Cryogenic Heat Management

Book excerpt: Cryogenic engineering (cryogenics) is the production, preservation, and use or application of cold. This book presents a comprehensive introduction to designing systems to deal with heat – effective management of cold, exploring the directing (or redirecting), promoting, or inhibiting this flow of heat in a practical way. It provides a description of the necessary theory, design methodology, and advanced demonstrations (thermodynamics, heat transfer, thermal insulation, fluid mechanics) for many frequently occurring situations in low-temperature apparatus. This includes systems that are widely used such as superconducting magnets for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), high-energy physics, fusion, tokamak and free electron laser systems, space launch and exploration, and energy and transportation use of liquid hydrogen, as well as potential future applications of cryo-life sciences and chemical industries. The book is written with the assumption that the reader has an undergraduate understanding of thermodynamics, heat transfer, and fluid mechanics, in addition to the mechanics of materials, material science, and physical chemistry. Cryogenic Heat Management: Technology and Applications for Science and Industry will be a valuable guide for those researching, teaching, or working with low-temperature or cryogenic systems, in addition to postgraduates studying the topic. Key features: Presents simplified but useful and practical equations that can be applied in estimating performance and design of energy-efficient systems in low-temperature systems or cryogenics Contains practical approaches and advanced design materials for insulation, shields/anchors, cryogen vessels/pipes, calorimeters, cryogenic heat switches, cryostats, current leads, and RF couplers Provides a comprehensive introduction to the necessary theory and models needed for solutions to common difficulties and illustrates the engineering examples with more than 300 figures