Meeting start time: 2:00 p.m.

Members Present: Lee, Sage, Mathew, Jose

Fixed Issues:

• Leaks had been found on the VT and fixed utilizing indium and pipe tape sealing methods (Jose)

Known Issues:

• During testing on 7/18/2017 a full gas bottle was drained in ~10 minutes by the system at a working pressure of 350 psi. This has created issues regarding available resources as well as time management. After discussing the issue with Jake, it seems that installing the gas boosters is the next route that should be taken as well as possibly closing the system. Since Nitrogen is relatively cheap, its monetary expense is not much of an issue currently.

From today:

• A J-T valve was installed on the hot-end of the vortex tube to control back pressure and flow on the system.
• Currently testing to optimize J-T valve position at 350 psi for optimal cooling capability.
• Operating with fully open J-T valves at 350 psi saw a drop in ~18 K in roughly 10 minutes.
• Operating with a fully closed J-T valve on the hot-end saw cooling but at the expense of efficiency. The observations are explored as follows:

1. Initially saw ~ 1K of cooling on the cold-end.
2. Cold-end then began warming back up.
3. After ~ 4 minutes, gradual cooling on the cold-end could be seen.

** We think that cooling may be occurring even with a fully closed J-T valve on the hot-end for a few reasons. One idea is that while the hot and cold gas is being separating, as the hot gas reaches the J-T valve it is forced back into the VT, mixing with the cold-gas that is then forced out the cold-end. This then decreases the rate of cooling on the cold-end, leading to the idea that closing the hot-end is extremely inefficient.

Current Issues:

• Still do not have a recording system for temperature measurements. Lee is currently working to get the measurement set up through LabView or Excel.

Meeting start time: 2:00 pm

Members Present: James Matilas, Sage Pratt, Mathew Hunt, Jake Leachman, Eli Shoemake

• Reviewed liquefier safety systems
• Plumbed gas bottle and liquefier system
• Safely anchored down the entire system within the storage container
• Wired up thermocouples to a National Instruments thermocouple reader

We are now set to begin testing on Thursday 6/29/2017

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Meeting start 13:02

Updates:

Greg – Has found the seal replacement kit for the Haskel, about $1000. We look at the seals and components on the pump and most sealing surfaces and some of the seals look almost untouched. A few of the o-rings need to be replaced, may be standard sizes. If they are we will likely already have some replacements.

TO DO: Look at the parts list for the o-rings that need to be replaced and determine if they are standard sizes. Develop a test plan for making sure the pump is working to spec.

Sam – Electricians have not gotten back to him. Ready to order conduit and boxes. Stoneway Electric is a suggested location to order eletrical supplies. Sam has a location plan for mounting stuff, we need to just start getting it in. Looked at the dewar electical passthrough some more.

TO DO: Forward email to Jake so he can encorage response from the electricians. Finish the conduit and box purchase order and get it to Jake for approval. Look at getting a conduit bender < $100 and we should just buy one. Look at the hydrogen sensor to be sure that it is working.

Will – Working on the flange design. ANSI flange is too big for our space requirements, we may be able to use a large VCR fitting instead. 1/2 VCR will not fit a 1/4 VCR through it, we may be able to get a 3/4 VCR bulkhead passthrough made custom that will work. Swagelok order is taking too long, need to just submit through Swagelok. Have a length of the water heat exchanger and can make it with the premade exchanger coils from 416. Worked on fan controller system for the conference room.

TO DO: Get Swagelok purchase order in. Make the water loop coils.

Dustin – Needs plans for the spaces to finish layouts. Robert Lentz may have the plans or access to them. The WAC code is proving to be very difficult to work with for dimensioning – much worse than the NFPA codes. Try to red/yellow/greenlight the spaces for all the NFPA code and the WAC code (red – no compliance, yellow – some/may be compliant, green – fully compliant). Bolts for securing the bottles in the shipping container are in.

TO DO: Talk to Robert about getting plans / dimensions. Provide a visual summary of the locations and redlight yellowlight greenlight document showing how locations meet the standards. Complete a document outlining parts and tools required, procedure, engineering drawings, and safety / failure modes analysis for installing the bottle cart in the container.

Jose – Ready to prepare two quotes for the vacuum insulated hard lines. Hasn’t been able to contact Andrew because of how busy Andrew has been. Needs to find where the precooling system will fit. The system should be near the dividing wall to minimize the length of the vacuum jacketed line. Jose got design, coating, application guidelines from Aspen Aerogels to know the recommended application instructions where we need aerogel.

TO DO: Look up sizing on the Stirling Cryogenics precooling system and find a location for the system in the container. Work with Sam for where the electrical box will take up space.