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...
Losses occurring during the transfer of cryogenic media using single-channel transfer lines depend on their length, hydraulic and thermodynamic quality. Single-channel cryogenic transfer lines often have a modular structure and are characterized by the use of many repeatable elements. Each module of the cryogenic transfer line consists of several elements typical of most structures. Bayonet...
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...
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...
