Standards, Designs, and Equipment

Many standard designs are available through a variety of manufacturers. The Cryogenic Society of America provides an extensive Buyer’s Guidefor parts, equipment, and services.

Basic engineering resources for cryogenic systems design can be found through Goran Perinic's Homepage at CERN in France/Switzerland.

Cryostat design and materials properties: The following web site provides supplemental information for the book //Experimental Techniques for Low-temperature Measurements: Cryostat Design, Materials Properties, and Superconductor Critical-Current Testing//, published by Oxford University Press in 2011.

Below are some of the established international codes and regulations:

• ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, Section VIII - applies to many designs and construction for tanks
• ASME B31.3 Chemical Plant and Petroleum Piping - applies to many designs and construction for piping
• Compressed Gas Association (CGA) has a number pamphlets on the handling of industrial gases and cryogens
  • P-1 Safe Handling of Compressed Gases in Containers
  • S-1.1 Pressure Relief Device Standards Part 1 (circular cross-sectional storage units)
  • S-1.2 Pressure Relief Device Standards Part 2 (cargo and transportable)
  • S-1.3 Pressure Relief Device Standards Part 3 (permanently mounted units)
• Additional regulatory documents on oxygen equipment:
  • CGA G-4.1 Cleaning Equipment for Oxygen Service
  • 29 CFR 1910.104 Oxygen (OSHA standard)
• Hydrogen:
  • ASME B31.12 - 2008 Hydrogen Piping and Pipelines
  • STP/PT-003 Hydrogen Standardization Guide for Tanks and Piping
• Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG):
  • API-620 Appendix Q

Fluid Properties:

• NIST Thermophysical Properties of Fluid Systems

Materials Properties:

• NIST SRD #152 Data on Properties of Materials for Cryogenics

Various Design Guides:
LANL Process Piping Guide

Guide to Mechanical Insulation (i.e., non-vacuum thermal insulation systems):

Mechanical Insulation Design Guide
The National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) through the National Mechanical Insulation Committee (NMIC) has developed the Mechanical Insulation Design Guide (MIDG) to provide a comprehensive source of information on the performance, use, testing and standardization of mechanical insulation in buildings and industrial facilities. While this guide does not address details of cryogenic insulation requirements, it does provide much helpful information for piping and vessel systems operating below ambient temperature. Note the caveat given in the guide under the Materials and Systems section: "Cryogenic insulation systems require specialized engineering beyond the scope of this document."

Heat Leakage Rates (Heat Leak) for Vacuum-Jacketed (VJ) Piping:

A good estimate for the heat leakage rates (heat leak) is an important starting point for the design of cryogenic vacuum-jacketed piping systems. Below are links to various heat leak estimates for VJ piping and bayonets. Note that VJ in all of these cases means highly evacuated multilayer insulation (MLI).

• PHPK Technologies See page 1-7. Note: these data were originally published in the old CVI catalog of the 1970s.
• ACME Quality Cryogenics Heat leaks for piping and bayonets.
• Technifab Products Inc. Also included here is a summary on the definition of heat leaks.
• Chart Industries (Chart/MVE) Chart has many product brouchures, but you may need to call for the heat leak data.
• Eden Cryogenics Call for technical manual that includes heat leak data.
• Cryofab Manufacturer of "state of the art" cryogenic equipment including vacuum insulated vessels and piping.

Caution: Take full doses of common sense when the system includes elements that are not VJ (such as bare flanges, mechanical (add-on) insulation, etc.): the total heat leak of the system is usually what matters, so don't strain at a milliwatt when the connecting part is a kilowatt!