Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
28
Novel High Effectiveness Recuperator ............... 12 LIGO Prepares Cryogenic Update...................... 38
New Cryostat Design Volume............................. 18 SCW Student Scholarship Established .............. 45
Volume 32 Number 4
Join Our Growing Family of CSA Get connected to the cryogenic community
worldwide. Let your voice be heard and
Corporate Sustaining Members your contributions known.
Abbess Instruments and Systems, Inc. Cryogenic Control Systems, Inc. Instant Systems, Inc. Oxford Instruments NanoScience
Ability Engineering Technology, Inc. Cryogenic Industries, Inc. International Cryogenics, Inc. PHPK Technologies
Acme Cryogenics, Inc. Cryogenic Institute of New England Precision Measurements and
ISOFLEX USA
Instruments Corp.
Advanced Research Systems, Inc. Cryogenic Machinery Corporation
Janis Research Company LLC Prentex Alloy Fabricators, Inc.
Aerospace Fabrication & Materials Cryoguard Corporation
Kadel Engineering Corp. Quantum Cryogenics Ltd.
Air Liquide advanced Technologies Cryomagnetics, Inc.
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology Quantum Design, Inc.
American Magnetics, Inc. Cryomech, Inc.
Ratermann Cryogenics
Kelvin International Corporation
Amuneal Manufacturing Corp. Cryonova, LLC
Ratermann Manufacturing, Inc.
Kelvin Technology, Inc.
Argonne National Laboratory Cryotherm GmbH & Co. KG Redstone Aerospace
KEYCOM Corporation
Barber-Nichols Inc. CryoVac GmbH RegO Products
L-3 Cincinnati Electronics
BellowsTech, LLC CryoWorks, Inc. RUAG Space GmbH
Brooks Automation, Inc., Vacuum Demaco Holland BV Linde Cryogenics, Division of Linde SGD Inc.
Products Division Engineering
Engineer
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North
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DH Industries BV Shell-N-Tube
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vt. Ltd.
CAD Cut, Inc. Materials
Lydalll Performance Materi
ials
ls
DH Industries India Pvt. Ltd. shirokuma
shirok
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ma Gm
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Company
CCH Equipment Com
mpany Magnatrol
Magn
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DH Industries USA, Inc. Sierra Lobo, Inc..
Chart Inc.
Magnus
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re Spaulding
Spauld
Spa uldiing Composites Inc.
CryoSystems,
DMP Cryo
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Circor CryogenicsCPC Cryolab
Eden Cryogenics Marathon Products, Inc. SPS Cryogenics BV
Clark Industries, Inc.
Corporation
EPSIM Corporatio
ionn Master Bond STAR Cryoelectronics
Coax Co., Ltd.
Industries Sthr Armaturen GmbH & Co. KG
Essex Indust
tries Meyer
Meye Tool
yerr Tool & Mfg., Inc.
Composite Technology
Sumitomo (SHI) Cryogenics of
Development, Inc. Technifab
Exactifab, Division of Techn
ec hnififab
ab MMR
M Technologies,
MR Technol i IInc.
h logies, nc. America, Inc.
Products, Inc.
Cool Pair Plus Molecular Products, Inc. Sunpower, Inc.
Fermi National Accelerator
Creare LLC Laboratory Technifab Products, Inc.
NASA Kennedy Cryogenics
Criotec Impianti srl Fin Tube Products, Inc. Test Laboratory
Temati
Cryo Industries of America Gardner Cryogenics National Cryogenics Corporation Tempshield Cryo-Protection
Cryogas Tech Sdn. Bhd. Indium Wire Extrusion Oak Ridge National Laboratory WEKA AG
Inside This Issue
8 22 35 45
FEATURES 46 In Memoriam: Dr. Karl A. Gschneidner and
Dr. Helen Edwards
8 ICC19 Conference Recap
48 Conference Connect: ICHEP 2016 and Space
10 LOX System For Navy Cuts Cost, Increases Efficiency Tech Expo 2016
1 2
1)Wing Sze Lui (JPL), Dean Johnson (JPL), Denise Gutierrez (JPL), Nga Vu-Lintag (JPL), Yvonne Chen (JPL), Jose Rodriguez (JPL) and Sidney Yuan (Aerospace
Corporation) pose outside the conference center. 2)Ted Conrad (Raytheon), Mary Bradley, Peter Bradley (NIST), Alex Veprik (SCD) and Valery Borsenets (SLAC
National Laboratory) take a break while exploring the San Diego Natural History Museum.
A
group of 180 researchers and en- the Faculty of Science and Technology, Radebaugh says teaching the course
gineers from 12 countries gath- University of Twente, the Netherlands. has been rewarding for him, especially
ered in San Diego June 20-23 when he is able to watch individuals new
for the 19th International Cryocooler Reggie Little, from Iris Technology, to the field develop into top researchers. I
Conference (ICC19), coordinated by the was one of the course attendees. Like many see people come to the class that are maybe
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in the cryogenics community he got in- just starting in the field and then a few years
and held at the Town and Country Resort volved in the industry because there was later at the cryocooler conference they are
and Convention Center. an on-the-job need. But I didnt know any- presenting papers with some new ideas, he
thing about what a cryocooler was, how it says. Im learning from them in the pro-
The conference included a combina- works or the different types, and so thats cessso, its very rewarding to me.
tion of 80 oral and poster presentations why I attended the short course, he says.
over the course of three days. Presentation And now, after eight hours, I pretty much Through the 20 years that he has
topics included cryocooler modeling and have the background and understanding taught the course, Radebaugh says the big-
analysis, cryocooler control electronics, of whats going on. Now it all makes sense gest changes hes seen have been in space
large-scale cryocooler applications as well [and] Im a happy person. Its just a good applications, and indeed, the aerospace
as cryocooler miniaturization, laboratory program to get into, a really good course. community has traditionally organized
and aerospace applications. the conference. This years conference in-
Kelsey McCusker, a thermal engineer at cluded a strong focus on space cryocoolers,
On June 19, CSA hosted Foundations Northrop Grumman and one of CSAs 2016 detailed by Peter Shirron in his column of
of Cryocoolers, its daylong short course Young Faces in Cryogenics, agrees. Theres page 22 of this issue. The column includes
designed to provide attendees with an un- a lot of trial and error [in research fields] so a performance summary for long-life cryo-
derstanding of cryocooler fundamentals its really nice to be able to come in here and coolers provided by JPLs Ron Ross.
and a description of how these principles get a lot of really condensed, useful infor-
are used in various types of gas-cycle mation to eliminate a lot of the mistakes we Weve got two or three coolers in orbit
cryocoolers to achieve temperatures from could have potentially made in the future, running 24/7 for 18 years, Ross says. And
about 2 K to 150 K. Dr. Ray Radebaugh, she says. And, I like that [Ray] attaches a there are over 30 coolers up there now with
consultant to the Applied Chemicals and lot of it to the theory because then Im able over 10 years of continuous operation.
Materials Division at NIST Boulder and to really look at all the different cryocool-
a world-renowned expert in the field of ers and understand why one is better at a Ross attended his first conference in 1988,
cryogenics, taught the course together certain temperature or why another is better chaired in 1994 and has worked extensively
with Prof. Marcel ter Brake, a noted with a certain cooling capacity. And I think over the years to help distribute the papers
leader in the cryogenics field who is on breaking it down like this is really useful. presented at the conference. For some time
3 5
6 7 8
3)Guests line the entry stairs at Quantum Design before taking a tour of its new facility. 4)Attendees take notes during the Foundations of Cryocoolers short course
presented by 5)Dr. Ray Radebaugh (left) and Marcel ter Brake. 6)Local flora on the nature trails of Balboa Park. 7)Musicians welcome visitors to the Fiesta de Reyes
market. 8) Garden adjacent to the Estudilllo House, a national historic landmark in San Diego's Old Town.
the conference worked with various publish- The volume will include a paper from The Del Lago Trio (a cello, flute and wood-
ing houses, but in 2006 Ross helped start ICC Alan Caughley, technology group manager wind ensemble) provided relaxing back-
Press, an in-house publishing company that at Callaghan Innovation, whose presentation ground music for the evening.
now provides the papers in open access. on a new range of large pulse tube cryocoolers
(see page 11) opened the conference. I had After the conference concluded, a group
Ross says the open access is terribly im- one person collar me almost immediately af- of 50 interested attendees enjoyed a private
portant for the community. The whole rate terwards, he says. And quite a few people tour of the world headquarters of Quantum
at which cryocoolers are advancing is very de- have come up to talk about it. Its been good. Design, Inc. (CSA CSM), a manufacturer of
pendent on how quickly you can get the word Well worthwhile. A lot of people are inter- cryogen-free measurement systems.
out, he says. Im still embarrassed with our ested in the machine itself and the utility of
situation to some extent with the period we the machineIts not one of the old things ICC19 was chaired by JPLs Dean Johnson
were with the New York publishing houses being refined more; this is something new. and co-chaired by Jose Rodriguez and Sidney
because all of those papers are there but Yuan of JPL and Aerospace Corporation re-
they charge you $30 apiece to look at them. He says that coming to ICC is essential spectively. Carl Kirkconnell from West Coast
It totally inhibits people being able to browse for companies such as Callaghan that oper- Solutions and Mark Zagarola of Creare LLC
through the library of the old papers and pick ate in the more remote areas of the world. (CSA CSM) served as program chairs.
up the technology. We dont have that community in New
Zealand, so Ive got to come and talk to all Zagarolas team presented a recu-
The conference provided attendees the people here. perator at ICC19, discussed on page 12,
this year with digital copies of the peer- and the company will host ICC20 in 2018.
reviewed papers. They will also be avail- One thing New Zealand does have, Creare is extremely excited and honored
able on the ICC website and published in however, is a large community of whales. to host the 20th International Cryocooler
Cryocoolers 19, a hard bound proceedings And attendees learned all about them from Conference, says Zagarola. We look
book distributed to conference attendees via a special whale exhibit during the confer- forward to welcoming the community to
mail later this year and thereafter available ence banquet held Wednesday evening at picturesque and historic New England in
to order from Amazon.com in early 2017. the San Diego Natural History Museum. June of 2018.
Tube Flow
cooling capacity and temperature for an
input power around 1.6 kW, corresponding
to a specific power of 80 W/W. The coef-
ficient of performance for this machine is
18 percent of the Carnot cycle, significantly
better than any 20 K cryocooler existing [3]
or currently under development. Tube Sheet Micro-Tubes Mid Plates Inner Shell
Acknowledgment
References
1. Mustafi, S., Canavan, E.R., and Boyle, R., Co-Storage of
Cryogenic Propellants for Lunar Exploration, AIAA 2008-7800,
AIAA SPACE 2008 Conf & Expo, San Diego, CA (2008).
Many cryogenic
experiments rely on
electrical connections
from the lab envi-
ronment to a sample
inside a low tempera-
ture cryostat. Any wir-
ing used in the setup
provides a path for
heat from the outside
world to the sample,
so it is important to
consider a number of
heat flow factors to
minimize the effects
of wiring on the base
temperature. While
thin, long wires mini-
Fusion F2 cryostat. Image: Montana Instruments
mize heat load, these
can be difficult to manage and tend to break easily. Proper thermal
lagging is also essential to pulling energy out of the wire before it
reaches the sample, but this is often tedious and can hinder electrical
and thermal performance if not done correctly.
Cryostats are technical systems that required in these cases, low heat leak, reliabil-
maintain equipment or cryogenic liquids at ity and cost are key requirements. Chapter 4
cryogenic temperatures. As such, they are describes a one-of-a-kind spaceborne dewar
one of the fundamental building blocks of system whose requirements are very different
cryogenic systems. Examples of cryostats than those of accelerator cryostats.
include: the magnet cryostats that comprise
the majority of the Large Hadron Collider Chapters 5 and 6 describe cryomodules
(LHC) at CERN, spaceborne cryostats con- that contain superconducting RF cavities
taining sensors operating below 1 K, MRI in particle accelerators. As readers will dis-
cryostats found in most large hospitals and cover, there are two broad families of these
large cryogenic liquid storage vessels. cryomodules (segmented and continuous),
with different design drivers and approaches.
Cryostats that contain superconducting Taken together these chapters describe a total
radio frequency cavities are frequently referred of six different cryomodules and provide an
to as cryomodules, while cryostats whose prin- overview of the evolution of cryomodule de-
ciple function is to store cryogenic fluids are also sign from the 1980s to the 2010s.
referred to as dewars. Cryomodules and dewars
are also covered in this work. Chapter 7 presents special topics in cryo-
stat design, many of particular importance
The proper design of cryostats requires for the MRI magnet cryostats that provide the
knowledge of many disciplines including: examples, but which are broadly valuable for
cryogenic properties of materials, heat all cryostats. A cryostat design for very low
transfer and thermal insulation, instrumen- It begins with an introduction to the (50 mK) temperatures is described in Chapter
tation, safety, structures and seals. One of principles of cryostat design, including 8. In addition to the lower temperatures, this
the best ways to learn about cryostat design practical data and equations. A series of cryostat has unique material requirements
is to study the design choices and resulting case studies on existing cryostats follows, due to the need to keep the radioactive back-
performance of previous designs. presenting the design choices behind vari- ground of the associated experiment as low
ous cryostats and the resulting performance as possible.
This book provides such a review. It is of each. The cryostat examples used were
edited by John Weisend II, a senior scientist chosen to cover the wide range of cryostat Transfer lines connect cryostats and
and group leader at European Spallation applications and the authors of each case are a type of cryostat themselves. Transfer
Source ERIC and CSA chairman, and in- are leading experts in the field, all of whom line features, an overview of major transfer
cludes contributions from Weisends col- participated in the design of the cryostats line systems and a detailed case study of
leagues and researchers from CERN, Fermi being described. a transfer line are found in Chapter 9. The
National Accelerator Laboratory (CSA final chapter provides a summary by listing
CSM), NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Chapters 2 and 3 are case studies involving guidelines for successful cryostat design,
GE Global Research and Thomas Jefferson superconducting magnets for large particle ac- while extensive references throughout pro-
National Accelerator Facility (CSA CSM). celerators. Due to the large numbers of magnets vide sources of further information.
List of Contributors:
Edward F. Daly, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory Joseph Preble,
Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility tnicol@fnal.gov Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility
edaly@jlab.org preble@jlab.org
Thomas J. Peterson,
Michael DiPirro, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory Richard L. Schmitt,
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center tommy@fnal.gov Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
mike.dipirro@nasa.gov rlschmitt@fnal.gov
Two-Phase Flows
T wo-phase flows are those flows incorrectly designed systems may trap the projects. One outcome of this research was
in which there is a mixture of vapor phase against surfaces resulting in the determination of an upper limit for the
two physical states (solid, liq- inadequate cooling and many flow com- velocity of the vapor phase that should
uid or vapor). In cryogenic applications, ponents such as pumps, flow meters and not be exceeded if one wanted to remain
such flows are almost always a mixture turboexpanders may not function prop- in the desirable stratified flow regime.
of a cryogenic liquid along with its cor- erly in two-phase flows.
responding vapor. A mixture of liquid he- An introduction to two-phase flow may
lium and helium vapor would be a typical In addition, in cases where the flow be found in Cryogenic Two-Phase Flow,
example. is on an incline (a common occurrence in N.N. Filina and J.G. Weisend II, Cambridge
particle accelerator tunnels), all the liquid University Press (1996).
While the complexity and potential may flow to the downhill side. This may
issues of two-phase flows are such that necessitate the use of weirs or shorter flow An example of the use of two-phase
they are frequently avoided in cryogenic paths to maintain the desired liquid-vapor flows to cool large magnets via a ther-
designs (see Defining Cryogenics in Cold ratio. mosyphon is given in The Cryogenic
Facts, Vol 32 No 3), there are cases where System for the Superconducting Solenoid
two-phase flows are either desirable or Due to these issues and complexi- Magnet of the CMS Experiment, D.
unavoidable. Two-phase flows are found ties, detailed modelling and sometimes Delikaris et al., Proceedings of Fifteenth
in many areas of cryogenics including experimentation is required whenever International Conference on Magnetic
LNG, large-scale helium systems and two-phase flows are used in cryogenic Technology (1997).
space cryogenics. systems, to ensure proper performance.
Care must also be taken that a nominally Other examples of two-phase cooling
A principal advantage of two-phase single-phase (say pure liquid) flow in a are Forced Two-phase Helium Cooling
flows is that they can provide isother- system does not suddenly become two- Scheme for the Mu2e Transport Solenoid,
mal heat sinks. Due to the latent heat of phase due to heat inputs or pressure G. Tatkowski et al., Adv.Cryo.Engr.-
boiling, heat added to the liquid part of drops resulting in unexpected problems. IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and
a two-phase flow will convert liquid to Engineering 101 (2015) and Superfluid
vapor in the two-phase flow but will not One way to characterize two-phase Helium Cryogenics for the Large Hadron
increase the mixtures temperature. This flows is by their flow regimes, which de- Collider Project at CERN, P. Lebrun,
feature is used in the cooling schemes of scribe the arrangement and relative frac- Cryogenics 34 (1994).
the Tevatron, HERA and Large Hadron tions of the liquid and vapor in the flow.
Collider (LHC) magnets and in most su- Examples of modelling and experiments
perconducting radio frequency cavity In non-cryogenic fluids, the Baker dia- on He II two-phase flow include: He II Two
systems such as the X-ray Free Electron gram provides a map of the various flow Phase Flow in an Inclinable 22 m Long
LASER (XFEL). regimes as a function of flow properties. Line, B. Rousset et al., Adv.Cryo.Engr.
Experiments by Theilacker and Rode at Vol. 45a (2000) and An experimental and
Two-phase flows are also important Fermilab National Accelerator Laboratory numerical study of He II two-phase flow
in thermosyphon systems (see Defining (CSA CSM) showed, however, that the in the TESLA test facility, Yu Xiang, et al.
Cryogenics in Cold Facts, Spring 2012) Baker diagram isnt valid for two-phase he- Cryogenics 42 (2002).
where the density difference between the lium and provided an alternative diagram.
liquid and gas phases drives the natural Their research on helium flow regimes can Examples of work on cryogenic two-
convection heat transfer that provides be found in An Investigation into Flow phase flows are given in Two-phase heat
cooling. Regimes for Two-Phase Helium Flow, J.C. transfer and pressure drop of LNG during
Theilacker and C. Rode, Adv.Cryo.Engr. saturated flow boiling in a horizontal tube,
There are a number of disadvantages Vol. 33 (1988). D. Chen and Y. Shi, Cryogenics 58 (2013)
to two-phase flows. These flows typi- and Hierarchy of Two-Phase Flow Models
cally have a higher pressure drop when Extensive modelling and experimen- for Autonomous Control of Cryogenic
flowing though pipes and other compo- tation was carried out for the particular Loading Operation, D. G. Luchinsky et al.,
nents, flow instabilities may develop that case of He II two-phase flow in support of Adv.Cryo.Engr.-IOP Conf. Series: Materials
result in pressure surges and vibrations, the LHC and International Linear Collider Science and Engineering 101 (2015).
T he 19th International Cryocooler himself to create and maintain the defini- Several ongoing developments
Conference (ICC19) was held June tive performance summary for long-life gleaned from the conference presenta-
20-23 in San Diego. The aerospace cryocoolers used in orbiting satellites and tions are noteworthy for future space
community traditionally organizes the the International Space Station. For many missions as the trend toward lower oper-
conferencein this case the Jet Propulsion of these coolers, the operating durations ating temperatures continues. An increas-
Lab (JPL) and others listed in the confer- are well beyond their mean time to fail- ing number of astronomy and cosmology
ence recap on page 8 of this issuebut the ure estimateswithout degradation in missions is driving this trend, including
content of presentations is not limited to performancewhich should help retire the Advanced Telescope for High-Energy
space cryocoolers. This years conference the stubborn perception of risk in using Astrophysics (Athena), the Primordial
did, however, include a strong focus on cryocoolers for space instruments. The Inflation Explorer (PIXIE) and the Space
space cryocoolers and hence provides an table below was updated in May 2016. Infrared Telescope for Cosmology and
excellent snapshot of current developments Astrophysics (SPICA).
and trends for future capabilities, which are Absent from the list is Astro-H/Hitomi,
summarized here, with more detail avail- with its four Stirling cryocoolers and 4.5 K These projects will use low temperature
able in the proceedings. Joule-Thomson (JT) unit. Although all coolers detectors and will require complex cool-
worked nominally until breakup of the satel- ing chains to achieve long mission lifetimes,
But before getting to that, it is instruc- lite after 37 days on orbit, the operation did including cryocoolers operating in the 2-4 K
tive to look at what past and current state- not establish any meaningful track record of range to support sub-kelvin refrigera-
of-the-art cryocoolers have achievedand longevity. This leaves the Planck JT cooler as tors. Another area where cryocoolers are
are still achievingin space. JPLs Ron the only 4 K-class cryocooler that has demon- increasingly vital is propellant produc-
Ross (CSA Fellow) has taken it upon strated long operating life (4.4 years) on orbit. tion and storage, where high power 20 K
Table 1: Space Cryocooler Flight Operating Experience as of May 2016. Image Ron Ross/JPL
Table 2: Active space cryocooler development programs reported at the ICC19. Image: Shirron A couple of other developments re-
ported during the conference are also
coolers are needed for liquefaction and low liquefaction of 3He. This is not a constraint noteworthy for space systems. The first is
or zero boiloff storage. for the 3-stage ADR systems described by the development (Conrad/Raytheon) of a
DiPirro/NASA and Brasiliano/CEA. temperature control process for a hybrid
For the lowest temperature regime, Stirling/pulse tube coolerby adjusting
Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Ltd. was the Also in support of Athena, Rutherford the Stirling phaseto match the cooling
first to begin work in the late 1990s on space- Appleton Laboratory (Crook) presented produced to each load. This has the effect
worthy JT coolers operating below 2 K and work on a 2 K JT cooler which will use two of minimizing the input power and provid-
currently has a unit under life test operating compression stages and a single flow loop ing better cooling rates during a cooldown.
for more than 250 days with a load of 5 mW to produce 150 K, 15 K and 2 K, with a goal Conrad noted that the scheme could be ap-
at 1.7 K. of 20 mW at 2 K with 200 W of input power. plied to all of its cryocoolers.
This is a critical technology area for In the 4-6 K regime, Petach/NGAS The second, by Trollier/Absolut
Athena and SPICA, as the hybrid 3He gave an update on the performance and vi- Systems, Inc., focused on aspects of inte-
sorption/adiabatic demagnetization bration measurements for the pulse tube/6 gration, in particular techniques for pro-
refrigerator (ADR) cooler described by K JT cooler integrated into the MIRI instru- ducing flexible Al and Cu thermal straps
Duband/CEA (which is the baseline sub- ment on the James Webb Space Telescope, for linking loads to a cold head, and a 20 K
kelvin cooler for both missions) and the slated for launch in 2018. forced flow loop, using high-pressure he-
closed cycle dilution refrigerator being lium gas. Although intended for ground
developed at the Nel Institute (not pre- Other work presented focused on systems, it could be the basis for distrib-
sented) as a backup technology, require the development of advanced regenera- uted cooling of large systems like propel-
a base temperature of 2 K or less for tors, with Creare (Chen) reporting on the lant depots in orbit.
Be Careful What You Ask For You Just May Get It!
Introduction technician, and could work with minimal Lesson learnedWhen developing
direction. Also, just to make sure things were requirements for cryogenic system design,
Whenever I sit down to write this col- done right, I brought a dozen donuts down to fabrication and installation, make sure to
umn, I start by pondering the dumb things the shop (always a good idea to keep people include the requirement that potential sup-
Ive done over the years. Being an engineer, happy). A few days later, I stopped down at pliers provide information that will allow
I usually think of oops in terms of hard- the shop to check on progress. The control you to make an informed decision when
ware or operations. This month, however, I panel looked good but I did mention one awarding a contract. It is quite appropri-
started thinking about mistakes Ive made small item I thought should look different. ate to ask for references on past projects of
before any hardware ever showed up at my Oh, he replied with a smile, you wanted similar scope, resumes of individuals who
doorstep. And let me tell you, this line of the two dozen donut job. You only paid for will work on the project and company cer-
thought opened up a whole new area. the one dozen donut job. tifications. This can save a lot of headaches
down the road.
Background Lesson learnedIf you want some-
thing specific, be sure to ask for it. When de- One last matter I want to bring up is
Before you ever lay your hands on a veloping requirements for something, there about writing specifications. These docu-
piece of hardware you have to specify or is always the risk of either under-specifying ments can often be long and detailed. If you
design it, and then buy or build it. If you or over-specifying. Not enough details, and have access to a similar document that you
can design and build something in-house you may not get what you expect. Too many can use as a template, hurrah! Not having to
(at your own facilities), you have a certain details, and you may end up paying more create paragraph after paragraph of minute
amount of control over the process and final than you need to. If you are dealing with design details can be a work-saver and also
product. However, when you go out on the a qualified professional or company, make provide some consistency from one project
open market and buy something, your suc- sure to provide enough details on the must to the other. But also be aware of the risks
cess depends on how well you can define haves, and trust them to use proper judg- of copy/paste, and dont blindly copy
your requirements. ment on the details. specifications and requirements that are not
applicable.
Once an order is placed, you are at This assumes that you are dealing with
the mercy of the supplier, to some extent, qualified parties, which brings up my next For example, if you are using a template
to deliver according to your specification. story. We had to move our cryogenic test fa- that refers to flammables such as hydrogen or
This isnt to say that suppliers are out to cility a number of years ago because another LNG, the document will doubtless have re-
intentionally screw you. They understand organization took over the area. This move quirements for intrinsically safe or explosion
that they wont stay in business long if they involved a few new buildings and relocat- proof electrical design. If you are not using
continually disappoint customers and they ing our cryogenic hardware. We had speci- flammable fluids in your system you obviously
really do want to provide what you want fied the work to be done, entertained bids dont need to include those requirements.
to the best of their ability. But rather, it is and accepted a proposal from a well-known
to stress that it is up to you to clearly define engineering firm. Summary
your requirements, whether for in-house or
procured hardware. At the first project review meeting, we If we make the effort to define what
could see that they had the civil construction we want, theres a good chance well end
Oops and much of the system design well in hand. up with what we really need. Make the
It became painfully obvious to us, however, effort to think through your requirements
This is one of my favorite stories from that they had absolutely no previous experi- and distill them into precise enough lan-
about 20 years ago. We were building up a ence with the design and installation of cryo- guage to be easily understood by those
new test facility and I had asked one of our genic systems. Although this slowed things seeking to fulfill them.
electronics technicians to fabricate a control down a bit, it wasnt a showstopper. We did
panel (back in the day when panels had real have to make an extra effort to fill them in on As always, we invite you to share any
switches, knobs and instrument readouts in- specific requirements for design and installa- of your oops stories with us. Feel free to
stead of the modern touch panel computer tion of cryogenic hardware, and by the end send them in to Brian Dudley at editor@
displays). I had given some general instruc- of the project their competence had greatly cryogenicsociety.org and well try and in-
tions, knowing that he was an excellent increased and we had a satisfactory design. clude them in this column.
The use of boiloff calorimetry has be- Nearly 200 years later, Fouriers basic
come a practical and useful tool to measure, observation remains: experimental studies,
in a direct way, the thermal insulating perfor- testing methodologies and thermal apparatus
mances of materials and systems of materials. are central to understanding heat energy. We
still do not really know what heat is, though
The use of boiloff calorimetry to measure the words calorie and calorimeter remain, but
the effects of thermal energy (or heat) dates we now have the terms and equations we call
back to the early 1900s [1, 2]. Gas flow rates thermodynamics.
measured in evaporationor boiloffcalo-
rimetry enable direct calculation of quantities J. Willard Gibbs rigorously advanced
such as heat flux and thermal conductivity. A the ideas of modern thermodynamics,
particularly useful approach is to use nitrogen and hence the concept of latent heat of
for the heat measurement fluid as it is read- evaporation, through his analytical work,
ily available, inert and generally safe to use. The Scientific Papers of J. Willard Gibbs,
The temperature range from normal boiling A cryogenic boiloff test apparatus, Cryostat-500, in published in 1906. Low temperature stud-
point (77.4 K) to ambient (approximately 300 K) the laboratory setting. Image: NASA ies ensued in the following three decades,
represents a wide range of particular needs culminating in the liquefaction of helium
in construction, transportation, food and From these hidden heat (or latent heat) and discovery of superconductivity by H.
beverage, pharmaceuticals, electrical power, concepts of the mid-1700s we now have the Kamerlingh Onnes. And it is Onnes who is
electronics, medical imaging, aerospace, in- terms heat of fusion and heat of vaporization. credited with coining the term enthalpy that
dustrial processes and so forth, touching on The notions of heat and absence of heat (now is so extensively used today [6]. The word
virtually all aspects of modern life. The low- known as cold), first advanced by the great enthalpy is a combination of the Greek pre-
est temperature boiloff liquid is liquid helium philosophers, remained in a highly formative fix en- (to put into) and verb thalpein ("to
with a normal boiling point of 4.2 K. stage for the next 100 years. A primary theme heat"), serving as a reminder of the hard-
through all of these developments was chem- to-pin-down nature of thermal energy that
Because heat does not flow through a istry and experimentation. Leading scientists persists to this day.
material as a function of temperature but ac- of the day often considered heat to be a sub-
cording to a temperature difference, the use stance (caloric) that moved about in the world. Advent of Heat Measurement in
of a cryogen such as liquid nitrogen also pro- Cryogenics
vides a convenient way to establish the sub- Joseph Fourier, however, went beyond
ambient test conditions represented in the the notion of heat as a substance with his fa- Cryogenics came about as both a word and
wide range of end-use applications. mous Analytic Theory of Heat, published in technical field in the first half of the 20th century.
1822, emphasizing mathematical analysis ap- In the US, the National Bureau of Standards
Origins of Heat Measurement plied to systematic observation [5]. He writes: (NBS) started a laboratory for cryogenics work,
and by the 1940s demand arose for indus-
Considerations and use of the cold "Heat, like gravity, penetrates every sub- trial use of liquid oxygen and other liquefied
have led to the understanding and appli- stance of the universe; its rays occupy all parts gases. These demands in turn drove the need
cation of the hot and have fundamentally of space. The object of our work is to set forth for higher performance, larger scale thermal
paved the way for the development of the the mathematical laws which this element insulation systems for cryogenic tanks. The
thermal sciences and related engineering obeys. The theory of heat will hereafter form performance demands sharply increased again
fields. By 1761, Joseph Black had devised one of the most important branches of general in the 1950s to support the development of the
an experimental calorimeter using ice and physicsNo considerable progress can here- hydrogen bomb, while the space race, touched
came up the idea of hidden heat through after be made which is not founded on experi- off by the launch of Sputnik in 1957, led to fur-
his experimental studies [3]. In another ments such as these; for mathematical analysis ther extensive development in materials, testing
example, an early ice-bath calorimeter can deduce from general and simple phenom- and large-scale applications in the 1960s [7, 8].
was used in 178283 by Antoine Lavoisier ena the expression of the laws of nature; but
and Pierre-Simon Laplace to determine the special application of these laws to very During this time, the NBS Boulder laborato-
the heat evolved in various chemical complex effects demands a long series of exact ries and the newly formed National Aeronautics
changes [4]. observations." and Space Administration (NASA) played a
References
1. Zarr, R.R. June 2001. A history of testing heat
insulators at the National Institute of Standards
and Technology, ASHRAE Transactions 2001,
107(2).
Repairing and refurbishing coldheads can handle the installation themselves or take the customer. If levels go beyond a certain point
and compressors is a very niche market. We advantage of CPPs turnkey services. set by the customer, the system sends email
are satisfying this very specific need in the and text alerts to help ensure quick responses.
healthcare and research industries, says Dick A multitude of problems can develop Helium is expensive, Branca says, so you
Branca, director of sales at CPP. as equipment ages, according to Mykleby. want to continually monitor your equipment
Some of these compressors are end-of-life and take action as soon as you can.
One of CPPs biggest challenges, Branca with the OEMs themselves, but were still
says, is maintaining these old systems with supporting them and were still running them CPP is also in the process of complet-
OEM level quality. The customer wants to through the same quality programs that we ing its ISO audit for the ISO 13485 standard.
reduce the cost of ownership as best they have for all of our other equipment as well. For us, the ISO certification process has gone
can. But they want the quality to be similar, So were literally keeping these systems func- smoothly and relatively quickly, says Padilla.
if not the same, to what they receive from tional when the OEM has said they're not I think its because we have had an organiza-
the OEM, he says. The challenge we face is touching these anymore. tional-wide commitment to quality all along.
when the equipment is as old as it is. www.coolpair.com
But even relatively young systems have
Each piece of equipment serviced by service issues, according to Mykleby. The cryo-
CPP is subjected to rigorous quality control systems run 24/7, and right now we have a mean
standards. Coldheads, for example, that are time between failures of 32 months. He says the
inoperable because of valves, bearings and overall cryogenic system includes a multitude
other interior parts, are completely replaced. of partsseals, bearings, valves, o-rings and oil
Compressor cases are even sent to an auto filtrationthat simply wear out over time.
body shop that smooths out dings and applies
a fresh coat of paint, often resulting in better Cool Pairs commitment to quality and
than new appearances. customer satisfaction is a focus throughout all
of its repair and refurbishment work and ap-
CPP also reverse engineers newer equip- plies to the older end-of-life systems and the
ment, including Sumitomos A3 coldhead, so newest equipment in the field, according to
it can rebuild units just hitting the market. Eric Padilla, CPPs quality manager.
Weve done all the R&D, all the reverse
engineering, and were actually servicing To help its customers better address poten-
these now and installing them, says Sean tial service needs, CPP has introduced daVinci,
Mykleby, CPPs product support manager. a remote monitoring and management system
that continuously monitors everything from
The CPP facility in Algonquin IL is packed helium pressure and level to room humidity,
with equipment ready for shipment. Customers and reports this information to both CPP and
More than 1,400 physicists from Conference organizers hosted two public
around the world converged in Chicago events, a lecture on gravitational waves and
for ICHEP 2016, held August 3-10 at the the Windy City Physics Slam, a competition
Sheraton Grand Chicago. Robert Zimmer, that pitted five physicists in a battle to cre-
president of the University of Chicago, atively explain their experiments with music,
welcomed attendees to the conference, en- dance and props.
couraging them in the spirit of famed ar-
chitect Daniel Hudson Burnham to make At a press event, directors from the
no little plans because they lack the power worlds major institutions undertook a
to stir peoples blood. similar endeavor, summarizing with grace Formal opening of ICHEP. Image: ICHEP Press
and humor decades of research, arguments
The conference program covered 16 to contextualize funding levels and efforts particle physics. Its the most fundamental of
topics, from the Higgs boson to neutrinos to to attract the next generation of scientists. all sciences. So if you want to understand how
dark matter to cosmology, and included up- things work you have to study and work and
dates from several experiments. Physicists There is nothing more gratifying in life contribute to the advance of particle physics.
from CERN confirmed, for example, that than contributing to the progress of knowl- www.ichep2016.org
its LHC experiments, now operating at 13 edge, said Fabiola Gianotti, director-general
TeV, had once again observed the 125 GeV of CERN, during the event. And there The 39th ICHEP will be held in Seoul
Higgs boson but that evidence of a possible is nothing more fundamental in life than from July 4-11, 2018.
Gasworld . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Company
HPD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Address
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City State/Country Zip + 4
International Cryogenics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Janis Research Co., Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Email Website