Cryogenics - The physics and technology of low temperature

A history of cryogenics is sketched beginning with 1877, the year when Cailletet in Paris and Pictet in Geneva reported the liquefaction of oxygen for the first time. The hallmark works by Sir James Dewar at the Royal Institute of London, Van der Waals at Leiden University and Kamerlingh Onnes, who founded the Low Temperature Laboratory in 1882, are reminded. Air liquefaction followed by distillation have opened the interest for industrial development of cryogenics. In 1895 Carl von Linde in Munich and William Hampson in London have built the first system of air distillation later improved by Claude in France by introduction of mechanical expansion. In 1907 cryogenic industry is founded in USA to cope with the increasing demand of oxygen for oxy-acetylenic welding and metallurgical industry. The ideal cooling agent at around - 200 deg. C becomes the liquid nitrogen. Natural gas liquefaction, particularly the liquid methane, acquired a special interest after 1963 due to the new advantageous solutions for transport and storage offered by liquefaction. The ideal fuel which is the hydrogen, in its liquid phase together with liquid oxygen has allowed the rocked development and in turn entailed the development of outer space exploration. Thus, the Apollo Project initiated in 1960 as well as the Russian Space Project were heavily based on advanced cryogenic technologies. At the top of the scientific achievements which the technological progress in cryogenics produced is the superconductivity which after finding of niobium based conductors in 1960 allowed the construction of large accelerators, nuclear fusion installations as well as cables, engines and magnetic levitation. In Romania development of cryogenics accompanied the one of the Heavy Water Production Plant, ROMAG, at Drobeta-Turnu Severin. The research and development work in cryogenics is conducted mainly at the Institute for Cryogenics and Isotope Separation at Ramnicu Valcea. Significant achievement obtained at this institute are reminded