International Cryogenic Engineering Conference 1998 : Proceedings of the Seventeenth International Cryogenic Engineering Conference 14-17 July 1998, Bournemouth, UK

These proceedings provide an overview of refrigeration, superconductivity and cryogenic systems. They document the growth in the use of superconductors in a rapidly widening range of applications worldwide.

In the last ten years the use of small cryocoolers has been revolutionized, with the development of extremely reliable machines for use at cryogenic temparatures.

Coverage in the refrigeration section includes an overview of mixed refrigerant Kleemenko cycle coolers at temperatures down to 70K, the use of mixed rare earth magnetic alloys as regenerator materials for cryogen-free cooling to 3 and 4K, and the pulse tube refrigerators with no low temperature moving parts. The superconductor section includes coverage of high specific current high temperature superconductors, operating at liquid nitrogen temperatures. The cryogenic systems section reports on the first experimental tests using plasma in the Large Helical Device at the Japanese Tokamak Centre, together with experimental and design studies towards the construction of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN.

Innovative engineering techniques are being used to cool the 10T superconducting magnets in the 26km LHC tunnel: these use superfluid helium at 1.8K on a previously unprecedented scale. These proceedings provide a valuable overview and insight into current research for physicists and engineers engaged in superconductivity and cryogenic research.