Cryogenics
The objectives of the cryogenics research and development program are to study the fundamental fluid dynamics and heat transfer of low temperature liquids, apply cryogenic cooling technology to large-scale systems, and develop and test cryogenic component hardware.
Cryogenic Helium Experimental Facility (CHEF)
This work is supported by external grants from the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy and NASA. In addition, cryogenic component development is supported by the State of Florida (Center of Excellence) as well as other agencies. The group also collaborates with industry and national laboratories in development and application of cryogenic technology.
Collaborations
The Mag Lab Cryogenics Group frequently collaborates with outside organizations on projects of mutual interest. Current collaborative projects include:
Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer Superconducting Magnet
This project is an international development involving more than 50 countries to place a high energy particle detector magnet on the International Space Station. The Mag Lab Cryogenics Group is providing technical expertise with the liquid helium cooling system.
Research Projects
Visualization Studies of Heat and Mass Transfer in Forced Flow He II
This program is supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation. The work involves experimental application of modern particle imaging techniques to flow states in liquid He II. Current activities include utilizing the Liquid Helium Flow Visualization Facility (LHFVF) for particle imaging and developing techniques to generate neutral density particles in liquid helium.
Liquid Helium Fluid Dynamics Studies
This program is supported by a grant from the Department of Energy, Division of High Energy Physics. The work focuses on cryogenics issues of future particle accelerators. Current studies include: (1) propagation of heat through porous media containing liquid helium; (2) High Reynold’s number forced flow liquid helium studies and 3) instrumentation development using the Cryogenic Helium Experimental Facility.
Thermal Insulation Characterization for Cryogenic Applications
This program is supported in part by NASA – Kennedy Space Center and the Florida Center for Advanced Astro-propulsion (FCAAP). The work involves measuring the thermal conductivity and mechanical properties of insulating materials for cryogenic storage containers.
Facilities
The Mag Lab's Cryogenics Laboratory is a fully developed facility for conducting low temperature experimental research and development. The laboratory, which occupies about 400 square meters at the lab's Tallahassee headquarters, supports in-house development projects as well as contracted scientific work. The experimental apparatus within the lab include:
Liquid Helium Flow Visualization Facility (LHFVF)
This facility consists of a 5 m long, 20 cm ID horizontal vacuum vessel with vertical reservoirs at each end. A variety of experimental test sections can be installed in the facility for measurements of flow and heat transfer including flow visualization studies. The LHFVF is currently being used for PIV studies of forced flow superfluid helium.
Cryogenic Helium Experimental Facility (CHEF)
This facility consists of a 3 m long, 0.6 m ID cryogenic vessel with N2 and He temperature thermal shields. CHEF is equipped with a high volume flow bellows pump capable of up to 5 liters/s liquid flow. Currently, CHEF is being used to study high Reynolds number liquid helium flow through orifice plates.
Liquid Helium Research Test Stands
Numerous conventional vertical access dewars and insert cryostats are available for smaller scale experiments on heat transfer and flow. These include dewars between 10 and 60 cm ID with depths to 2 m.
Additional Equipment
The laboratory contains all necessary equipment to carry out modern cryogenic experiments. Modern instrumentation for data acquisition is available to support experiments. High vacuum equipment includes a mass spectrometer leak detector and two portable turbo pump systems that provide thermal isolation. A high capacity vacuum pump (500 liter/s) is used to support sub-atmospheric liquid helium experiments to as low as 1.5 K.
For more information, please visit the Cryogenics Group Web page.
Please contact Prof. Steven Van Sciver at vnsciver@magnet.fsu.edu or(850) 644-0998 for further details.
