CRYOGENIC ENGINES :CRYOGENICS- BIRTH OF AN ERA

Cryogenics originated from two Greek words “kyros” which means cold or freezing and “genes” which means born or produced. Cryogenics is the study of very low temperatures or the production of the same. Liquefied gases like liquid nitrogen and liquid oxygen are used in many cryogenic applications. Liquid nitrogen is the most commonly used element in cryogenics and is legally purchasable around the world. Liquid helium is also commonly used and allows for the lowest temperatures to be reached. These gases can be stored on large tanks called Dewar tanks, named after James Dewar, who first liquefied hydrogen, or in giant tanks used for commercial applications.

The field of cryogenics advanced when during world war two, when metals were frozen to low temperatures showed more wear resistance. In 1966, a company was formed, called CyroTech, which experimented with the possibility of using cryogenic tempering instead of Heat Treating, for increasing the life of metal tools. The theory was based on the existing theory of heat treating, which was lowering the temperatures to room temperatures from high temperatures and supposing that further descent would allow more strength for further strength increase. Unfortunately for the newly-born industry the results were unstable as the components sometimes experienced thermal shock when cooled too fast. Luckily with the use of applied research and the with the arrival of the modern computer this field has improved significantly, creating more stable results.
Another use of cryogenics is cryogenic fuels. Cryogenic fuels, mainly oxygen and nitrogen have been used as rocket fuels. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is set to flight-test the indigenously developed cryogenic engine by early 2006, after the engine passed a 1000 second endurance test in 2003. It will form the final stage of the GSLV for putting it into orbit 36,000 km from earth.
It is also used for making highly sensitive sensors for detecting even the weakest signals reaching us from the stars. Most of these sensors must be cooled well below the room temperature to have the necessary sensitivity, for example, infrared sensors, x-ray spectrometers etc. The High resolution Airborne Widebandwidth Camera, for SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory For Field Astronomy) which is a Boeing 747 flying observatory, a project of the University Of Chicago, Goddard Space Flight Center and the Rochester Institute Of Technology, which when enters into operation will be the largest infra-red telescope available, is cooled by an adiabatic demagnetization refrigerator operating at a temperature of 0.2K.
Another branch of cryogenics is cryonics, a field devoted to freeze people, which is used to freeze those who die of diseases, that they hope will be curable by the time scientists know how to revive people.