Women in Cryogenics and Superconductivity ...... 8 Countdown to Space Cryogenics Workshop.........

26
Fermilab Celebrates 50 ...................................... 13 Flat Plate Boiloff Testing ...................................... 30
1987 Woodstock of Physics ............................... 18 CSA Remembers Peter Gifford .......................... 34

Cryogenic Sapphire Clock Enhanced | 16

Volume 33 Number 1
Join Our Growing Family of CSA Get connected to the cryogenic community
worldwide. Let your voice be heard and
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 Inside This Issue

8 13 18 34
FEATURES COLUMNS
8 Women in Cryogenics and Superconductivity 6 Executive Directors Letter

16 Cryogenic Sapphire Oscillator Enhancement 21 Defining Cryogenics

Improves Accuracy
22 Space Cryogenics
18 Remembering the 1987 Woodstock of Physics
24 Cryo-Oops
30 Boiloff Calorimetry for the Measurement of Very Low
Heat Flows: Part 4, Flat Plate Boiloff Testing of SPOTLIGHTS
Insulation Systems

34 In Memoriam Peter Gifford 13 Fermilab Celebrates 50

36 In Memoriam Mauricio de Lima Lopes 14 BNI Develops New Liquid Gas Technologies

15 MagLab Sets New World Record with Mini Magnet

SCW 2017 SPECIAL SECTION
26 Countdown to the 27th Space Cryogenics Workshop 38 PRODUCT SHOWCASE

27 An Overview of Recent Developments in Cryogenic 39 EMPLOYMENT SHOWCASE

Fluid Management
40 PEOPLE & COMPANIES
28 Designing a 77 K Low Power DC-DC Converter
41 CALENDAR

DID YOU KNOW?

ON OUR COVER
Researchers from the University of Adelaide
in South Australia have fine-tuned the Cryo-
genic Sapphire Oscillator, or Sapphire Clock,
to allow time measurements with accuracy
on the femtosecond scale. The oscillator has
a five-centimeter cylinder-shaped sapphire
crystal cooled to about 267C, or about five
or six degrees above absolute zero. Our cov-
erage begins on page 16.
In all instances, CSA CSM indicates a Corporate Sustaining Member of CSA.
Early registration is now available for the 27th Space
Cryogenics WorkshopJuly 5-7, 2017, in Oak Brook IL. Its
just $525 for CSA members through May 5. More information,
including details on the new Frederking student scholarships,
is available at http://2csa.us/scw.
CSA is offering four short courses at CEC-ICMC 2017.
Registration information and course descriptions are provided
at http://2csa.us/shortcourses
Cold Facts Vol. 33 No. 3 will include coverage cryogenics
and energy, progress in superconductivity and a special sec-
tion on bellows, getters and characterization systems. Submit
your content to editor@cryogenicsociety.org by April 14.
You can stay up to date on all CSA news by subscribing to
the CryoChronicle newsletter and CSA Newsflashes at www.
cryogenicsociety.org.

Cold Facts | February 2017 | Volume 33 Number 1 5 www.cryogenicsociety.org

 From the Executive Director
Cold Facts Magazine
Executive Editor Late winter We encourage you to nominate
LAURIE HUGET
is CSAs time yourself or someone you think deserves
Editor to finalize singling out for the CSA awards that will
BRIAN DUDLEY
plans for the be presented at CEC/ICMC. Deadline
Advertising Coordinator big summer for nominations is April 28.
KIM DURDEN
cryo events
Online Marketing Manager of 2017. The William E. Gifford Award is
JO SNYDER
Were work- named in honor of Mr. Gifford, co-inven-
Graphic Designer ing with co-chairs Ali Hedayat and tor of the Gifford-McMahon cycle and
ISRAEL REZA
Franklin Miller to present the best Space founder of Cryomech, Inc., and is given
CSA Board of Technical Directors Cryogenics Workshop ever, from July to a recipient in academia or a govern-
Chairman 5-7 in Oak Brook, Illinois. The first three ment laboratory using a pulse tube or
JOHN WEISEND II issues of Cold Facts this year will each Gifford-McMahon cycle cryocooler as a
European Spallation Source (ERIC)
46 46-888 31 50 have a special section devoted to space key research component.
topics, preparing us for the exciting Fellow of the Cryogenic Society of
President
MELORA LARSON, Jet Propulsion Laboratory collaboration to come at the workshop. America is a designation given to a person
818-354-8751
Deadline for early registration is May 5. of distinction in cryogenics, who has made
Past President Hotel reservations must be made by June notable valuable contributions to the field.
JAMES FESMIRE, NASA Kennedy
Cryogenics Test Laboratory | 321-867-7557 14 to obtain the group discount. The Robert W. Vance Award was es-
tablished to honor persons for their dedi-
President-Elect
PETER SHIRRON, NASA Goddard Plans are now finalized for four Short cation and long-term commitment to the
Space Flight Center | 301-286-7327 Courses to be held on Sunday, July 9, in advancement of CSA.
Treasurer Madison, Wisconsin, in conjunction with CSA Technical Awards: Include the
RICH DAUSMAN, Cryomech, Inc. CEC-ICMC 2017. Award for Excellence in Cryogenic
315-455-2555
Design of Optimal Helium Research, the George T. Mulholland
Secretary Refrigeration and Liquefaction Memorial Award for Excellence in
JONATHAN DEMKO
LeTourneau University Systems (full day), taught by Dr. Rao Cryogenic Engineering and the Award
Ganni and Dr. Peter Knudsen, Facility for Excellence in Cryogenic Operations
Executive Director
LAURIE HUGET for Rare Isotope Beams, Michigan State and Support.
Huget Advertising, Inc. | 708-383-6220 x 302
University.
Registered Agent Cryogenic Safety (half day, morning), Details on requirements for submitting
WERNER K. HUGET, Huget Advertising, Inc.
taught by Dr. John Weisend II and John nominations are at the CSA website,
Technical Directors Jurns, European Spallation Source, and https://www.cryogenicsociety.org/
KATHLEEN AMM, GE Global Research
Tom Peterson, LCLSII, SLAC. about_csa/awards/
Cryocoolers (half day, morning),
PETER BRADLEY, NIST, Boulder taught by Dr. Phil Spoor, Chart QDrive. We were very sad to learn of the death
LANCE COOLEY, Fermi National Accelerator Thermal Properties: Changes in of longtime CSA supporter and all-round
Laboratory the Cryogenic Region (half day, after- major player in the cryogenics industry
SCOTT COURTS, Lake Shore Cryotronics, Inc. noon), taught by Dr. John Pfotenhauer Peter Gifford. This issue of Cold Facts con-
and Dr. Franklin Miller, Engineering tains an obituary and tributes to Peter from
EILEEN CUNNINGHAM, Meyer Tool & Mfg.
Department, University of Wisconsin- some of his many colleagues and friends.
TERRY GRIMM, Niowave, Inc. Madison. His passing leaves us all bereft. He shall
PETER KNUDSEN, MSU/FRIB long be missed.
Registration will be available online
CHRIS REY, Energy to Power Solutions (E2P)
at www.2csa.us/shortcourses Deadline
MARK ZAGAROLA, Creare LLC
for early registration discount is June 9.

Cold Facts (ISSN 1085-5262) is published six times per year by the
Cryogenic Society of America, Inc.
Contents 2017 Cryogenic Society of America, Inc.
Editorial Board
Randall Barron, Glen McIntosh, McIntosh Cryogenics
Although CSA makes reasonable efforts to keep the ret. Louisiana Tech University John Pfotenhauer, University of
information contained in this magazine accurate, the
information is not guaranteed and no responsibility is
Jack Bonn, VJ Systems, LLC Wisconsin-Madison
assumed for errors or omissions. CSA does not warrant Robert Fagaly, Leidos Ray Radebaugh, ret. NIST Boulder
the accuracy, completeness, timeliness or merchantabil- Brian Hands, ret. Oxford University Ralph Scurlock, Kryos Associates,
ity or fitness for a particular purpose of the information
contained herein, nor does CSA in any way endorse the Peter Kittel, ret. NASA Ames ret. University of Southampton
individuals and companies described in the magazine or Peter Mason, ret. Jet Propulsion Lab Nils Tellier, EPSIM Corporation
the products and services they may provide.

Cold Facts | February 2017 | Volume 33 Number 1 6 www.cryogenicsociety.org

 WOMEN in
CRYOGENICS and SUPERCONDUCTIVITY
Shirley Yang,
mechanical engineer at Thomas
Jefferson National Accelerator
Facility
What projects are you working on?
I work on the FRIB (Facility
for Rare Isotope Beams) project
for Michigan State University
and a little bit with the LCLSII project for SLAC National
Accelerator Laboratory. Im also the project engineer for the
upgrade of one of the operation units at Jefferson Lab.
What accomplishment are you most proud of?
I am very proud of the cold transfer line our team
designed for the FRIB project. We had five process lines, a
1.5 4 K supply line, a 2 4 K return line, 2.5 shield supply
and return lines and a 10 2 K return line. We enclosed
all these process lines with thermal shields and MLI, and
jacketed them with 20, 24 or 30 diameter pipes. The
design met mechanical strength requirements under
different load scenariosincluding transportation, pressure
test and normal operationand also minimized heat leak
and provided the piping system with flexibility both while
cooling down and at normal operational conditions.
What advances for women would you like to see in the
fields of cryogenics and superconductivity?
Im not certain what advances Id like to see for women
in these fields. However, Id like to share my story. I came to
the cryogenic and superconductivity fields at Jefferson Lab by
accident after working in a refinery as a reliability engineer.
One of my initial impressions at Jefferson Lab came
from the female engineer who provided a tour of the lab
after my interview. I recalled how proud she was to show me
the cavities and cryomodules. The modules looked strange
and complicated but they interested me at the same time.
I did not initially start in the Superconducting
Cold Facts | February 2017 | Volume 33 Number 1
Radiofrequency (SRF) sub-group at the lab, but came
on board to work on the finite elemental analysis of the
C100 cryomodule tuner.
Since then, Ive worked on other projects pertaining to
the field of superconductivity, such as finding more reliable
feedthroughs for the cryomodules, performing finite element
analysis of cryomodule pressure and tuning sensitivities,
testing large grain niobium mechanical properties, designing
the space-frame for the SPX project at Argonne National
Laboratory and designing the spoke cavity for the Basic Energy
Sciences inverse Compton scattering (BES-ICS) project. I then
joined the cryogenic departments design team to work on the
design of FRIB cryogenic plant in November 2013.
In all, I have worked in the cryogenic and
superconductivity fields for over five years. It is a very
unique area requiring a good amount of knowledge in
material strength, heat transfer and thermal dynamics. The
longer I am in this field, the more I enjoy it and feel that Ive
grown tremendously as an engineer.
There are many challenges that keep me learning and
growing as an engineer, and this is what I really enjoy
about my job. Id like to see other women taking on these
challenges and expanding the field of cryogenics and
superconductivity. Id also like to see women take on more
leadership roles in these fields.
What would be the best approach to getting more women
into our field?
I think that increasing awareness of our field to young
women is the best approach to introducing more women into
it. Many young women are unaware of the existence of these
fields as they are rather obscure in comparison to others.
General awareness could be increased by promotion
in publications such as Cold Facts. Another good
approach is promoting summer positions offered by
laboratories or companies working in these fields.
Jefferson Lab, for example, has an annual program called
8 www.cryogenicsociety.org
 Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day where local, selected
junior and senior high school girls who are interested in
STEM come to our lab and spend a whole day with some
female engineers. They are shown equipment and systems
that weve designed and are provided first-hand experience
as to what its like to be an engineer in hopes of inspiring
them to pursue an engineering career.
Shannon Hackett,
associate curator of birds
at Chicagos Field Museum
of Natural History and
manager of the museum's
cryogenic laboratory
What projects are you
working on?
Im currently working
on projects examining the tree of life for birds, the evolution
of bird genomes in changing environments, the evolution
of the innate immune system in birds and the evolution of
morphology and color of birds.
What accomplishment are you most proud of?
My goal as a person is to learn something new every day
and I feel grateful that I have a career that facilitates this. I am
proud of my efforts to not only do cutting-edge evolutionary
biology and biodiversity science, but also to effectively and
passionately communicate about science to diverse audiences.
The combination of both doing and effectively communicating
about science is critical. I am proud of the research programs
and projects Ive been involved in, in particular my research
into the avian tree of life. This project was led in large part by a
group of women (not common in my field) and revolutionized
our understanding of the tree of life for birds. I find inspiration
and stimulation from the diverse, smart, fun and committed
people Ive interacted with throughout my career.
What advances for women would you like to see in the
fields of cryogenics and superconductivity?
In my field, cryogenics comes into play in the context of
natural history museums and the acquisition and storage of
cryogenically preserved specimens for genetic and genomic
analysis. I would like to see more women advancing into
higher-level leadership and mentorship roles, paving a wider
pathway for women to travel on.
What would be the best approach to getting more women
into our field?
This takes generations to accomplish with a multifaceted
Cold Facts | February 2017 | Volume 33 Number 1 9 www.cryogenicsociety.org
approach through our educational, political and cultural
systems. I also believe it starts by encouraging young girls
to develop and maintain interest in science. If you wait until
high school to reach out to girls, youve lost too many bright
young minds and too much talent. I believe more girls will
see themselves in a scientific career if we show them the true
nature of science as an artistic, collaborative, creative and
intellectual endeavor, highlighting the diversity of careers
you can have if you are interested in science. Also, never
underestimate the power of female role models and mentors
and hands-on authentic science experiences.
Marta Bajko,
section leader at CERN
What projects are you working on?
I am working on projects
linked to the upgrade of circular
particle accelerators (HL-LHC
and FCC), insuring that we can
test all superconducting magnets
and components for these future accelerators. This involves both
the design and installation of unique test stands and the testing
of the different items. Our high power (30 kA) test stands
operate at superfluid He temperature (1.9 K) and feature
ultrahigh switching capacity (< 1ms) for magnets up to a length
of 5 m and 800 mm diameters.
I got involved in this project both by demonstrating my
knowledge of the field and as a result of previous experience.
This project, apart from providing the chance to learn more
about new technical domains, also offers me the opportunity
to work on long term planning and strategy for the CERN
Superconducting Magnet Test facility.
I lead a team of 28, composed of several engineers,
post docs, doctoral and technical students and technicians
both from CERN and industrial partners. Of the teams
four engineers, one is a woman. There are six technicians
of whom two are women and eight fellows and students of
whom one is a woman.
What accomplishment are you most proud of?
The first relevant accomplishment for me, after
working on the development of assembly procedures and
transmitting the technology and knowledge to the industry,
was the follow-up of the production of one third of the total
quantity of dipole magnets (1,282) for the LHC.
At that time, I had to handle a contract of >160 MCHF
lasting over a period of five years. The challenge was not
so much technical, but rather to get accepted by the other
teamsboth at CERN and in the X continues on page 10
Women in Cryogenics and Superconductivity... Continued from page 9
industrycomposed entirely of men. My
personal experience was rather positive.
After a period in which I had
to demonstrate my capability in the field
of engineering, I was accepted without
any problem. All in all this was
a wonderful experience for me. I worked
on all aspects of the engineeringfrom
basic conceptual design to prototyping and
industrialization of the magnet fabrication
and was responsible for following up
the contract and its financial aspects. The
magnets were delivered on time and are
currently used in the LHC machine to accelerate
particles to collision energies of 13 TeV.
Working closely with industry also
gave me the opportunity to meet many
people at CERN and familiarize myself
with many different areas of work and
R&D. Moreover, I have travelled in
different countries, seen different working
cultures and learned one more language.
I am also proud to have been
the first person to organize researchers
from superconducting magnet
testing facilities worldwide for an
international workshop. The main goal
was to discuss ideas, measuring equipment
and measuring techniques and to optimize
community efforts to work together through
a well-balanced and healthy competition.
The first workshop took place in June 2016 at
CERN and was a success.
What advances for women would you
like to see in the fields of cryogenics and
superconductivity?
The superconductivity and cryogenics
field is complex. I would be pleased to see
an equal sharing of project responsibilities
between men and women but I am aware
of the fact that this can only happen if the
same number of women choose this field
for their carrier.
There are limited statistics on which to
arrive at safe conclusions, but I think that
a well-trained woman has good chances to
make a career in the field. Although the
Cold Facts | February 2017 | Volume 33 Number 1
technical work done by a man or a woman
should be the same or at least very similar,
women bring different ideas and ways of
doing things to the management of projects
or teams. I am convinced that this kind of
mixture will result in more advances for
the community.
What would be the best approach to
getting more women into our field?
I personally landed in the field by
chance. My personal opinion is that we
have to start working with universities and
perhaps even with primary schools to attract
more women to the field, letting students
know how these theoretical concepts are
used in reality. Its very important that
they know these fields are not reserved
for men and that applications, although
not yet sufficiently broadly used, are
very interesting and range from particle
physics to medical applications.
I guess that young women just need
to get our feedback and see what is our
everyday activity to understand better
and demystify the job.
Susana
Bermudez,
magnet engineer
at CERN
What projects are
you working on?
Im working
on the development of Nb3Sn magnets for the
High Luminosity LHC upgrade and the FCC.
What accomplishment are you most proud of?
Probably the most difficult part was
finding my place at the very beginning.
After finishing my masters degree, I was
24, unable to speak French and working
in a French-speaking workshop with a lot
of technicians. I had to demonstrate that I
knew what I was doing, like everyone has
to do when starting out, but I never felt it
was more difficult for me than for the rest
of my colleagues because I was a woman. I
10
developed good relations with everyone in
the workshop and earned the full support of
my supervisor. I advanced quickly, moving
from a fellow to a staff contract position in
a year and a half, and on to project engineer
by age 28, the youngest in my section.
What advances for women would you
like to see in the fields of cryogenics and
superconductivity?
Women and men are different and I dont
see anything wrong with that. We also have
differences depending on our nationality, the
environment in which we grow up and many
other factors that affect our way of facing
problems. And again, there is nothing wrong
with that. The important thing is to have a
well balanced team, particularly in positions
with responsibility.
If the decision-making positions are not
balanced, it becomes difficult to promote
diversity at lower levels. I am sure there are
women qualified to hold high responsibility
positions who are not there, probably,
because they decided to prioritize family or
simply because women have traditionally
never reached such positions.
With a better balance of men and
women in the more visible positions for
both society and our field, combined with
an increase in women studying in technical
fields (which is important to motivate from
the very beginning of school), in some years
(maybe a decade) we should be able to have
a much stronger representation of women in
cryogenics, superconductivity and applied
sciences in general.
I would not select a woman for a
position if she is objectively less prepared,
but I would always promote women to be
present in conferences or similar events
with an impact on the community to show
that there is a place for us in science!
What would be the best approach to
getting more women into our field?
I think it starts with equally motivating
children independent of gender. In
www.cryogenicsociety.org
my opinion, the lack of women in
superconductivity is directly linked to the
lack of women with technical degrees such
as mechanical or electrical engineering.
Fortunately, this is changing with time, and
as more and more women receive technical
degrees we will hopefully have a better
balance. I was the only woman in my section
both when I started working as a fellow at
CERN six years ago and when I first moved
on to another section. But our section now
has two female staff, two fellows and one
student. Its still a small percentage, but
nevertheless a good sign!
Luisa Chiesa,
associate professor
of mechanical en-
gineering at Tufts
University, and 2016
CSA Roger W.
Boom Awardee
What projects are you
working on?
Our lab works on the electromechanical
characterization of both low temperature
(LTS) and high temperature superconductors
(HTS), using both experimental and
numerical techniques. We design and
build experiments to study the electrical
properties of superconductors when they
are subjected to loading conditions like the
ones experienced in large magnets. We use
these experiments to verify assumptions
made in our modeling so we can then use
the modeling to extrapolate the behavior
of the conductors in large magnets. The
experiments help guide the design of high-
current cables for large magnets.
What accomplishment are you most proud of?
I dont like to think in terms of personal
accomplishments. As a university educator,
the most rewarding thing is seeing my students
graduate with undergraduate or graduate
degrees, having learned something along the
way. Not all my graduate students end up
working in cryogenics or superconductivity
and that is okay. It makes me proud to
follow their careers after graduation, as they
become successful engineers and scientists in
their chosen field, and I hope the time spent
Cold Facts | February 2017 | Volume 33 Number 1
working in my research lab helped them
become who they are.
One of the biggest challenges in
pursuing my group's research is that
experiments are often complex, requiring
specialized equipment and operations in
cryogenic environments, high currents
and high magnetic fields. There are often
a lot of constraints, and sometimes it
takes years to achieve the fidelity you
are looking for from your results. I could
never do this by myself, and I give a lot of
credit for my accomplishments to people
who worked with me along the way, both
collaborators and students. As a group,
we often work on a single project for a
few years, with many people contributing
through different phases of a projectfrom
design, to construction, to actual use and
data collection, to adjustments following
the first experimental results. Continuity in
the funding allows for these experiments to
happen, but most importantly supports the
students in my research lab.
What advances for women would you
like to see in the fields of cryogenics and
superconductivity and what would be the
best approach to getting more women into
the fields?
Its challenging to give concise,
straightforward answers to these questions. I
suspect if you ask ten women you might get ten
different answers. Its a fact that there are more
men in our field and I could simply cite the
usual suspects for female underrepresentation:
family constraints, perhaps inequities in pay
or barriers to promotion. But I feel the issues
are more complex and we need to have an
honest discussion before good approaches
can be identified.
One important aspect is the scrutiny
that women face in the workplace by our
increasingly judgmental society. Work-life
balance is a challenge for all, both women
and men, but women are judged with
different metrics. For example, women can
face scrutiny for deciding to start a family, for
going back to work after having a child or for
focusing on a career instead of having children.
One often-pursued approach is to ask
11
women in male-dominated fields to act as role
models and active champions of womens
issues. I honestly struggle a bit with this.
I have had female students tell me it was
important for them to see female faculty, but
while I certainly advocate for greater female
representation, there is an added burden with
being a role model and having to seemingly
be on-call to champion womens issues.
You start to wonder if being a woman is
what people see and not the other roles
that make you a valuable contributor to
your workplace and fieldin my case, an
educator, an engineer and a scientist.
To start the conversation, I first think
we need to understand why girls shy away
from STEM disciplines. Its a problem that,
I believe, starts as early as elementary
school. One thing I try to achieve is to be
comfortable in my skin, comfortable with
the decisions I make. This focus has been
important for the non-traditional path
that I have taken. I propose that access to
informed mentoring in high school and
college could be helpful both in letting
women know there are more options for
them than in the past and to encourage
them to also become more comfortable in
making decisions that are right for them (to
be comfortable in their own skin).
On a more practical level, having
funding and other infrastructure to support
students at the post-secondary education
level is an important aspect of attracting
and retaining students in our field, both
women and men. After graduation, job
opportunities in this niche field are limited,
so sometimes it is difficult for graduates
to find a job (in addition to the other
constraints they face). But I am happy when
they have had the opportunity to gain a
solid education, knowing they have learned
skills to be effective scientists and engineers
wherever they might land a first job.
I consider myself lucky to have had the
opportunities I have had in my life. I worked
hard to be where I am but I recognize I
was given, and took, the opportunities
to get me here. Some people do not get
these chances. In principle, this is what
we need. Give everyone the same chance,
women and men. X continues on page 12
www.cryogenicsociety.org
Women in Cryogenics and Superconductivity... Continued from page 11
Shanti experimental methods throughout my career
Deemyad, as a researcher (both as a student/postdoc
associate and PI). I'm proud of my contributions to
professor of the overall understanding of the complex
physics at physics of ultralight materials under
University of extreme conditions, including lithium and
Utah hydrogen.
What projects are What advances for women would you
you working on? like to see in the fields of cryogenics and
superconductivity?
My projects focus on the high pressure
properties of low Z materials, the quantum There have been, and continue to be,
solid effect in light alkali metals and many outstanding women in these fields.
structural and electronic phase transition But not enough! We need more women in
under extreme conditions. this field and we need to NOT forget those
who are making it to the top or seem to be
What accomplishment are you most on the top. For example, women like Vera
proud of? Rubin, who died in December 2016, should
not be celebrated only when they pass away.
I'm proud of having a probing eye
and being innovative in revisiting long What would be the best approach to
lasting problems. I have developed several getting more women into our field?
Cold Facts | February 2017 | Volume 33 Number 1 12
Women need extra support from
those who care in order to overcome the
disadvantage of being a minority group. The
problem can't be just childcare (since this is
not limited to STEM). I think, unfortunately,
the obstacles facing women in science have
nothing to do with their actual capabilities
as scientists. One particular problem is the
male-dominated culture in STEM sciences
and low tolerance for female leadership.
Women are behind number-wise, and the
culture is ignoring them and undermining
them as leaders even when they rise
to leadership positions. So it's hard for
women to make it to the top and continue.
We have to go out of our way to recover
the balance. We need to encourage women
towards STEM and educate them; hire more
female scientists and equip them with the
best technologies available; and highlight
accomplishments of those who make it to
leadership positions. It will require time,
dedication and resources!
www.cryogenicsociety.org
 SPOTLIGHT ON A CORPORATE SUSTAINING MEMBER (CSA CSM)

Fermilab Celebrates 50

Ice sculpture created by FNAL employees celebrates the lab's 50th anniversary.
Image: Fermilab

Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory turns 50 on June 15, and

its inviting the community to celebrate with its staff and researchers
at events throughout the year.

The festivities are designed for both public enjoyment and edu-
cation, according to the lab, allowing visitors to find out more about
Fermilab and to learn about how researchers there are advancing
humankinds understanding of energy, matter, space and time.

While Fermilab and the field of high-energy physics have

changed and evolved since its 1967 founding, the dedication
and imagination of the staff and the user community in answer-
ing ever deeper and broader questions have remained as strong
as ever, says Adrienne Kolb, Fermilabs archivist and historian
from 1983 to 2015.

Mucca Pazza, a Chicago-based punk rock marching band,

kicked off the celebration with a performance at an anniversary party
presented on January 21 by the Fermilab Arts and Lecture Series.
Upcoming events include a science show, a lecture on cancer treat-
ments and particle accelerators, an anniversary symposium and an
open house. Fermilab has posted a complete list on 50.fnal.gov, a
special website focusing on the labs history.

The lab, which employs some 1,800 employees today, began

with a modest 18 in 1967, including Robert Wilson, the labs first
director. In 1971, Wilson established neutrino detection as one of
the first aims of experiments at the facility, a tradition that began
with an experiment later that year and which continues today with
the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) and other re-
search at the lab.

Beyond neutrinos, the lab is known today for the develop-

ment and construction of particle accelerators, its contributions
to research at the Large Hadron Collider and its particle astro-
physics program.

The quest to understand the universe goes on and beckons us

as Fermilab celebrates this 50th anniversary milestone, Kolb says.

Cold Facts | February 2017 | Volume 33 Number 1 13 www.cryogenicsociety.org

 SPOTLIGHT ON A CORPORATE SUSTAINING MEMBER (CSA CSM)
BNI Develops New Liquid Gas Technologies
Barber-Nichols Inc. (BNI) welcomed
the new year with some major announce-
ments. First, under a NASA Phase II Small
Business Innovative Research Grant, BNI
engineers have designed, built and tested a
cryogenic compressor capable of densifying
liquid hydrogen.
Cryogenic propellant densification im-
proves rocket specific impulse by allowing
a greater mass of cryogenic propellant to be
loaded into a given tank volume and, if the
densification system results in a sub-cooled
liquid, the pump suction performance mar-
gin is also improved.
Centrifugal hydrogen densification
compressors demand high shaft speed due
to the high head requirements. Previous
centrifugal densification compressors re-
lied upon grease-packed ball bearings that
have limited compressor shaft speed and
operating life.
Cold Facts | February 2017 | Volume 33 Number 1
Cryogenic Liquid Argon Pump Image: BNI
The newly developed technology from
BNI uses liquid hydrogen propellant di-
rectly injected into foil bearings. The foil
bearings support a high-speed permanent
magnet motor driving two stages of com-
pression.
The unit was tested at Innovative
Engineering Services in Murietta CA using
cryogenic hydrogen liquid and gas. A shaft
14
speed of 35,000 rpm was obtained with the
compressor pulling from a 1,000 gallon liq-
uid tank and expelling the hydrogen gas
into the atmosphere.
And second, Fermi National Accelerator
Laboratory awarded Barber-Nichols Inc. a
contract to supply liquid argon pumps for
its ProtoDUNE experimental program at
CERN. The hermetically sealed cryogenic
pumps will be used both to circulate liquid
argon, the neutrino target medium, through
ultraclean detectors and to provide long-
term reliable operation for the duration
of the experiment. Neutrinos are believed
to be a critical piece to our understand-
ing of physics and the universe, with up-
wards of 30 countries collaborating on one
Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment
(DUNE) project alone. Detecting these
elusive particles requires highly sensitive
instrumentation and ultra-clean systems.
www.barber-nichols.com
www.cryogenicsociety.org
 SPOTLIGHT ON A CORPORATE SUSTAINING MEMBER (CSA CSM)

MagLab Sets New World Record with Mini Magnet

The National High Magnetic Field
Laboratory (MagLab) has designed yet
another record-breaking magnet. Made
of high-temperature superconducting
(HTS) tape, the miniature magnet reached
a magnetic field of 11.3 T when research-
ers placed it inside the labs larger, 31.2 T
resistive magnet.
Operating as one 42.5 T hybrid magnet,
this test instrument achieved two records at
once: The 42.5 T field is the highest field in
which a superconducting magnet has ever
operated; and 42.5 T is a new world record
for an HTS magnet operating within a back-
ground field.
ductor demonstrated an unheard-of current
HTS magnet, made of rare-earth barium copper
oxide Image: NHMFL
to operate even in the presence of very high
magnetic fields, allowing REBCO magnets to
be paired with very strong superconducting
magnets to generate very large fields.
In its latest test, the REBCO supercon-
density (the amount of electricity passing
through a conductors cross-section). The
copper wire in your home has a current
density of about 4 amps per square millime-
ter. Other HTS magnets have exhibited cur-
rent densities of about 200 amps per square
millimeter. The new no-insulation magnet
reached a current density of 1,100 amps per
square millimeter.

The feat brings the lab within striking
distance of another of its records, the 1999
Guinness World Record for any continuous-
field magnet achieved with the labs 45 T
hybrid magnet.
by the 45 T hybrid, built using an older,
far bulkier technology.
Unlike many other superconducting
materials used in magnets, REBCO continues
No one ever designed any magnetany
kind of magnetwith such a high cur-
rent density, Hahn says. Its a differ-
ent level than people can even imagine.
www.nationalmaglab.org

We are this close, says the new mag-

nets designer, MagLab engineer Seungyong
Hahn, holding his index finger and thumb
as if applying a pinch of salt. Its really
good motivation for the next attempt.

Hahn pioneered the no-insulation tech-

nique to which the magnet owes its slim
profile. Future generations of the magnet
will be used for physics and materials re-
search, though Hahn and his colleagues are
still perfecting the magnets design before
MagLab scientists broadly adopt it.

Until now, engineers have woven in-

sulators between the conducting layers of
a magnet to direct the electric current that
creates the magnetic field. But Hahn, an as-
sociate professor at the FAMU-FSU College
of Engineering, came up with a design that
jettisons the insulation, allowing engineers
to pack far more conductorand therefore
more current to generate higher fieldsinto
a smaller area.

Engineers are confident this new

HTS magnet, made of rare-earth barium
copper oxide (REBCO) shaped into an
extremely thin (0.042 mm) tape, will
help the MagLab surpass the record held

Cold Facts | February 2017 | Volume 33 Number 1 15 www.cryogenicsociety.org

 Cryogenic Sapphire Oscillator
Enhancement Improves Accuracy
The worlds most precise clock has been fine-tuned to improve the
performance of radar and quantum computers.
by Martin V. OConnor, martin.oconnor@adelaide.edu.au; Waddah Al-Ashwal; Fred N. Baynes; John G. Hartnett; and Andre N. Luitenall from the In-
stitute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing at the University of Adelaide, Australia.
R
esearchers from the University of
Adelaide in South Australia have
enhanced the Cryogenic Sapphire
Oscillator, or Sapphire Clock, to allow
time measurements with accuracy on the
femtosecond scale. The oscillator has a
five-centimeter cylinder-shaped sapphire
crystal cooled to about -267C, or about five
or six degrees above absolute zero. At this
temperature, the microwave energy lost in
the sapphire crystal is the lowest of any sub-
stance on Earth.
The Sapphire Clock allows users to
take ultrahigh precision measurements to
improve the performance of electronic sys-
tems. It produces an extremely pure signal
at a microwave frequency of about 10 GHz.
Microwave radiation is injected
into the sapphire crystal and propagates
around the circumference of the crystal
(just inside the surface). The radiation
moves around the crystal-like sound in
a Whispering Gallery, a concept Lord
Rayleigh discovered in 1878 when he
heard someone whispering far away on
the other side of the church dome at Saint
Pauls Cathedral.
There are a number of frequencies that
excite the natural resonance of the sapphire
crystalthey correspond to the signals
that reinforces itself after one round trip
around the crystal surface. A good anal-
ogy is to imagine hitting a bell and using
Cold Facts | February 2017 | Volume 33 Number 1
its regular oscillations to count time. The
losses in sapphire are so low that if it were
a conventional bell it would keep ringing
for millions of years. However, in the sap-
phire crystal the resonance frequency is so
high10 billion cycles per secondthat the
electromagnetic signal rings only for a hun-
dred milliseconds.
The clock uses small probes to pick
up this faint resonance and amplifies it to
produce a pure frequency. It is necessary
to control many of the parameters using
active and passive control systems in order
to achieve its superb performance. For ex-
ample, we control the sapphire temperature
to within 10 micro-Kelvin of the set point.
We also control the amplitude and phase of
the microwave signal that enters the sap-
phire crystal.
Atomic clocks have a natural frequency
defined by the difference in energy of two
stable atomic states. For the Sapphire Clock,
resonant frequency is determined by the di-
ameter of the man-made sapphire crystal.
A good analogy for this classical clock is
to think about a grandfather clock where
the length of the pendulum determines the
frequency of its ticks.
The updated Sapphire Clock is capable
of delivering a signal with a spectral purity
more than 100 times better than any com-
peting commercial technology. For an out-
put frequency of 10 GHz, this corresponds
16
to noise more than 10 orders of magnitude
lower just 1Hz away from the desired fre-
quency (-103 dBc/Hz). For frequency off-
sets far from the carrier, the noise falls more
than 15 orders of magnitude (-150 dBc/Hz).
The Sapphire Clock has a short-term
fractional frequency stability of around
1x10-15, that is equivalent to only losing or
gaining one second every 40 million years.
Its long-term frequency performance is also
exceptional (about 10-15 after one day of
averaging). We also see some exponentially
decreasing aging of the output frequency
due to mechanical relaxation of the sap-
phire crystal. After one month of operation,
its fractional frequency drift becomes less
than 1x10-14/day.
Professor Andre Luiten developed
the original Sapphire Clock in 1989 dur-
ing his PhD studies at the University of
Western Australia, and Professor John
Hartnett developed it further between
2004 and 2012. The early versions needed
regular liquid helium refilling from
a large dewar, a limitation overcome
by the implementation of a cryogenic
refrigerator and a specially designed
ultralow-vibration cryostat that houses
the all-important sapphire crystal.
The specially designed cryostat intro-
duced by Hartnett in 2010 also overcame
a roadblock against using cryorefrigera-
tors due to inherent vibrational noise. His
www.cryogenicsociety.org
innovation made the device essentially
autonomous, requiring little maintenance,
and as such gave it the potential to be de-
ployed to remote locations for long peri-
ods. In 2013 Hartnett moved with Luiten
to Adelaide, South Australia, where they
set up a Cryogenic Sapphire Oscillator
research lab to continue developing the
device at the University of Adelaide.
The development group is in the
process of modifying the device to meet
the needs of various industries including
defense, quantum computing, time and
frequency research labs and very high fre-
quency VLBI radio astronomy.
The current physics package is 100cm
x 40cm x 40cm in size but this can be sig-
nificantly reduced without losing much
of its capability. In fact, we can now tai-
lor the oscillator to the application of our
customers by reducing its size, weight
and power consumption, though it is
still beyond current electronic systems.
The lab-based version already has an
Cold Facts | February 2017 | Volume 33 Number 1
Data collection can be
as simple as a clipboard,
pencil and stopwatch, as
sophisticated as a computer-
based system sampling
in the megahertz range, or
anything in between.
existing customer in the Defense Science
and Technology Group (DST Group)
in Adelaide, as well as the Australian
Department of Defense and its JINDALEE
over-the-horizon Operational Radar
Network (JORN).
The research group has also taken
part in the Commonwealth Scientific
and Industrial Research Organization's
(CSIROs) On Prime pre-accelerator pro-
gram that helps teams identify customer
segments and build business plans.
17
Commercial versions of the Sapphire
Clock will be made available later in 2017.
Precision timing is critical in many
sensing, communication and computa-
tional tasks, and the need for high timing
precision reaches its pinnacle in radar
technology, very long baseline radio as-
tronomy and quantum computing. These
applications conventionally make use of
very high performance quartz oscillators,
though engineers often turn to expen-
sive atomic clocks such as the Hydrogen
Maser.
A commercial version of the Sapphire
Clock would benefit such technologies,
providing the ultimate timing precision
over periods from a fraction of a milli-
second through to a few tens of seconds.
One way to think about the clock is that
its signal provides a single frequency, a
spectrally pure source. With radar appli-
cations, for example, such a high spectral
purity signal could allow detection of
slow moving and small targets that gen-
erate only weak reflected signals.
www.cryogenicsociety.org
Remembering the 1987 Woodstock of Physics
by Paul Michael Grant, W2AGZ Technologies, w2agz@w2agz.com, www.w2agz.com
I was raised in the Town of Poughkeepsie,
about 70 miles north of New York City, on
the east bank of the Hudson River Valley.
IBM dominated the economy and culture
of the region with its manufacturing and
development activities. My father, godfa-
ther-cousin and many of their friends were
employed there, developing the first com-
mercially successful mainframe computers.
And I began working at the company dur-
ing the last few months of my senior year
in high school, commencing what was to
become a 40-year career at IBM.
In the summer of 1969, at a farm near
the village of Woodstock, about an hours
drive northwest of Poughkeepsie, there oc-
curred an event that has defined the culture
of my generation ever since. Unfortunately,
I was not able to attend, as in 1965 IBM had
transferred me to its research laboratory in
San Jose, where throughout the 60s and 70s
I carried out research on magnetoresistive
compounds and organic conductors and
superconductors.
I had often regretted missing out on
this historic event in my old neighbor-
hood, but then in March 1987, an equally
monumental and spontaneous event arose
at the APS Meeting held at the New York
Hilton in downtown Manhattan. This
Woodstock focused on physicists instead
of musicians, featuring scientists as the new
rock stars. The occasion was engendered by
the discoveries of the family of copper oxide
perovskite high temperature supercon-
ductors in 1986 and early 1987 at the IBM
Rueschlikon Laboratory, the Universities
of Houston and Alabama, and the IBM
Almaden San Jose Research Laboratory.1
The submission date for invited and
contributed talks at APS March Meetings
held in the 1980s were in the late fall. The
December 1986 deadline for the 1987 ses-
sion scheduled at the New York Hilton in
March had already passed by the time the
Bednorz-Mueller discovery became widely
known and corroborating research began
to appear overwhelmingly worldwide. The
only abstract that made the deadline was
from a collaboration led by Rick Greene of
Cold Facts | February 2017 | Volume 33 Number 1
The American Physical Society (APS) March Meeting of 1987 - The Woodstock of Physics.
Image: AIP Emilio Segr Visual Archives, used with permission.
IBM Yorktown reporting specific heat mea-
surements.2
Fortunately, Brian Maple of UC San
Diego, on the APS March Meeting organiz-
ing committee for 1987, took the unprece-
dented and ambitious step of assembling an
off the program all night session spanning
Wednesday/Thursday that week. It became
known as the Woodstock of Physics, and
there, some 50 plus speakers took five min-
utes each to bloviate from dusk to dawn.
Ten years later, I wrote a commentary for
the journal Nature, detailing the event and
its excitement.3 Many of my observations
therein remain relevant today.
Now, in a few weeks, it will be 30 years
since our Woodstock. Many at the Hilton
(mostly academics!) forecast the discovery
of HTSC as engendering the energy de-
liverance of mankind. The two years fol-
lowing our 1987 mid-Manhattan party were
pure pandemoniumwe were the heroes of
the media. I was invited to deliver a num-
ber of talks and seminars on the physics
of the discovery (not applications) in over
20 countries and three continents ranging
from Belfast, Northern Ireland, to Havana,
Cuba.4
In 1993, I retired from IBM to ac-
cept a position as Science Fellow at the
Electric Power Research Institute with a
18
discretionary mission (4-5 M-USD/yr)
to fund exploratory power applications
of HTSC within the US Investor-Owned
Utilities.5 The bottom line then and now:
Despite many successful developments
and demonstrations of HTSC wire tech-
nology and application to transmission
cables, current limiters, rotating machin-
ery, storage and levitated transporta-
tion, there remains no obvious social
or economic compelling need for their
deployment. At present, significant com-
mercial utilization (I stress commercial)
of HTSC power technologies lies dormant
all over the planet.
Is there hope? Possibly. The recently
elected US administration has reopened
consideration of the construction of oil/
natural gas pipelines from the Dakotas and
bordering Canadian Provinces to the Gulf
Coast. There have been visionary proposals
to pipe methane from eastern Poland all the
way to Scotland, as well as from Siberia to
western China. A paradigm for all can be
found in the visionary and long on-hold
Mackenzie Valley Pipeline6 down through
the Northwest Territories.
As I sit typing this commentary, Elon
Musk is proposing a nationwide network of
traffic tunnels (just go Google Elon Musk
Tunnels). All the above scenarios provide
an opportunity for what I term exploitation
www.cryogenicsociety.org

of dual use of energy/transportation
rights-of-way for the co-transport of elec-
tricity employing either HTSC or HVDC
cables, thus allaying a major cost for install-
ing either technology.
In the meantime, the sole and consis-
tently profitable enterprise utilizing the 1986
discoveries of Bednorz-Mueller and Chu-Wu
remain the worldwide commercialization of
Heidi Grants April 1987, 8th grade science
magnetic levitation experiment.7
In closing, on this 30th anniversary of
the Woodstock of Physics, I urge the cryo-
genics community worldwide to propose
to their respective governments and energy
agencies that they undertake and fund, not
more costly demonstration projects, but en-
gineering economy studies at much lower
expense, to assess the economic and social
benefits for humanity worldwide, enlisting
governmental and private electrical and fos-
sil fuel pipeline interest groups (e.g., EPRI,
Gas Research Institute, etc.) on their team.
Should any readers of Cold Facts be
Cold Facts | February 2017 | Volume 33 Number 1
attending the 30th anniversary session at APS
New Orleans to be held on Tuesday, March 14,
in the local Convention Center8, please stop me
afterwards and Ill invite you to share a glass (or
two) of cheap California chardonnay in one of
the watering holes on Bourbon Street.
References
1. This commentary contains a number of anecdotal and
informal references to the discovery period of high tem-
perature superconductivity and beyond. Last year, in
Cold Facts Vol. 32 No. 1, I reviewed the 1986 discovery
period as one of intrigue both between and within par-
ticipants and their respective institutions as reminiscent
of the double helix period of identifying the molecular
structure of DNAand much more of that story remains
to be told.
Other sources and background can be found by
linking to the authors website pages http://www.
w2agz.com, and http://w2agz.com/SuperWiki.
htm#Superconductivity%20Today , or by contacting
the author via e-mail at w2agz@w2agz.com. Please keep
in mind that this resource is offered as fair use only,
with scholars and students as the target audience.
2. R. L. Greene, et al., submitted a presentation given
17 March 1987 at New APS March Meeting summa-
rizing IBM research activity up to that time, one day
19
before the Woodstock of Physics 18 March session.
Copy available at www.w2agz.com.
3. Woodstock of Physics Revisited, P. M. Grant, Nature 386,
115 (1997). Browse www.w2agz.com to download a copy.
4. In April 1987, IBM corporate and research communica-
tions designated Georg Bednorz, Alex Malozemoff and
myself as the official press spokespersons for the IBM dis-
covery. We were directed to only emphasize the science
involved, and not possible IBM applications. However, we
did carry out several internal (and unpublished) internal
task forces focusing on magnetic recording and mainframe
backpanel interconnections. Please email me (w2agz@
w2agz.com) for further information.
5. As part of my entrance exam into EPRI, I researched
and published a 21-page paper in the IEEE Trans. Appl.
Supercon. 7, 112 (1997) issue, entitled Superconductivity
and Electric Power: Promises, PromisesPast, Present
and Future. Please go to http://w2agz.com to obtain
a copy. Many of its conclusions still hold today in 2017.
6. Visit http://www.mackenziegasproject.com/.
7. P. Grant, Do-It-Yourself Superconductors, New
Scientist 115, 36 (1987). Download available at www.
w2agz.com or by emailing w2agz@w2agz.com.
8. Go to http://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/MAR17/
Session/E40. Con Cuidado. Last minute changes are
frequent at APS Meetings.
www.cryogenicsociety.org
 Defining Cryogenics
by Dr. John Weisend II, European Spallation Source ERIC, CSA chairman, john.weisend@esss.se

Exergy
The science of thermodynamics plays
a major role in cryogenics. It underlies the
various refrigeration cycles, from Carnot
to Brayton (Cold Facts Vol. 32 No. 2) and
Joule-Thomson, is a fundamental part of
the definition of terms such as coefficient
of performance (Cold Facts Vol. 31 No. 1)
and even explains why it is more efficient to
absorb heat at higher temperatures within
cryostats (Cold Facts Winter 2009).

A driving motivation of engineers

everywhere is to design systems that ac-
complish more using less energy while
still working within the physical limits
imposed by the laws of thermodynamics.
One way to analyze this problem is to use
the concept of exergy.

Engineers also define exergy as avail-

ability or available work and often think
of it as the work available in the system to
carry out certain activities, such as pro-
viding cryogenic cooling. When exergy is
reduced, the loss of exergy is called irre-
versibilities. These irreversibilities exist in
all real cryogenic systems and examples in-
clude pressure drop through heat exchang-
ers, backflow through pumps, non-ideal
expansions through valves and heat trans-
fer through displacers in cryocoolers (Cold
Facts Winter 2009).
There are many formulas for exergy, each
dependent on specific situations, but a simple
example based on a steady flow system is:
e = h T0 s
where for a given point in the thermody-
namic process: e is the exergy per unit mass,
h is the enthalpy per unit mass and s is the
entropy per unit mass with T0 being the
reference temperature, typically taken as
the ambient temperature. By defining the
exergy as a thermodynamic state function
we can then calculate it based on the tem-
perature and pressure of the flow at any
point in the system.
Figure 1: Exergy Flow Diagram for an LHC Sector, from Exergy Analysis of the Cryogenic Helium Distribution
System for the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), S. Claudet, Ph. Lebrun, L. Tavian and U. Wagner. Image: Reprinted
from AIP Conference Proceedings 1218, 1267 with permission from AIP Publishing LLC
In an exergy analysis (also sometimes to optimize the system or component for
called a second law analysis) engineers better thermodynamic performance.
calculate the exergy and irreversibilities
throughout the system or component under Figure 1 shows a typical result of an ex-
study and the system is optimized by trying ergy analysis, this one for the entire cryogenic
to minimize the irreversibilities, thus maxi- helium cooling system of the Large Hadron
mizing the utilization of exergy. Collider. Note that the exergy is decreased by
various irreversibilities as the analysis moves
While an exergy analysis can be compli- from the cryogenic refrigerators on the left
cated, it is a very powerful tool. Researchers hand side to the items being cooled on the
can apply exergy analysis at all levels, from right hand side. The relative sizes of the ir-
individual components such as heat ex- reversibilities (i.e. the loss of exergy) indicate
changers to complete cryogenic plants and where additional engineering research and
to integrated systems that include both the development efforts may provide the most
cryogenic plants and the components they benefit.
are cooling.
Engineers may also use exergy analysis
Exergy analyses are valid for every- to compare different plant cycles or cooling
thing from small cryocoolers to large air options for the same cryogenic load to find
separation plants (Cold Facts Vol. 31 No. the optimal solution.
2). The results of such an analysis allow
the designer to identify where the irrevers- A very thorough introduction to ex-
ibilities are, which in turn shows where ergy and second law analysis, including
engineering resources should be applied some applications X continues on page 25

Cold Facts | February 2017 | Volume 33 Number 1 21 www.cryogenicsociety.org

 Space Cryogenics
by Dr. Peter Shirron, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, peter.shirron@nasa.gov
Athena and SPICA Go All-In on Cryocooler Redundancy
T
he European (ESA) and Japanese
(JAXA) space agencies continue
to advance concepts for two
large space observatories that will be
the most complex and advanced cryo-
genic missions ever attempted. The
Athena (Advanced Telescope for High
ENergy Astrophysics) and SPICA (SPace
Infrared telescope for Cosmology and
Astrophysics) missions support ESAs
Cosmic Vision program and will seek to
unlock the mysteries of how matter as-
sembled into the large-scale structures
seen in the universe today, including the
role of black holes in that process.
In 2014, ESA selected Athena as the
second L-class mission of its Cosmic Vision
2015-2025 plan. The baseline design for
Athenas sub-kelvin cooler is a helium-3
sorption unit operating at 300 mK and an
ADR stage to provide detector cooling to
50 mK. The mission is currently in its study
phase with a target launch date set in 2028.
SPICAs future is less certain, as its size
and cost were deemed prohibitive given
other mission priorities. Consequently,
its design concept has undergone a major
overhaul in advance of the ESA M5 call for
proposals in 2016. M5 missions have a tar-
get launch date of 2029-2030.
Originally based on a 3.5 m telescope,
SPICA now features a 2.5 m primary mirror,
and its cryogenic system, like Athenas, has
been upgraded to achieve a high degree of
redundancy.
This emphasis on redundancy in the
cryogenic chain is an increasingly common
feature since engineers adopted it for the
Astro-H mission in 2008. JAXA also features
redundancy in several other planned mis-
sions, including LiteBIRD.
SPICAs concept uses a total of eight
2-stage Stirling cryocoolers. Two units ac-
tively cool the telescope shield to 25 K, and
Cold Facts | February 2017 | Volume 33 Number 1
This drawback
has led some groups
to work on strate-
gies for thermally
decoupling a failed
cryocooler from the
cooling load, such
as with thermal con-
traction-based heat
switches. At present,
such technologies
are not well-estab-
lished.
The approach
taken for both
SPICA and Athena
The SPICA cryogenic system. 2ST denotes a 2-stage Stirling cryocooler.
Image: JAXA is to use triplets of
precoolers for each
two sets of three act as precoolers for the 4.5 K JT loop to ensure that both can remain
and 1.8 K Joule-Thomson (JT) cryocoolers. operational if one precooler were to fail
The 4.5 K JT cooler actively cools the telescope though of course this is achieved at the cost
to 8 K and both JT coolers act as heat sinks of considerable added complexity.
for the sub-kelvin cooler of SPICAs infrared
spectrometer. Although the history of cryocooler
operation in spaceas compiled by Ron
A key aspect of SPICAs thermal design Ross and included recently in this column
is the use of three v-groove radiators to min- (Cold Facts Vol. 32 No. 4)demonstrates
imize parasitic heat leaks into the telescope that cryocoolers can achieve remarkable
and instruments. lifetimes of 10 years or more, the statistics
on 4 K systems are limited and mixed.
The Stirling cryocoolers are each oper-
ated at a lower power than would be re- Of the three launched systems, the Planck
quired for a single cooler, a strategy thought 4 provides the most data. Its K JT cryocooler
to induce less stress and prolong running operated flawlessly for the entirety of the
life. If one cooler were to fail, the system 4.5-year mission. Comparatively, the JEM/
would increase power to the surviving SMILES 4.5 K JT cooler operated for half a
cryocoolers. year but could not be restarted after a shut-
down, while the 4.5 K JT on Hitomi, though it
One drawback to this strategy is that worked perfectly, was destroyed after 38 days
a failed cryocooler conducts a significant when the satellite broke up.
heat load that must be lifted by those still
operational. On Astro-H/Hitomi, which Given that missions like Athena and
used two pairs of 2-stage Stirling cryocool- SPICA are such large undertakings, and are
ers for shield cooling and as precoolers for therefore few and far between, it is hard to
the JT cooler, engineers eventually deter- argue against the level of redundancy being
mined that the increased heat load to the JT designed into their cryogenic systems. But
cooler would prevent its operation if one of we will just have to wait a couple decades
the precoolers failed. to see if it is the right approach.
22 www.cryogenicsociety.org
 Cryo-Oops
by John Jurns, senior cryogenic engineer, European Spallation Source ERIC, john.jurns@esss.se
Little Things: A Look at Sneaky Environmental Effects
Introduction
A
few issues ago, I discussed how
ambient environmentscold or
hot temperatures, rain, snow and
other weather related thingssometimes
have an unforeseen impact on your system.
That column got me thinking about a few
other times where environmental effects
were a little sneakier.
Background
It is relatively easy for researchers to
access and plan for the impact of obvious
environmental effects such as temperature,
humidity and precipitation.
We can put equipment in an envi-
ronmentally controlled area to keep tem-
perature and humidity within prescribed
limits: for example, by providing a roof to
keep out the rain or even controlling the
atmosphere by enclosing equipment and
using a purge gas.
And we can locate non-explosion proof
electrical equipment in a box purged with
nitrogen to eliminate the risk of ignition
and combustion. Without proper foresight,
however (and sometimes even with it), an
oops can still happen.
Oops
A typical method for measuring heat
leak into a cryogenic vessel is to measure
boiloff, the vapor generated due to heat
leaking into the vessel. Put simply, heat leak
Q is a function of the insulation thermal
conductivity, insulation thickness, overall
insulated area of the vessel and the tem-
perature difference between the cryogenic
fluid and the ambient environment.
Cold Facts | February 2017 | Volume 33 Number 1
Where
k= thermal conductivity of insulation
x= insulation thickness
A= area of insulated vessel
T= temperature difference between
cryogen and ambient
This relationship holds, assuming that
the vessel has cooled down completely, the
liquid in the vessel is saturated and every
watt of heat coming in translates directly
into some of that liquid vaporizing based
on its latent heat of vaporization.
Therefore, one typically has to wait
until the vessel cools down to the liquid
temperature and the entire bulk of liquid
reaches saturation conditions. This tran-
sition can take several days, depending
on the size of the vessel and initial fluid
conditions.
The first oops considered here oc-
curred when we were testing the insulation
system on a liquid hydrogen vessel. The
system consisted of a tank covered with
multi-layer insulation sitting inside a large
vacuum vessel. We were able to control the
vacuum pressure quite well in the insula-
tion space and had also taken the precau-
tion to add a pressure-reducing regulator
on the tank vent line.
We took this step knowing that small
changes in the barometric pressure could af-
fect boiloff. That is, if the ambient pressure
changes, the liquid in the vessel has to ad-
just its saturation temperature to that new
pressure. Until that happens, heat going
into the tank does not vaporize the liquid,
it instead raises or lowers the temperature
of the fluid depending on whether the pres-
sure goes up or down.
To avoid this, the pressure regulator
sets the pressure in the vessel to some small
level above ambient pressure. That way, the
pressure in the tank remains constant, and
24
the heat leak will only result in vaporizing
the saturated liquid.
We filled the test vessel and started to
record the boiloff rate. After waiting about
a day for the boiloff rate to come to a steady
state value (indicating that the liquid had
reached saturated conditions), we noted
that the boiloff rate did not settle down to
a steady-state value, but was oscillating up
and down.
It was a head scratcher, as the pressure
regulator seemed to be holding properly
and the measured liquid temperatures in
the test vessel were also steady. After a
day or so, our operations engineer was
looking at the oscillations and noticed that
they repeated on a 24-hour cycle. It turns
out that every day the sun would come
around and shine directly on the vacuum
chamber, its radiation heat increasing the
effective ambient temperature, changing
the temperature difference between the
cryogen and ambient temperature and
changing the boiloff rate.
Our test facility had roll-up doors that
we would raise during hydrogen testing
(so we did not have a hydrogen vessel in an
enclosed test room) and we had forgotten
to account for the fact that the sun would
shine directly on the vacuum chamber a
particular time each day. We easily fixed
the problem by lowering one of the roll-up
doors partially to prevent the sun shining
directly on the vacuum chamber.
My next examplelow gravityis a
bit far-fetched for most engineering appli-
cations but is instructive nonetheless.
Everyone knows that liquid accumulates
at the bottom of a container here on Earth due
to gravity. For spacecraft in orbit around the
earth, however, the net force of gravity on
a fluid in a tank is essentially zero, and sur-
face tension forces tend to predominate. The
www.cryogenicsociety.org
result is that instead of settling in the bottom
of a vessel, surface tension causes the liquid
to stick to the vessel walls. In between those
two states, when there is only partial gravity,
a liquid will wander around a vessel unless
a design solutionlike baffles or screens
provides the liquid with someplace to stick.
Such designs are important because you want
to be sure it is liquid, and not vapor, that you
draw out of a vessel when you open its valve.
So, now that you know everything
about liquid acquisition in space, let me
continue with my oops story. It occurred
while we were evaluating different configu-
rations of screens and baffles in a spherical
tank and wanted to see how they would
work in low gravity. To fly an experiment
in space is quite an undertaking from a cost
and schedule perspective, but here we had
the option to use one of NASAs low-g
aircraft. NASA describes how these air-
craft provide a low-gravity environment at
http://2csa.us/gr.
We built up a test rig with a Plexiglas
spherical tank and several different
screened baffle designs that we could insert.
We could not fly the experiment with actual
cryogenic fluid due to safety reasons, so we
filled the tank using a surrogate fluid with
properties similar to cryogens.
After the test rig was built up, we bolted
it into the aircraft and off we flew. We had a
camera trained on the transparent vessel so
we could see how well the fluid stuck to
the different baffle configurations.
Results were less than spectacular.
Instead of nicely adhering to our baffles,
the fluid sloshed all around the tank, and
we were not able to make any reasonable
Defining Cryogenics: Exergy... Continued from page 21
to refrigeration cycles, is given in Advanced
Engineering Thermodynamics by A.
Bejan, Wiley (2016).
Examples of using exergy analysis
to examine integrated cryogenic systems
are given in Exergy Analysis of the
Cryogenic Helium Distribution System
for the Large Hadron Collider (LHC),
S. Claudet, Ph. Lebrun, L. Tavian and U.
Cold Facts | February 2017 | Volume 33 Number 1
Figure 2.a Figure 2.a
Liquid in normal gravity Liquid in zero gravity
qualitative conclusions about the baffle de-
signs as the fluid didnt even seem to notice
our screened baffles.
A little post-test investigation uncov-
ered the problem. Although the aircraft
was able to simulate low gravitywith
an effective gravity of (if I remember cor-
rectly) about 0.02gthis was apparently
still too great an influence on the overall
forces on the fluid. The minor corrections
the pilot had to make to keep the g-level
around zero resulted in pushing the fluid
all around the tank.
We went back and looked at the test
parameters and saw that the Bond number
(which shows the relative influence of sur-
face tension and body forces) was too high.
With the slight variations in the gravity
field, we found that they still had a signifi-
cant effect on the fluid. It turns out that if
we wanted to get zero-g, we would have
to reconfigure our experiment and fly on
a different aircraft where we could float
the experiment instead of having it bolted
to the airframe.
Wagner, AIP Conference Proceedings
1218, 1267 and Integrated Design of
Cryogenic Refrigerator and Liquid
Nitrogen Circulation Loop for HTS
Cable, H.M. Chang, K.N. Ryu and H.S.
Yang, Cryogenics, Vol. 80 (2016).
An example of using exergy analy-
sis to compare different cryoplants is
given in Exergy Analysis of Large-Scale
25
2.a
in between
Lessons Learned
In both of these examples, a little
environmental effect had a significant im-
pact on the outcome of our experiments.
In the first case, a simple oversight in no-
ticing changes in the solar radiation was
easily overcome. But in the second case,
I am embarrassed to say, we should have
done our homework and taken a harder
look at the fluid physics before perform-
ing the experiment.
Summary
Like the title of the article says, pay
attention to the little things. What on the
surface may appear to be a minor influence
can have a significant impact on your de-
sign or experiment. A thorough assessment
of all the parameters that could impact your
design will help you to succeed without
getting tripped up over those pesky little
things.
As always, we invite you to share any
of your oops stories with us. Feel free to
send them to Brian Dudley at editor@cryo-
genicsociety.org and well try and include
them in this column.
Helium Liquefiers: Evaluating Design
Trade-Offs, R.J. Thomas, P. Ghosh and
K. Chowdhury, Adv. Cryo. Engr. Vol 59B
(2014). An application of exergy analysis
to cryocoolers is provided in Exergy-
Based Figure of Merit for Regenerative
and Recuperative Heat Exchangers with
Application to Multistage Cryocoolers,
A. Razani, C. Dodson and T. Fraser, Adv.
Cryo. Engr. Vol 57B (2012).
www.cryogenicsociety.org
 NASA Marshall Space Flight Center
announces the 27th Space Cryogenics
Workshop (SCW) will be held July
5-7, 2017, at the Hyatt Lodge, part of
McDonalds Campus in Oak Brook,
Illinois. All aspects of space cryogen-
ics will be represented, with emphasis
on those related to space exploration.
Workshop participants representing in-
dustry, academia and government will
share their expertise through presenta-
tions and technical papers. Several in-
vited papers will be solicited in the
areas of systems and technologies
needed for exploration of space.
The workshop, which has
been a Division of the Cryogenic
Society (CSA) of America since
2000, originated in 1980 as a
Wednesday, July 5 Friday, July 7, 2017
one-topical-day event within
the International Cryogenic
Engineering Conference. Starting
in 1983, it has been hosted
every two years in the United
States, in conjunction with the
Cryogenic Engineering Conference/
International Cryogenic Materials
Conference (CEC/ICMC), usually in a
venue near to, but not in the same city as the
larger conference.
In 2015, 86 representatives from 9
countries participated in the workshop.
Registration is available at www.2csa.
us/scw.
Papers are solicited in all areas of
cryogenics related to space applications,
including missions, cryostats, components,
sensors, instrumentation, cryocoolers,
Cold Facts | February 2017 | Volume 33 Number 1
facilities, launch vehicles, cryogenic fluid The application form is available at
management and more. www.2csa.us/scwstudent.
Students are encouraged to apply for Co-chairs are Ali Hedayat of NASA
the T.H.K. Frederking Space Cryogenics Marshall Space Flight Center and Franklin
Workshop (SCW) Student Scholarship, Miller of the University of Wisconsin-
an award honoring the CSAs first Madison. David Plachta of NASA Glenn
Fellow, Dr. Traugott Frederking, a UCLA Research Center, co-chair of SCW 2015,
serves as Awards Committee Chair.
From its beginning in the early 1980s,
Papers Due the workshop, now sponsored and hosted
Thursday, July 6, 2017 by the Cryogenic Society of America,
has become the premier forum for
Welcome Reception the space cryogenics community
for discussing technologies, is-
Wednesday, July 5, 2017 sues, mission opportunities,
etc., that are relevant to space
Workshop Dates cryogenics, says Dr. Peter
Shirron of NASA Goddard
Space Flight Center.
Awards Banquet The technical program
Thursday, July 6, 2017 covers the range from early
technology development
through successful operation of
instruments in space, and hence
For additional information each workshop presents a snap-
and details visit
www.2csa.us/scw
shot of the past, present and future of
space cryogenics. It also helps identify
technology areas that are most in need of
research and development, and provides
a forum for discussing technical solu-
professor who generously sponsored se- tions and collaborations that can meet
lected students to attend SCW and other future needs.
conferences. Former CSA president
Lou Salerno, CSA board member Dr. For more information contact
Sidney Yuan (Frederkings last gradu- Laurie Huget, Executive Director,
ate student) and Dorothea Frederking, Cryogenic Society of America Email:
the professors widow, have funded the laurie@cryogenicsociety.org Phone:
scholarship. 708-383-6220 x302.
26 www.cryogenicsociety.org
An Overview of Recent
Developments in Cryogenic
Fluid Management
by A. Hedayat, ali.hedayat-1@nasa.gov, Propulsion Department, Marshall Space Flight Center; W.L.
Johnson, wesley.l.johnson@nasa.gov, Cryogenic and Fluids Branch, Glenn Research Center; and J.R.
Stephens, jonathan.r.stephens@nasa.gov, Propulsion Department, Marshall Space Flight Center
Cryogenic fluid management, or CFM
technology, is critical to the success of
missions to Mars, Planetary Exploration
and In-Situ Resource Utilization for
cryogenic propellant production. NASA
is focusing on the development of CFM
technologies needed to provide data and
relevant experience to help engineers
make informed decisions on the imple-
mentation of design of cryogenic systems
for long term space missions.
Lessons learned from CFM develop-
ments should lead to enhanced safety and
reliability and enabling technologies that
could allow NASA to meet future space ex-
ploration goals.
This article presents brief reviews of
several current CFM efforts underway to
support future space missions. NASA and
aerospace industries have continued to
conduct research and development for the
propulsion applications of cryogenic fluids,
from well-known in-space applications to
new applications involving superconduct-
ing motors within multiple different aircraft.
Efforts also include a renewed interest in the
production of oxygen on Mars.
Researchers at NASA Glenn Research
Center are currently focused on understand-
ing some of the finer points in the applica-
tion of multilayer insulation. GRC recently
finished the activation of a new calorimeter
that operates at 20 K with a warm bound-
ary that can operate either around 90 K or
at 300 K. Current testing is focused on in-
vestigating different seam concepts, initially
between temperatures of 300 K and 20 K,
and between 20 K and 90 K.
One of the larger recent NASA in-
vestments has been in the Structural
Heat Intercept, Insulation, and Vibration
Cold Facts | February 2017 | Volume 33 Number 1
Experiment Rig (SHIIVER). SHIIVER is a 4 m
diameter tank that is approximately one-
half the scale of the planned upper stage of
the new Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.
SHIIVER is focused on demonstrating the
thermal benefits of multilayer insulation on
the tank domes and boiloff vapor cooling on
structural cylinders that hold the tank in-
line on the rocket. It will also quantify any
damage that may occur during the acoustic
environment of over 160 decibels that SLS
will experience on its trip to Earth orbit.
The possible production of oxygen
out of the Mars atmosphere is another
focus. Researchers from four NASA cen-
ters (Glenn Research Center, Marshall
Space Flight Center, Johnson Space
Center and Kennedy Space Center) have
collaborated to investigate multiple hard-
ware combinations, refrigeration cycles
and integration techniques to minimize
the power and mass of the storage and
liquefaction system.
Moreover, high efficiency, high
capacity cryocoolers are an element
of CFM that is essential for achieving
NASAs future long duration missions.
Currently in development is a 20W at
20 K unit for use with liquid hydrogen.
It is scheduled for delivery to NASA in
the summer of 2017.
Engineers have also recently concluded
two Phase I Small Business Innovation
Research grants, resulting in the preliminary
design of two different 90 K units, each hav-
ing a refrigeration capacity of approximately
150W. Once the development efforts are com-
plete, these high capacity 90 K units will be
integrated into the design of NASAs Liquid
Oxygen/Methane applications such as the
Lander and Ascent Vehicles, or possibly an
in-space stage.
27 www.cryogenicsociety.org
Designing a 77 K Low Power DC-DC Converter
by Christopher Alfenito, director of sales and marketing, Modular Devices, Inc., calfenito@mdipower.com
When engineers design electronic de-
vices to operate at 77 K on Earth, they do so
for the improved parametric performance
benefits that 77 K can bring. But for the class
of electronic devices that need to operate at
77 K in deep space, they do so because of a
likely lack of power to generate heat.
Depending on Sol to provide heat is a
losing proposition for deep space. For space
missions to Mars and beyond, the relative
magnitude of the suns IR radiation inten-
sity diminishes greatly compared to 100
percent near Earth. At Mars, for example,
it stands at 43 percent, while at Jupiter and
Saturn it is 3.7 and 1.1 percent respectively.
This diminished solar radiation, al-
though it may be augmented by planetary
or other radiation, results in possible oper-
ating temperatures well below the standard
military range. Although these cold temper-
atures may be mitigated by a combination of
heaters and insulation, this stopgap results
in additional weight and power burdens.
Equipment operating temperatures for
many near Earth space applications usually
fall well into the military temperature range
of -55C to 125C. For example, electronics
internal to a spacecraft can be limited to
-10C to 40C, while solar cells can be sub-
jected to -60C to 95C.
Another environmental constraint in
deep space environments is that component-
damaging radiation is less diminishedor
even increasedand exacerbated by longer
duration missions.
Modular Devices, Inc. (MDI) was
tasked to design a scalable low power,
radiation hardened, DC-DC power con-
verter able to operate at cryogenic tem-
peratures down to 77 K (-195C) as well
as at higher temperatures up to 100C.
The intended application was to power
motion controllers and instrumentation
under development for space exploration.
There is, however, little or no published
Cold Facts | February 2017 | Volume 33 Number 1
manufacturer data offered for 77 K appli-
cation of electronic piece parts. Terrestrial
electronics have previously been researched
and developed for applications at 77 K, such
as superconducting magnet energy storage
and superconducting microwave applica-
tions. However, these terrestrial applica-
tions are usually high power uses and do
not need to operate in the radiation effect
environment of space.
With scant published information
available, the MDI team looked to obtain its
77 K data, curves and parameters by testing
actual components believed to be suitable.
The scarcity of component information for
a low power application also demanded re-
vised circuit design approach.
With circuit design, there is normally
a progression from the given requirements,
then to a block diagram, then to selection
of components and finally analysis and test-
ing. It is usually a highly iterative process
and many recursive loops may be needed
for a workable result. MDIs new approach
was to first make educated guesses about
component suitability, then perform 77 K
parametric testing. The parts types that
passed muster form a design toolkit.
From there, a block diagram can be devised
that can be implemented with the limited
number of part types in the toolkit.
MDI initially used a triple-wall LN2-fed
dewar system for characterizing the param-
eters of candidate active and passive com-
ponents at 77 K. The team epoxied several
pieces of each component to be tested to alu-
minum pucks mounted in the cold area and
connected to room ambient by a hermetic
connector. The puck also contained a plati-
num RTD for temperature measurement.
A curve tracer was constructed with
A-D/D-A cards to apply the forcing func-
tions to the components and to read out
the parametric changes. The team used
LabVIEW software for implementation
of curve tracing and data collection. The
parametric changes obtained from these
28
measurements were then incorporated into
relevant SPICE models, allowing predic-
tions of circuit block performance. Later
parametric component testing used a small
LN2-fed chamber.
Active components are considered us-
able if their parametric changes are known,
consistent and small in magnitude. Testing
has shown, and research has confirmed,
that commercially available minority carrier
devices (bipolar junction transistors), which
are optimized for 300 K operation, are not
practically useful at 77 K, likely due to low
emitter minority carrier injection efficiency.
This also prevents use of most industry
standard ICs, which contain at least some
bipolar transistors, even if they also contain
field-effect transistors (FETs).
Majority carrier active devices (such
as unijunction transistors and junction
gate (JFET), metal-oxide-semiconductor
(MOSFET), metal-semiconductor (MESFET)
and high-electron-mobility (HEMTFET)
field-effect transistors are usable at 77 K.
However, JFETs are somewhat difficult to
use in many circuit applications since they
are normally conducting with no applied
bias. Junction diodes, Schottky diodes and
Zener Diodes are all generally usable.
Passive components, such as resistors,
most types of capacitors and inductors are
all generally usable since their parametric
changes are repeatable and can be allowed
for in the design process.
For deep space, 77 K operation part
types must survive two gauntlets. The first
is, will they have usable performance at 77 K.
The second is, will they survive the radia-
tion environment.
Most passive components and simple
diodes are relatively unaffected by radia-
tion up to moderate levels. Rad Hard active
components are offered by several manu-
facturers. Some devices sold as Rad Hard
are available with compensated gate de-
signs that minimize parametric shift. Those
www.cryogenicsociety.org
Rad Hard devices that are constructed with no bipolar transistors are
generally usable.

The conventional majority carrier active devices with insulated

gates (MOSFETs, MESFETs and HEMTFETs) sold without radiation
guarantees are parametrically affected by radiation effects.

Without suitable circuit compensation, these devices are gener-

ally unusable. However, in some cases, the radiation-induced para-
metric shifts of conventional majority carrier active devices with
insulated gates may be overcome by circuit design.

Creating a DC-DC Converter with the 77 K Toolkit Parts

Efficient DC-DC conversion always requires converting the
input DC voltage to an AC waveform, passing through a transformer
or inductor, then converting back to DC.

Converting the DC input to AC requires pulse width modula-

tion (PWM) circuitry or its functional equivalent. In the early days of
solid state switching regulators (circa 1960), PWM circuitry was done
with discrete transistors. This rapidly gave way to bipolar integrated
pulse width modulator circuits that now number in the thousands of
types. However, due to the inclusion of bipolar, minority carrier ac-
tive devices, none of this multitude of part types will function at 77 K.

This means that the PWM block must be implemented with

majority carrier active devices. Alternatively, once an AC wave-
form is generated, the same PWM function could be achieved
using concepts originated in the 1930s. This concept is the saturat-
ing core magnetic amplifier. Since magnetic materials are mostly
insensitive over the 77 K to 400 K temperature range, this is the
PWM function used by MDI.

Two avenues of practical physical implementation exist

for the remaining circuit blocks which use active components.
One is to build custom application-specific integrated circuits
(ASICs) with either HEMTFETs or Rad Hard CMOS. The sec-
ond is to use discrete components packaged in a volumetrically
small hybrid microelectronic package. The latter approach, ad-
opted by MDI, requires slightly more physical volume, but is
more economical and offers faster development times for low
quantity applications.

Conclusion
Using this design methodology, MDI developed and tested a 5 watt
DC-DC converter that operates from a 16 VDC to 40 VDC source
and delivers a well-regulated 5 VDC output. It operates from 77K to
375K or more. The design exclusively uses majority carrier, radiation
capable active components.

The circuit blocks include a front-end inverter that chops the

input DC into an AC waveform, an isolation transformer and a mag-
netic amplifier regulation circuit. Other circuit blocks include voltage
regulators, temperature compensated voltage references, operational
amplifiers and comparators. The design should be highly scalable for
different input and output voltages and power up to 1 KW.

Cold Facts | February 2017 | Volume 33 Number 1 29 www.cryogenicsociety.org

Boiloff Calorimetry for the Measurement
of Very Low Heat Flows
Part 4: Flat Plate Boiloff Testing of Insulation Systems
by James Fesmire, senior principal investigator, Cryogenics Test Laboratory, NASA Kennedy Space Center, CSA past president, james.e.fesmire@nasa.gov

Editors Note: This article concludes

James Fesmires series on Boiloff Calorimetry
for the Measurement of Very Low Heat Flows.
A complete version of the series is available
online at www.2csa.us/fesmire, including a
downloadable PDF.

In general, one cannot measure how much

heat is present in an object, but rather only how
much energy is transferred between objects at
different temperatures, hot and cold. Early at-
tempts at temperature measurement include
the experiments of Greek physician Galen
in AD 170, followed many centuries later by
Fahrenheits description of the first modern
temperature scale in 1724. A few decades later,
J. Black devised an ice calorimeter based on
his discovery of hidden heat. And by 1822, J.
Fourier had published The Analytical Theory of
Heat, a work that remains the basis of our no-
tions of heat, thermal energy and temperature.

The technological development of large-

scale liquid hydrogen in the US in the 1950s
gave rise to the demand for high performance
thermal insulation systems [1]. To meet this
demand and enable the development of mul-
tilayer insulation (MLI) and evacuated perlite
powder systems, engineers devised different
apparatuses to directly measure heat flows
from a few milliwatts and up using evapora-
tion or boiloff calorimetry. Following the
examples of cylindrical boiloff testing given
in Part 3 (Cold Facts Vol. 32 No. 6), the series
concludes with a look at the methods and
apparatus for flat plate boiloff testing of cryo-
genic-vacuum thermal insulation systems.
Researchers have developed and stan-
dardized several cryostat instruments for
laboratory testing of thermal insulation
systems in a flat plate configuration [2].
Cryostat-500 (203-mm diameter test speci-
men) is thermally guarded by a separate
cryogen chamber to provide absolute ther-
mal performance data. Absolute (guarded)
instruments produce the data by which
comparative (unguarded) instruments can
be calibrated [3]. The larger Cryostat-600
Figure 1. Basic schematic of a flat plate boiloff calorimeter, Cryostat-500, for absolute thermal performance
testing. Image: Fesmire
(305-mm diameter) is a similar guarded
design that includes the option of attaching
structural elements for testing. Cryostat-400
is a comparative version (no guard cham-
ber) of the Cryostat-500 [4]. The Macroflash
Cup Cryostat (76-mm diameter) is a com-
parative, benchtop-size instrument for ther-
mal conductivity testing of materials, from
aerogel insulation to carbon composites.
The Macroflash is designed to test in ambi-
ent pressure environments with different
purge gases and under compression loads
from zero up to approximately 100 kPa.
Although cylindrical configurations
are better at minimizing unwanted lateral
heat transfer, flat-plate configurations offer
a number of potential advantages regarding
the test specimens, including the ability to
test small size test specimens, compression
loading capability and specialized ambient
pressure testing with different purge gases.
Flat-plate cryostats are easier to adjust
for different cold boundary temperatures
(CBT) by the placement of an intermediary
material on the cold-side surface.
For example, the Cryostat-500 appa-
ratusfollowing the guidelines of ASTM
C1774, Annex A3is guarded on the top
and around its perimeter for absolute heat
flow measurement [5]. An adjustable-edge
guard ring enables calibration with a known
material. With liquid nitrogen as the working
cryogen, the CBT can be adjusted to tempera-
tures between 77 K and ambient by placing a
known thermal resistance layer between the
cold mass and the test specimen. Multiple

Cold Facts | February 2017 | Volume 33 Number 1 30 www.cryogenicsociety.org

Figure 2. Boiloff flow rate results from a carbon fiber composite panel (six-layer stack of 13 mm thickness)
Cryostat-500 test series of five runs at 760 torr CVP. Image: Fesmire
data points for a range of mean temperatures
can be obtained from a single test by the use
of intermediate temperature sensors.
The cold mass assembly, comprising
the test chamber and guard chamber, is sus-
pended from the vacuum chamber and uses
a thermal break between chambers to pre-
clude direct solid-conduction heat transfer
between the two liquid volumes. This isola-
tion is critical for thermal stability and the fine
equilibrium necessary for an accurate boiloff
measurement. A low thermal conductivity
suspension system includes compliance rod
assemblies that can be adjusted for test speci-
men thickness and for rigid or compressible
materials. Compression loading up to 100 kPa
can be applied if required.
Cryostat-500 includes an external heat-
ing system for bakeout and a heating plate
system for control of the warm boundary
temperature (WBT). Two funnel-filling tubes
interface with the two LN2 feedthroughs to
provide the means for cooldown, filling and
replenishment. Boiloff flows, from both the
test chamber and the guard chamber, are
routed to their respective mass flow meters.
Vacuum instrumentation includes one or
more capacitance manometers and an ion
gage for high vacuum. The vacuum pump-
ing system includes a turbopump and a sepa-
rately plumbed mechanical pump. A gaseous
nitrogen supply system provides purging
Cold Facts | February 2017 | Volume 33 Number 1
and residual gas pressure control to set any
desired CVP from 760 torr to 5 x 10-5 torr.
Testing Methodology
Materials can be in the form of mono-
lithic disks, layered slabs, composite panels,
blankets or layered blankets. Bulk-fill materi-
als are more difficult to use on flat-plate calo-
rimeters, but have been successfully tested.
From the measured thickness of a given
specimen, the suspension system is precisely
adjusted for the desired test thickness. Springs
are used for rigid materials to provide a built-
in compliance while fixed spacers are used
for soft materials to establish a predetermined
thickness and compression.
The steady-state condition is reached
when the boiloff flow rates from both cham-
bers are stabilized, the temperature profile
through the test specimen is stabilized and
the liquid level in the guard chamber is at
least 50 percent full (that is, covering the top
surface of the test chamber). For simplicity
in operation, the test chamber liquid can be
any level between zero and 100 percent, with
test durations lasting from two hours to two
days depending on the range of heat flow that
spans nearly four decades. Both liquid masses
must be stratified and stable for steady-state
measurement to be achieved, a condition
provided by inherent design of the cold mass
assembly. X continues on page 33
31 www.cryogenicsociety.org
Flat Plate Boiloff Testing of Insulation Systems... Continued from page 31
Figure 3. Boiloff flow rate result from an MLI system (11 layers, Mylar and polyester net) Cryostat-500 test at 1 10-5
torr CVP. Image: Fesmire
The rate of heat transfer through the
insulation system and into the bottom of the
test chamber of the cold mass assembly (Q) is
directly proportional to the LN2 boiloff flow
rate (V), as given in Part 2 of this series (Cold
Facts Vol 32 No. 5). Effective thermal con-
ductivity (ke) is determined from Fouriers
law of heat conduction through a flat plate as
detailed in ASTM C1774. The heat flux (q) is
calculated by dividing the total heat transfer
rate by the effective area for heat transfer (Ae).
The total uncertainty in ke is calculated to be
4.8 percent for Cryostat-500. Thickness is the
largest source of uncertainty and must be
handled carefully, particularly for specimens
thinner than 10 mm. In addition, fit-up is cru-
cial for good thermal contact to be maintained
through the usual thermal cycles and shrink-
age associated with testing. For testing of MLI
systems, the accounting for edge effects, layer
density and compressibility are especially
critical [6]. In most testing situations, for a
given series of tests, the overall repeatability
is demonstrated to be within 2 percent.
Example Test Results
From a data library of hundreds of mate-
rials, including foams, fiberglass, polymers,
aerogels, honeycombs, layered composites
and MLI, some example Cryostat-500 test
results are given for the boundary tempera-
tures of 293 K / 78 K and a residual gas of
nitrogen. The results for a five-run test of
a carbon fiber composite panel at 760 torr
Cold Facts | February 2017 | Volume 33 Number 1
CVP are given in Figure 2 (see page 31). This
test specimen was a six-layer stack, with
temperature sensors between layers to en-
able analysis of the variation of thermal con-
ductivity with mean temperature [7]. Figure
3 presents an example test of an MLI system
showing a stable boiloff flow rate for more
than 30 hours. Details of these and many
other materials are given in the literature [3,
8]. An advantage of flat-plate boiloff calo-
rimetry is the capability for testing novel
composites, multifunctional materials and
advanced heat management systems that
are composed of both very high and very
low thermal resistance materials.
Different materials and varied test
objectives require an appropriate combina-
tion of apparatus (cylindrical or flat plate),
and method (absolute or comparative). The
material type, thickness, density, flatness,
compressibility, outgassing characteristics
are important considerations as well as rel-
evance to the configuration of the end-use
thermal insulation system. In addition to
providing a means for the direct measure-
ment of heat flowwith sensitivity over
a very wide rangeanother advantage of
boiloff calorimetry is the large temperature
difference that is readily available. If de-
sired, the boundary temperatures can be
adjusted or a given temperature difference
can be subdivided to obtain additional data
for thermal modeling, materials research
or product development. For example,
33
multiple data points can be obtained from
a single test with the placement of inter-
mediate temperature sensors through the
thickness of the test specimen. In any case,
the heat transfer principle remains the same
as postulated by Fourier in 1822: heat flows
not as a function of temperature but because
of a difference in temperature.
References
[1] Timmerhaus, K.D. and Reed, R., editors, Cryogenic
Engineering: Fifty Years of Progress, Springer (2007).
[2] Fesmire, J.E., Augustynowicz, S.D., Scholtens B E and
Heckle, K.W., Thermal performance testing of cryogenic
insulation systems, Therm. Cond. 29 (Lancaster, PA:
DEStech Publications) pp 38796 (2008).
[3] Fesmire, J.E., Johnson, W.L., Swanger, A.,
Kelly, A., and Meneghelli, B., Flat plate boiloff cal-
orimeters for testing of thermal insulation systems,
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering
101 (2015).
[4] Fesmire, J.E. and Augustynowicz, S.D., Methods of
testing thermal insulation and associated test apparatus,
U.S. Patent No. 6,742,926 (2004).
[5] ASTM C1774 Standard Guide for Thermal
Performance Testing of Cryogenic Insulation Systems,
ASTM International, West Conshohocken, PA (2013).
[6] ASTM C740 Standard Guide for Evacuated
Reflective Cryogenic Insulation, ASTM International, West
Conshohocken, PA (2013).
[7] Demko J.A., Fesmire, J.E., Johnson, W.L. and
Swanger, A.M. Cryogenic insulation standard data and
methodologies, Adv. Cryog. Eng., AIP Conf. Proc. 1573,
pp 46370 (2014).
[8] Fesmire, J.E., Standardization in cryogenic insula-
tion systems testing and performance data, Physics
Procedia 67 1089 1097 (2015).
www.cryogenicsociety.org

W
e regret to report that Peter
Gifford, longtime leader of
Cryomech, Inc., passed away
in January 2017, surrounded by family and
friends at his Syracuse home. He was 68.
Gifford was a leader in the cryogenic
community, a dedicated member of CSA and
one of the second-generation industry leaders
affectionately dubbed the Cryomafia.
This is a tremendous loss of a friend
who for over 30 years enhanced my world
of cryogenics and made me a better person,
said Vincent Grillo, co-president of Cryofab,
Inc. and fellow Cryomafia member.
Gifford moved to Syracuse at age twelve,
when his father, William, a cryogenic expert,
accepted a teaching and research position at
Syracuse University.
Gifford would later attend the university,
where he studied physics and math before
graduating in 1971 with a degree in Liberal
Arts. In 1973, he joined Cryomech, a company
founded by his father, as an apprentice in
cryogenics, and by 1978 had taken over as
president.
Under his leadership, Cryomech
expanded from a small company with a
handful of employees to a world-leading
technology company known for designing
and manufacturing cryorefrigerators for use
in both cutting-edge research and production
ranging from agriculture to aerospace.
Gifford was proud of keeping the company
in Syracuse, relying on his team to nurture
and grow a global business at a time when
manufacturing in central New York was
declining.
Gifford was known at Cryomech for
being more than a boss. He was a teacher,
a mentor and a friend who loved as family
those with whom he worked.
Cold Facts | February 2017 | Volume 33 Number 1
Peter Gifford
1948-2017
Peter Gifford. Image: Cryomech, Inc.
In 2014, Gifford sold Cryomech to his
employees as an ESOP (employee stock
ownership plan) so that it could continue on
in Syracuse, nurturing, he hoped, the next
generation of entrepreneurs and dreamers.
I wanted to see it remain a thriving
company, Gifford said in a 2015 interview
with The Post-Standard, a Syracuse
newspaper. You can sell to venture
capitalists. Theyre going to strip the
company, and its gone...This company has
been a very nice place for me to work and
to develop and to have a worthwhile life.
There are a lot of other employees who are
invested like that. Why the hell take it away
from them? I just couldnt sell it. It wouldnt
be the right thing to do.
While at Cryomech, Gifford designed
the compressor packages and cold heads
still incorporated in the companys
Gifford-McMahon cycle cryocoolers. He
also designed many custom cryostats and
cryorefrigerators for customers throughout
the industry, innovative work that earned
34
Gifford three patents and worldwide
recognition.
In 2015, Gifford established and funded
the William E. Gifford Award in honor of his
father, which is given every two years by CSA
to a recipient in academia or a government
laboratory using a pulse tube or Gifford-
McMahon cycle cryocooler as a key research
component.
The Gifford family has established a
fund in his name to support STEM education.
Memorial contributions can be directed
to the Central New York Community
Foundation for the Peter E. Gifford Fund for
Career and Technical Education. Donations
can be made online at www.cnycf.org/
givenow or by mail to CNY Community
Foundation, 431 E. Fayette Street, Suite 100,
Syracuse NY 13202.
Gifford is remembered for having the
mind of a scientist, the sensibilities of an artist
and the heart of a lion. Included here are
tributes from his friends and colleagues.
www.cryogenicsociety.org
 Tributes
Editors Note: several of the following
tributes were edited to make room for
as many contributions as possible. Full
tributes, including associated photos,
have been posted at http://2csa.us/
gifford. If youd like to submit a tribute,
please contact Brian Dudley at editor@
cryogenicsociety.org.
Ravi Bains, Advanced Research Systems
Peter was a friend who inspired me and
made cryogenics fun. I will miss his larger
than life personality and his easy laugh. He
will be remembered fondly for many years
to come; I know we will be telling funny
stories about Peter at many dinners and
Cryomafia meetings.
Peter Bradley, NIST
Peter was always such a gregarious and
generous character throughout his life
and career. We shall all miss his presence
and influence throughout the cryogenic
community.
R. Michael Capers, Cryocomp
Peter Gifford was my dear friend. He
made my life better, he shared and taught
me many things and continuously pointed
out the irony and humor in his and my
lives, in the cryogenic industry, the nation
and the world. He was a seeker, whether
it was yet undiscovered characteristics
of his machines or answers to our
complicated social issues or where to find
the best ribs or the constant search for the
perfect Manhattan. I remain in awe of his
ability to talk with anyone, to expend that
valuable human resource of time and to
make that person feel that they were the
most important.
Vinod Chopra, Goodwill Cryogenics
Be at peace and happy, wherever you are!
The Indian Cryogenic Fraternity will always
think of you because of easy access to LNP
and LHeP. I know we may not be able to say
hello to you in person, but you shall always
be in our thoughts and minds through
Cryomech.
John Corey, Chart QDrive
The Cryomafia is greatly diminished.
Cold Facts | February 2017 | Volume 33 Number 1
Glen Driscoll, HTS-110
Peter was the very first business contact that
I made when Jim Maguire first hired me as
a young kid physicist at his company
back in 1992. Even at 23, I could clearly see
that Peter had an abundance of personality
and a passion for his business. I must say
though that I had no idea then that Jim was
introducing me to a person who would
not only help teach me how to conduct
business with unquestionable integrity
and the highest moral character, but also
to a person who I would later be honored
to call a friend. I miss him already.
Dennis Howland, ret., DLH Industries
The cryogenics industry has lost a good
friend and mentor to many. As a charter
member of the Cryomafia, Peter was always
the center of entertainment and good cheer
and I am blessed to have been a friend and
colleague for more than 20 years. This is a
big loss for the community.
Laurie Huget, CSA Executive Director
Ive known Peter Gifford for more than
30 years and on behalf of my husband
Werner, myself, the staff of CSA and all
his colleagues in the Cryogenic Society
of America, I extend our sincere sorrow
for his lossto his family and to all at
Cryomech. He was a stalwart supporter
of CSA and we did not take that for
granted. The sponsorship of the Gifford
Award named for his father was the tip
of the iceberg of his long-time loyalty
to CSA. His loss will long be felt by the
entire cryogenic community and all those
who have benefited from knowing him
and doing business with him and the
people he brought into Cryomech. He
had an admirable business ethic as well
as a practical, common-sense grasp of
technology. One of the proudest days of
my professional life was being invited
to join the Cryomafia and to experience
the camaraderie of that unique group!
I felt I was now truly a part of the cryo
community. Here we saw the side of Peter
that was warm, welcoming and so much
fun. I have long since forgiven him for
the time in Poland at the ICEC when he
introduced his wife to me as his daughter.
I decided it was more of a compliment to
her than a prank on me. Loved you, Peter!
35
Janis Research Company
The staff of Janis Research Company was
deeply saddened to hear the news of
Peter Giffords passing and extend our
sympathy to Peters family and to the
staff of Cryomech. Peter was an integral
member of our community, and the life
of any gathering. His infectious sense
of humor and joyful demeanor will be
sorely missed. We have been partners and
colleagues for many years and his passing
leaves a space in our hearts that cannot
easily be filled.
J. Patrick Kelley, ret., Los Alamos National
Laboratory
This is a great loss for our community.
We have lost a great friend and a great
colleague.
Meyer Tool and Manufacturing, Inc.
We extend deepest condolences to his
family and dear friends. Our thoughts and
prayers are with all who mourn.
John Pfotenhauer,
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Peter was one of the most enjoyable people
with whom I have ever worked. We will all
miss him very much.
Brian Pollard, Cryomagnetics, Inc.
There was only one Peter Gifford and I am
grateful I got to know him. He will truly be
missed.
Richard Reineman, GWR Instruments Inc.
I was stunned to hear of the loss of my
longtime friend Peter. I have had a photo
on my wall since October 2001. Peter, his
associate and I had just returned from an
afternoon surf session near my home in La
Jolla CA. Peter was my crew in a double
surf kayak, and we had a ball, catching and
riding many decent sized waves. It was
a real thrill for him. Needless to say, the
world of liquid helium and cryogenics in
general will sorely miss Peter. I know I will.
Alain Ravex, Absolut System
Peter was a good friend with a unique
personality. I met him about 30 years ago
and it has always been a great pleasure to
share time and discuss with him. He kindly
introduced me in X continues on page 36
www.cryogenicsociety.org
Peter Gifford In Memoriam... Continued from page 35
the Cryomafia world! He will be strongly
missing for me.
Bill Shields, ret., Janis Research Company
Theres only one Peter Gifford and no one
will replace him, especially at the Cryomafia
meetings. Rest in peace, Peter.
Sumitomo (SHI) Cryogenics of America, Inc.
Peter has always been both liked and
respected by all. On behalf of all of the
team here at Sumitomo, we pass along our
deepest condolences for friends, family and
colleagues of Peter.
John G. Weisend II, ESSS, CSA Board
Chairman
Peter was one of the giants of the field
as well as a very good person. It was a
privilege to know him.
Tributes From Giffords
Cryomech Colleagues
John Ketcham, Cryomech, Inc.
Peter was an inspiration to all who worked
with him. He was passionate about his work,
 In Memoriam 
Mauricio (Mau)
de Lima Lopes 1975-2017
Mauricio (Mau) de Lima Lopes, a sci-
entist in the Fermilab Technical Division,
passed away on January 3, 2017. He was
41 years old. He is remembered for his
warm personality, his generosity towards
others and his wonderful sense of humor.
Lopes received his BS, MSc and PhD in
Cold Facts | February 2017 | Volume 33 Number 1
his company, and he was most passionate
about his people. Peter always wanted to
create an atmosphere of sharing, learning,
and enjoyment for his beloved employees,
and what a successful endeavor it was. Peter
created a culture here at Cryomech where I
feel like I became a part of the family, not
working FOR his company, but working
WITH him. I am forever grateful to have
known and worked with such an incredible
man who cared so much. His legacy will
continue to live on through all of us here
at Cryomech.
Nigel L. Ottman, Cryomech, Inc.
Ive worked at Cryomech for nearly 15
years, and moved to Syracuse to do so. Less
than a year on the job we had a few service
issues to deal with in South America. Peter
and Rich (Dausman, COO) decided that
I should perform the work. Peter gave
me just a few tips: be friendly, work hard
and dont worry about anything. Those
early years at Cryomech taught me a lot
about Cryomech, international business
and culture and the importance of strong
customer relationships. I will never forget
physics from the University of So Paulo,
Brazil. He began his career in 2005, designing
room temperature magnets for the storage
ring at the ALBA Light Source in Barcelona.
In 2007, he accepted a postdoc, and later a
staff scientist, position in the Technical Division
Magnet Systems Department at Fermi National
Accelerator Laboratory. Lopes spent his ten
years at the laboratory working on several
superconducting magnet technology proj-
ects, including magnets for the International
Linear Collider interaction region and the
Muon collider cooling channels.
Starting in 2010, Lopes took on the mag-
netic design of the Mu2e Transport Solenoid
(TS) magnets, developing a suite of analysis
programs called SolCalc that allowed him to
construct and analyze hundreds of magnetic
models within the design systematic and ran-
dom fabrication tolerances. In 2013, he became
36
those trips or many of the other times and
stories that Ive shared with Peter. I am so
very fortunate to have known and worked
with Peter for many years.
Chao Wang, Cryomech, Inc.
Inspired by Peters business vision, I chose
to join Cryomech, Inc. and change my
career path from academia to industry. He
had a genuine curiosity and good sense of
science and technology. He built a creative
environment for innovation and new
product development at Cryomech. In this
environment, Cryomech could launch a
few new products every year. Most of them
were firsts in the world.
He always said he was a good
salesman. Under his leadership, we were
not just selling products, we were providing
solutions to our end users and becoming
friends with them. Peter was a friend to
many people in the cryogenic community.
I have received condolences from China,
Japan, Germany, Finland, France and many
from the US. He will be sorely missed by
many of us.
the deputy project manager for the Mu2e TS
and a year later became the TS manager.
When I redirected my career to super-
conducting magnets, I learned a lot from a
very smart and generous group of engineers
and scientists from Fermilabs Technical
Division, Lopes told Cold Facts in a 2016
interview. I continue to learn from them.
Thats the best aspect of my job.
In addition to his contribution to the
field of magnet technology, Lopes often
talked about his passion for teaching. Over
the years he mentored and supervised many
summer students from various Fermilab de-
partments. He also taught several classes at
the United States Particle Accelerator School
(USPAS) in the field of magnet technology.
In 2014, both USPAS and Fermilab recog-
nized Lopes for his exemplary performance
as an USPAS instructor.
www.cryogenicsociety.org
Product Showcase
In the interest of enhancing the value of Cold Facts and helping prospective customers find cryogenic products and services, we offer this
Product Showcase. We invite companies to send us short releases (150 words or fewer) with high resolution JPEGs of their new products.
This editorial feature is open to all companies and related manufacturers.

Niowave, Inc. Oxford Instruments NanoScience

Cryogenic 114W and 5W Systems Compact 4 K cryostat
At Niowave, Inc., superconducting electron accelerators A compact 4 K cryostat for
are being built to tackle Americas high-tech challenges in rapid cooling of standard sample
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these SRF accelerators, Niowave has collaborated with Linde refrigerators, this new system
Cryogenics to develop the refrigeration infrastructure required, from Oxford Instruments is ideal
which is available for commercial sale. Niowave offers two stan- for pre-screening samples before
dard model compact, mobile, standalone cryogenic systems. The testing them at milliKelvin tem-
larger system provides 114W of continuous cooling, while the perature using Triton dilution
smaller unit provides 5W of cooling. Other cryogenic systems refrigerator, or simply for any 4 K
can be developed with the design and engineering team, and experiment requiring a larger
in collaboration with Linde Cryogenics. Niowave also offers number of signal lines.
customized installation en-
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niowaveinc.com www.oxford-instruments.com

Technifab Products, Inc. applications. Seal replacement is simple

and quick, reducing downtime and saving
Techflow valves downtime costs.
Techflow vacuum jacketed valves are
now available with optional flow plugs. Like all of Technifab Cryogenic's vac-
Designed and manufactured by Technifab uum jacketed valves, the flow plug version
Cryogenics, the high quality, efficient con- saves money by operating 20 times more ef-
trol Tube Series Valve offers optional linear ficiently than a non-vacuum jacketed valve,
flow control allowing for variable cryogen features a self-aligning PCTFE seat and
delivery to the use point. maintains a bubble tight closure in the shut
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The compact valves are manufactured for easier on/off operation. Pneumatic and
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tance for use in with smaller diameter VJP, complete feedback loop and even tighter
lower flow requirements and limited space control. www.technifab.com

Cold Facts | February 2017 | Volume 33 Number 1 38 www.cryogenicsociety.org

Employment Showcase
To apply for these positions, or place a help wanted ad, visit http://2csa.us/jobs. CSA features prominently in Google searches for "cryogenic
jobs." Ads are free to CSA Corporate Sustaining Members and $150 for 90 days to all others.

Senior Mechanical Engineer

Cryogenic Engineer Cryogenic Design Engineer
Ability Engineering
Technology, Inc. Technifab Products, Inc. GE Healthcare

Ability is seeking a Mechanical Engineer
with project management expertise and a
strong background in fabrication (preferably
in pressure vessel and piping design), as well
as cryogenic engineering. Responsibilities
include general mechanical engineering,
product design, fabrication and field installa-
tion and commissioning of equipment used
in industrial processes and scientific applica-
tions. The position assists the chief engineer
and clients in developing, designing and
manufacturing cost-effective equipment in-
cluding vacuum and cryogenic systems, and
provides consultation services in diagnosing
and developing solutions for equipment and
systems problems.
Technifab, a cryogenic equipment
manufacturer, is seeking candidates for a
Cryogenic Engineer position. Responsibilities
include design and development of cryo-
genic equipment, improving existing prod-
ucts, support of manufacturing, developing
engineered products and technical field ser-
vice to Technifab customers. Candidates
will be evaluated on BSME, BSMET or other
applicable technical degrees; written and ver-
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and a 401K savings plan.
Join the magnet/gradient engineering
team, centered in Florence SC (the worlds
largest plant for superconducting mag-
net production), as part of GE Healthcare
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plex state-of-the-art healthcare systems.
Activities include detailed mechanical,
structural, thermodynamic design of sub-
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include circuit analysis/simulation, docu-
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ponents to circuit boards, sub-systems.

Cryogenics Plant Operator-Mechanical

Tech or Refrigeration-Vacuum

SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

SLAC is looking to fill positions

needed for the Linac Coherent Light
Source-II Project, a major expansion of
the worlds first x-ray free-electron laser
at SLAC. This project will construct a 4 GeV
continuous-wave (CW) superconducting
electron linear accelerator in the existing
2-Mile Linac facility. Project engineers
are designing and installing two 18 kW
@ 4.5K helium refrigerators that will sup-
ply 2 K superfluid helium to cool the ac-
celerator. The Accelerator Technologist
III Cryogenics Plant Operator positions
support the cryoplant installation, com-
missioning and operation. You will work
under general supervision or under ad-
visement from higher level accelerator
technologists and perform assignments
of intermediate complexity in mechanical
technical work and one or more areas of
instrumentation and controls, refrigera-
tion/vacuum, electrical/electronics, etc.
all of which are part of the cryogenics
plant operator skillsets.

Cold Facts | February 2017 | Volume 33 Number 1 39 www.cryogenicsociety.org

 People, Companies in Cryogenics
We are saddened to report the death
of Kathryn Meyer, 88, wife of the late
Frank Meyer, founder of Meyer Tool and
Manufacturing, Inc. (CSA CSM), and
mother to Eileen Cunningham, the com-
pany's current president and a CSA board
member. The funeral was held on Jan. 28.
Memorial contributions to the Fisher Center
for Alzheimer's Research Foundation can be
made at http://www.alzinfo.org/.
Worthington Industries has dropped
the CryoScience brand name for the cold
chain storage and transportation products it
acquired from Taylor-Wharton last year.
The product linewhich includes cryo-
genic refrigerators, freezers, dewars, ship-
pers and moreis now labeled solely with
the company name, as in Worthington
Industries Liquid Dewar Series.
The Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa
has selected Cryoport, Inc., a cold chain lo-
gistics company, to provide support for its
immunology program, cancer research,
therapy programs and lab moves. "Cryoport
understands the critical nature of our ship-
ments, has the advanced capabilities to
monitor shipments and track conditions
and location of our biological commodities
in transit around the clock, says Tom
Sellers, director at Moffitt, the only National
Cancer Institute designated Comprehensive
Cancer Center based in Florida.
The Institute of Electrical and
Electronics Engineers (IEEE) has named
Indium Corporations (CSA CSM) Dr.
Ning-Cheng Lee as one of its Fellows. Lee, a
renowned soldering expert, is Indiums VP
of Technology and has extensive experience
in the development of fluxes, alloys, solder
pastes and more.
Conval, a global manufacturer of se-
vere service valves, has appointed Michael
Glavin its new VP of Engineering respon-
sible for new product development and
technology. Glavin brings over 25 years of
experience to the position, having served in
Cold Facts | February 2017 | Volume 33 Number 1
leadership positions at Engineered Controls
International, Tyco Valves and other com-
panies.
On January 9, President Obama
named 102 scientists and researchers as
recipients of the Presidential Early Career
Awards for Scientists and Engineers, in-
cluding Eric Dahl and Anna Grassellino,
both scientists at Fermi National
Accelerator Laboratory (CSA CSM). The
PECASE is the highest honor bestowed
by the US government on science and
engineering professionals in the early
stages of research careers. Dahl works
on the detection of dark matter while
Grassellinos work focuses on devel-
oping particle accelerator cavities that
have improved performance and are less
expensive to operate.
Chart Ferox, a subsidiary of Chart
Industries, Inc. (CSA CSM), has entered an
agreement with Proviridis to design and
build a second natural gas fueling station to be
located close to the container terminal at
Marseille-Fos, Frances main trade seaport.
The fully automated station will be operated
around the clock by V-Gas, a Proviridis
owned company, and will dispense both LNG
and CNG for natural gas fueled heavy haul-
age vehicles and passenger cars respectively.
Essex Industries, a leading provider
of protective breathing equipment (PBE)
and liquid oxygen life support systems,
has chosen Tulmar Safety System as the
manufacturer, sales and after-market sup-
port provider for its PBE training hoods.
Essex PBE units, which are installed in the
majority of US airlines and other carriers
throughout the world, provide crew mem-
bers with ocular, head and respiratory
protection during emergency conditions
in an aircraft cabin.
"Cryocoolers 19," a 654-page com-
pilation of the proceedings of the 19th
International Cryocooler Conference held
in San Diego, June 20-23, 2016, is now
40
available and has been mailed to reg-
istered participants. Published by ICC
Press, Boulder, Colorado, and edited by
S.D. Miller and R.G. Ross, Jr., the volume
features 77 peer-reviewed papers with
four-color illustrations. It archives devel-
opments and performance measurements
in the field of cryocoolers based on the
contributions of leading international ex-
perts at the conference. http://2csa.us/g9
Argonne National Laboratory (CSA
CSM) has named Kawtar Hafidi, an
experimental nuclear physicist, as the
next director of its Physics Division. She
Kawtar Hafidi. Image: Argonne National Laboratory
currently serves as the laboratorys as-
sociate chief scientist for laboratory-
directed research & development, and
has 17 years of experience leading
and conducting fundamental research
at major accelerator facilities in the
United States and Europe. From 2013
to 2014, Hafidi worked at the DOEs
Office of Nuclear Physics, where she
forged strong relationships within the
US physics community and managed
a suite of major projects devoted to
achieving Americas scientific mis-
sions in physics.
Air Liquide has
updated its visual
identity, a move inspired by its acquisi-
tion of Airgas and the launch of a new
customer-centric transformation strat-
egy. The company now employs 68,000
people across its groups and serves
www.cryogenicsociety.org

more than three million customers and
patients worldwide. This new visual
identity is a strong illustration of the
transformation of Air Liquide, says
Benot Potier, chairman and CEO of Air
Liquide. It marks the beginning of a
new phase in the Group's history at a
time when its size is changing signifi-
cantly.
Researchers from the US Naval
Research Laboratorys chemistry and
tactical electronic warfare divisions have
completed the first flight of Ion Tiger, an
unmanned air vehicle powered with a cus-
tom hydrogen fuel cell system capable of
5,000 watts. Bipolar plates, held together
Researchers from the US Naval Research
Laboratory pose with Ion Tiger. Image: NRL
with titanium straps, serve as the structural
backbone of the fuel cell system, provid-
ing fluidic pathways for air, hydrogen and
coolant along with electronic pathways for
conduction between the individual cells.
Indium Corporation (CSA CSM) has
named Jim Hisert Indium Applications
Manager. In his new role, Hisert will be
responsible for exploring and leveraging
the use of indium in various forms and ap-
plications, using the information to both
identify new opportunities and also new
markets for existing products.
Cold Facts | February 2017 | Volume 33 Number 1
Meetings
& Events
A cooperative agreement between
Michigan State University and the Gastech Conference & Exhibition
National Science Foundation will re- April 4-7
sult in up to $122.5 million in continued Chiba Prefecture, Tokyo
funding over five years for the National http://2csa.us/gj
Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory. SVC TechCon 2017
The Physics Division of the National April 29-May 4
Science Foundation has supported NSCL Rhode Island Convention Center
operation at MSU since the mid-1980s. http://2csa.us/gs
The new funding will cover the period
14th Cryogenics IIR International
until the under-construction Facility for Conference
Rare Isotope Beams (CSA CSM) becomes May 15-19
operational, which is expected to be in 2021. Dresden, Germany
http://2csa.us/e9
16th International Superconductive
Arlington Capital Partners, a Electronics Conference
Washington DC-based private equity firm, June 12-16
has purchased Molecular Products, Inc. Sorrento, Italy
http://2csa.us/gi
(CSA CSM), a leading manufacturer of
advanced chemistry-based products serv- 27th Space Cryogenics Workshop
ing the healthcare, defense and industrial July 5-7
markets. MPG was majority owned by the Oak Brook IL
McKernan family, whose father established https://2csa.us/scw
the company in 1973. Since 1995, Ian and
CSA Short Courses at CEC-ICMC 2017
Andrew McKernan have run it, continuing July 9
the family stewardship into its fifth decade. Madison WI
With the acquisition by Arlington, Troy http://2csa.us/gm
Rhudy, currently President MPG USA, will
CEC-ICMC 2017
take over from Ian and Andrew McKernan.
July 9-13
Madison WI
http://2csa.us/bs
Linde Engineering North America has
appointed Jason Cooper president and 25th International Conference on
Composites / Nano Engineering
CEO. Cooper has 22 years of experience. He July 16-22
began his tenure with Linde eight years ago Rome, Italy
as a business unit manager responsible for http://2csa.us/gm
hydrogen and synthesis gas and later as-
sumed various roles including VP of project 28th International Conference on Low
Temperature Physics
management and construction. He served August 9-16
most recently as managing director of Gothenburg, Sweden
Lindes Southeast Asia region. http://2csa.us/fj
25th International Conference on
Magnet Technology
Dearman Technology has announced August 27September 1
that it will double the size of its technol- Amsterdam
ogy center ahead of further trials of its http://2csa.us/gk
zero emission engine powered by liquid
13th European Conference on Applied
nitrogen. The first application of the tech- Superconductivity
nologyan alternative to diesel-powered September 17-21
transport refrigeration unitsis undergo- Geneva, Switzerland
ing road trials with Sainsburys, a major http://2csa.us/gh
UK-based retailer, and further interna- A full listing of upcoming events is available at
tional trials are set to begin later this year, www.cryogenicsociety.org/calendar.
according to the company.
41 www.cryogenicsociety.org
 Index of Advertisers
Acme Cryogenics, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Take a moment to join CSA
today and receive your own
AlumaCast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
copy of Cold Facts.
American Magnetics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Rates: circle $ amount
CCH Equipment Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Individual: $75 Student or retiree: $35
Corporate, number of employees:
Cryo Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Inside Front Cover 1-10, $450 11-25, $660 26-50, $870 51-100, $1,290
101-500, $2,340 501-1,000, $5,250 1,000+, $7,000
Cryoco LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Government/Non-profit, $450.

Cryocomp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 ALL foreign add $40, remit in US $ on US bank. No bank transfers.

Special Lifetime membership: US, $600; outside US, $750.
Cryoconnect. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Charge your membership
Cryofab, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Inside Back Cover
__Discovery __Visa __MasterCard __AmEx
Cryogenic Control Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Account number Expiration Security code
Cryogenic Machinery Corporation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Signature
Cryomech, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Back Cover
Please print
gasworld . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Name Title
HPD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Company
Janis Research Co., Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Address
Lake Shore Cryotronics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
City State/Country Zip + 4
Linde Cryogenics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Inside Back Cover
Email Website
Magnatrol Valve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Phone Fax
Master Bond . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
What is your involvement in cryogenics?
Oxford Instruments Nanoscience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 & 37
Send to:
PHPK Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Inside Front Cover New Memberships Cryogenic Society of America
218 Lake Street Oak Park IL 60302-2609
SGD, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Fax: 708-383-9337

Sumitomo SHI Cryo America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Join CSA online!
Sunpower . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
http://2csa.us/join
Technifab. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Cold Facts is the official technical magazine of The Cryogenic Society
of America, Inc. 218 Lake Street Oak Park IL 60302-2609
Tempshield Cryo-Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Phone: 708-383-6220 Ext. 302 Fax: 708.383.9337
Email: csa@cryogenicsociety.org Web: www.cryogenicsociety.org
A non-profit technical society serving all those interested in any phase
WEKA AG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 of cryogenics
SSN 1085-5262 CSA-C- 3863 February 2017
Printed in USA

Cold Facts | February 2017 | Volume 33 Number 1 42 www.cryogenicsociety.org