG)...
Over the past four years BAE Systems Inc. has been developing the Modular Advanced Cryocooler Control Electronics (MACCE). This new cryocooler control electronics architecture leverages modularity and scalability in performance supporting a wide range of cryocoolers including 4K Hybrid Systems (J-T + Pre-Cooler), Pulse Tube Cryocoolers, and Stirling Cryocoolers. The MACCE design includes the...
The growing demand for cleaner and more efficient fuel solutions in the maritime industry has caused an increased adoption of liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a primary fuel source. To support this transition, a high-performance submerged electrical centrifugal LNG fuel pump has been developed to meet the stringent operational and safety requirements of this industry. The design of a two-stage...
As enhanced cryocooling capabilities for space imaging technology continue to advance, Iris Technology is committed to pioneering the development of high performance Cryocooler Control Electronics (CCE) to deliver significantly increased power output and facilitate the concurrent operation of multiple cryocoolers within a discrete system.
Iris Technology's upcoming high power CCE is a leap...
Superconducting electrical machines are emerging as transformative technologies for electric propulsion, with several ongoing efforts focused on advancing their development. This paper highlights significant progress in developing a superconducting electric machine with a cryogenically cooled stator under the Center for High-Efficiency Electrical Technologies for Aircraft (CHEETA) project. An...
High-field superconducting magnets rely on precise knowledge of material properties at cryogenic temperatures to optimize performance and ensure long-term reliability. However, essential datasets —particularly for transport properties, thermal contraction, and mechanical behaviour— are often incomplete or entirely lacking. In this talk, we present recent results from cryogenic material...
Thermoacoustically driven cryocoolers have been an area of significant interest due to the driving mechanism being heat, which hence eliminates the need for moving mechanical parts and thus increases simplicity and reliability. A small-scale travelling-wave thermoacoustic Stirling cryocooler of this nature was designed and optimised in the thermoacoustic modelling software ‘DeltaEC.’ The...
In the United States, the transportation sector was the largest contributor to CO2 emissions, responsible for ~28% of the total in 2022, whereas the residential sector accounted for around 13%. While batteries are making significant progress in reducing emissions in the transportation and residential sectors, commercial aircraft remain a mode of transportation where electrification poses...
Pulsar Helium will be giving an update about the status of their company and projects. This presentation will provide a corporate picture and their current stategy. They will talk about the recent results of their wells at their Topaz project in Minnesota and some challenges that have been encountered. They will go over the next steps of the project and the agreements that have been put in...
Sub-millikelvin (sub-mK) temperatures, or even lower, were first achieved in 1956 by adiabatic demagnetization cooling of nuclear spins in copper [1]. Since then, the use of such extremely low temperatures has long been limited to researchers in fundamental science such as superfluid 3He and nuclear magnetism [2]. In general, lowering temperature have their own advantages, e.g., improved...
NASA aeronautics goals include pioneering new technology to increase commercial aircraft efficiency and reduce emissions from air travel. The feasibility of using fuel cells and on-board cryogenic hydrogen systems in combination with electric motors for commercial transport aircraft has been examined in the past at NASA and in the aircraft industry. Growing emphasis on increasing...
Over the past 2 decades, the high-temperature superconductors REBCO (RE1Ba2Cu3O7-x where RE is a Rare Earth element or yttrium) and Bi-2212 (Bi2Sr2CaCu2O10) have been developed into reliable conductor for magnet technology operating above 15 T and as possible “dry” magnets with limited amounts of liquid cryogens. Fusion applications have recently invested approximately $400 million in the...
The potential for use of cryogenic fuel in aviation and ground transportation industry is growing, and along with it, the need for light-weight tanks to store liquid & sub-cooled hydrogen. Fiber-reinforced composite materials, especially, carbon-fiber composites, are widely used in aerospace industry and have replaced Aluminum, Steel and in some cases Titanium in airframe and engine...
Adiabatic demagnetization refrigeration (ADR) is an efficient and reliable cooling technology well used for temperatures below 1 K. It is particularly well suited for space applications, thanks to the absence of fluid refrigerant and of moving parts and to a competitive Carnot efficiency. A multi-ADR cooler, that is the last stage of a cryogenic chain, is proposed for the LiteBIRD and Athena...
The Cryogenic Fluid Management (CFM) Portfolio Project (CFMPP) was established by NASA in 2021 to achieve the primary goal of closing CFM technology gaps essential to NASA’s future missions in science and exploration. The office is comprised of Marshall Space Flight Center as the lead, with key support from Glenn Research Center and other NASA Centers. The CFMPP office organization,...
As the aviation industry moves toward decarbonization, liquid hydrogen (LH2) emerges as a promising alternative fuel, offering the potential for zero carbon emissions during combustion. However, the successful use of LH2 in aircraft systems relies on understanding the structural integrity of composite materials under extreme temperature conditions as LH2 boils at 20 K (-253 ºC). The tensile...
In astronomical observations, detectors operating in the sub-Kelvin temperature range require extremely stable working temperatures. Adiabatic demagnetization refrigerators (ADR), as the sub-Kelvin refrigerator that is independent of gravity and offers high temperature control precision, have become the preferred choice for astronomical observation missions. The high temperature control...
The Modeling and Technologies Portfolios are part of The NASA Cryogenic Fluid Management (CFM) Portfolio Project’s (CFMPP). The Modeling Portfolio develops, enhances, validates, and demonstrates Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Nodal tools to address capability gaps for predicting cryogenic fluid behavior in 1-G and microgravity environments for use as design tools for future NASA...
Type-V cryogenic storage tanks, made from composite materials, have recently utilized 3D-printed composites reinforced with short carbon fibers. These materials combine lightweight design with excellent structural integrity while also exhibiting electrical conductivity and a piezometric response under applied loads. Despite these advantages, their piezometric properties remain unexplored,...
As an important sub-Kelvin refrigeration technology, the adiabatic demagnetization refrigeration (ADR) is used for space detector cooling and ground-based experiments because of its wide temperature coverage, high efficiency and gravity-independence. We design a 3-stage adiabatic demagnetization refrigerator pre-cooled by a GM-type pulse tube cooler and operating from 4 K to 50 mK. Gadolinium...
NASA is developing technologies for long duration missions utilizing cryogenic propellants. Zero boil-off storage is necessary to achieve human exploration missions to Mars. Active cooling will enable these missions. Current and future cryocooler technology development efforts will be presented for storage of Liquid Hydrogen, Oxygen, and Methane.
Maritime shipping of vast quantities of liquid hydrogen (LH2) will be necessary to facilitate a global hydrogen ecosystem; with some studies estimating volumes up to 172,000 m3 for individual tanker ships, and requiring stationary storage tanks at terminals of 50,000 m3 to 100,000 m3—ten to fifteen times larger than the current largest tank, located at launch pad B at NASA Kennedy Space Center...
This paper discusses AeroCryoX, a MATLAB/Simulink-based modeling library developed to support the design and analysis of cryogenic power systems of electric aircraft as part of the NASA-funded University Leadership Initiative, Integrated Zero-Emission Aviation (IZEA). IZEA aims to achieve zero-emission regional aviation through a novel hybrid powertrain architecture utilizing liquid hydrogen...
The NASA Cryogenic Fluid Management Portfolio Project’s (CFMPP) Demonstrations Portfolio designs, builds, and tests integrated flight and ground systems comprised of multiple CFM subsystems, enabling TRL 5 - 7 maturation for technologies for in-space applications both through activities performed by NASA and partnerships with industry. These partnerships are through Tipping Point contracts, a...
As space exploration becomes more prevalent, passive thermal control becomes increasingly necessary. Preserved cryogenic compressed fuels in space for exploration must be exposed to as little thermal energy as possible, and the primary objective to accomplish this task is through the reflection of incident sunlight. Current passive reflective thermal control coatings are metallic with...
Fossil fuels and their low efficiency and emissions have impacted our climate and energy resilience. The focus on Net-Zero targets and general awareness of the negative impacts of emissions on climate change and sustainability triggered a paradigm of new energy sources for electricity generation. Expanding our reliance on renewable energy sources requires large scale energy storage. Liquid...
As part of the Artemis Program, NASA’s Human Landing Systems (HLS) Program is responsible for the development of spacecraft that will land the next American astronauts on the Moon and return them safely to a staging vehicle in lunar orbit. NASA has partnered with SpaceX and Blue Origin to lead the design and development of these human landing systems, and NASA is providing critical insight and...
