Cryogenic applications

Most people are, without realizing it, in daily contact with products that have in some way come about through the use of cryogenic technology. Whether we are talking about frozen dinners, gas tanks in automobiles or blood from a blood bank, all these items are produced partly or almost entirely through the use of cryogenic technology. A great many technological feats are involved in the production of such items. But what does cryogenic mean exactly and how did it all come about?

Cryogenic literally means making something (freezing) cold. It is used to indicate the use of extremely low temperatures. In cryogenic experiments, one often uses substances that boil at a very low temperature. Important fluids for this purpose are nitrogen (-196 °C or 77 K), hydrogen (-253 °C or 20 K) and helium (-268,8 °C or 4.2 K). Fluid nitrogen is about the same price as milk and it is used on a large scale for various types of experiments. Fluid helium is a lot more expensive and is less suitable for transportation because of its much lower vaporization temperature. Hence it is only used for specific experiments that need an extremely low temperature, and in these cases it is produced locally from helium gas.

Low temperatures are useful to many scientific experiments because at such temperatures, atoms move much slower and less disturbance is present in electronic circuits. Additionally, some substances demonstrate certain surprising characteristics at low temperatures, such as superfluidity and superconductivity.

Natural gas is transported at low temperatures and is then called LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas).

History

Heike Kamerlingh Onnes was one of the main founders of cryogenic technology.

He was born on 21 September 1853 in Groningen, The Netherlands, as the eldest of five children. His father, a wealthy industrialist, passed onto him his organizational and managerial skills and his mother, the daughter of an architect, her poetic nature and sense of aesthetics. After having completed pre-university education in Groningen and additional exams in Greek and Latin, he enrolled at the University of Groningen as a math and physics student in September 1870. H.A. Lorenz was among the students who enrolled the same year. Still in his first year in college, Onnes took part in a physics/chemistry contest organized by the University of Utrecht: 'We desire a thorough investigation of methods for determining vapor pressure and the results thus obtained, pertaining to the connection between the nature of the chemical bonds of a substance and its vapor pressure.' His entry was awarded the gold medallion prize and the awards ceremony was held in the presence of Utrecht professors C.H.D. Buys Ballot and F.C. Donders.

After having attended various other universities such as Heidelberg he eventually returned to the University of Groningen (April 1873).

Upon his return in Groningen he continued his studies under the supervision of R.A. Mees. In 1876 he took the doctorate exam and on July 10, 1879 he completed a postgraduate study magna cum laude with Mees. Even prior to his graduation Onnes had been appointed as an assistant to J. Bosscha, head of the then Polytechnical School - which would later become the "Technische Hogeschool" (Advanced School of Technology), in Delft in 1978. In 1880/1881 he took over classes for J.A. Snijders C. Jz. and the following year for Bosscha. During this period he maintained close connections with physicist J.D. van der Waals Sr. in Amsterdam, who initiated him into the problems of the theory of gasses and liquids. Van der Waals was a connection that would prove to be of great impact on his later work. Additionally, insights into the molecular structure of matter gradually emerged, partly due to the work of L. Boltzmann and Van der Waals, and also Kamerlingh Onnes would make a contribution to this. The work of Henri Becquerel and Pierre and Marie Curie brought the structure of matter into a whole new light, while the ideas of Max Planck, Lorentz, Albert Einstein and others started to penetrate many areas of physics. Kamerlingh Onnes set as his first task to support the theoretical work of Van der Waals in the form of experiments. His theory evolved and led to, amongst other things, the law of corresponding states, according to which all gases behave similarly. Independently of Van der Waals, K. Onnes had reached the same conclusion by different means. This research necessitated a study if the characteristics of gases in a wide temperature range, starting with a temperature slightly above the boiling point of the condensed phase. These had to be gases with simple molecules that consequently had a low boiling temperature.

The device for the production of fluid air was ready in 1892. In order to continue the work, to also produce fluid hydrogen, several barriers had to be conquered. One such obstacle was that for a certain period of time, the municipal authorities of Leiden prohibited the dangerous work with compressed gases, which, of all places, was being done in a laboratory practically in the exact location where the famous gunpowder cargo ship had exploded in 1807. After having overcome many difficulties, a first device for producing fluid hydrogen (boiling temperature 20.4 K) was ready in 1905 and in 1906 an improved version appeared that could produce several liters of the fluid per hour. And on July 10, 1908 Kamerlingh Onnes was the first to succeed in producing fluid helium (boiling temperature 4.2 K) as well. This last invention enabled the liquefaction of all gases - see the boiling temperatures of the various gases below:

CH4	112 K	- 161 °C
NO	180 K	- 93,2 °C
O2	90 K	-183 °C
CO	82 K	-191 °C
N2	77 K	-196 °C
H2	20 K	-253 °C
He	4.2 K	-269 °C

Modern applications

In current times, liquid gases are produced in air separation factories. In such a factory, air is compressed by enormous compressors and is subsequently cooled so that it eventually liquefies. In the mean time, the various gases are separated, producing fluid oxygen, fluid nitrogen and fluid argon. After subsequent separation, many additional gases (such as helium) are produced. The acquired fluid gases are pumped into tank trucks at the factory and are then transported to the client. Upon arrival the fluid is pumped into a special storage tank and is subsequently led to the user point as a fluid or gas (after vaporization).

Questions about parts for cryogenic applications?

If you have any questions about specific parts for cryogenic applications or need help in purchasing such parts, please do not hesitate to call us, or click here to contact us by e-mail.

Visual overview

• 

  Our company

• 

  Cryogenic

• 

  Boilers

• 

  More