Qdrive cryocoolers and their inherent virtues of low-vibration, low-noise, low-maintenance, environmentally safe operation are ideal - and in some cases critical - for many applications. Among these are continuous-duty cooling of high temperature superconducting (HTS) applications; liquefaction of rare or costly industrial gases; direct instrument and device cooling (radiation detectors, chromatography, spectrometry); desktop cryobiology (sample and tissue freezing for storage and microscopy); and on-site liquefaction of oxygen for military and therapeutic use.

• High Temperature Superconductivity
• Home Oxygen Liquefaction
• Device/Instrument Cooling
• High-Vacuum Technology
• Medical/Biology Applications
• Industrial Gas Liquefaction

High temperature superconducting (HTS) material promises a world with extra electricity capacity and efficiency, plus improved telecommunications and innovative devices impossible without HTS materials.  However, all HTS applications depend on reliable, efficient, low-cost cooling to cryogenic temperatures. While conventional cryogenics (liquid cryogens and one-off cryocoolers) can support demonstrations of HTS power, Qdrive's line of cryocoolers enable commercial realization of this important technology by their quiet, maintenance-free, and long-life operation.

Important HTS applications using Qdrive cryocoolers:

• Power Transmission Cables
• Fault Current Limiters and Transformers
• Mag-lev Devices for Transportation
• Materials Research
• Telecommunications & Sensors

Qdrive cryocoolers, when coupled with an oxygen concentrator, may be used to provide liquid oxygen for sufferers of respiratory problems (this is not an approved or available product yet).  The quiet, low-vibration, reliable operation of Qdrive cryocoolers makes them ideal for use residences and homes where medical oxygen is being generated, stored, and administered.

Emphysema patients and other sufferers of lung maladies are often forced to travel with heavy, bulky oxygen gas pressure tanks.  Liquid oxygen generated in the home offers them greater freedom by allowing the same amount of oxygen to be stored, carried, and administered from a small, lightweight cartridge on a shoulder holster.  Presently, this medically preferred liquid treatment requires periodic deliveries to the home of massive, liquid oxygen storage dewars, often in conflict with fire codes and insurance coverage limits.  With local liquefaction by Qdrive, only the amount needed each day need be produced or stored, and no deliveries are required at all, cutting cost and adding security.

Many scientific devices and instruments need cryogenic cooling whether for material sample preparation, critical component cooling, or for high-capacity heat rejection. Traditional forms of cooling fall short of a complete cooling solution. Liquid nitrogen requires constant replenishment and presents a signifcant ongoing cost of operation. Peltier coolers are notoriously inefficient, don’t work at low temperatures, and have limited life. Cascade vapor-compression systems also have limited life and are often too large and inefficient for size/weight sensitive applications.

Qdrive cryocoolers provide a quiet, efficient, low-vibration, low-maintenance, reliable alternative. Qdrive coolers can be used to upgrade a device now cooled otherwise, or by original equipment manufacturers to make a more attractive product.

Devices/Instruments readily cooled by Qdrives include:

• Cloud/freeze point testrers for petroleum industry
• Gas chromatography/spectrometry equipment
• Non-contact (mag lev) stirrers/mixers
• Radiation/X-ray detectors for microscopy
• Table-top mills and grinder

High-vacuum technology is critical for applications requiring a clean, contaminant-free environment, as in the manufacture of semiconductor, data storage, flat panel, and optical devices; and for other high-technology research applications. Qdrive cryocoolers can be used as cryopumps, to freeze out and adsorb contaminants in chambers to create high-vacuum levels unachievable with mechanical pumps. Their quiet, low-vibration, reliable operation makes them ideal for laboratory use as well as manufacturing processes.

CTI Cryogenics (Helix Technology Corporation) — the global leader in cryogenic high-vacuum products (cryopumps) — has licensed Qdrive technology.

Some medical and biological processes use liquid nitrogen to reach cryogenic temperatures. These include biological sample and tissue freezing at controlled rates for storage and microscopy, as well as cryosurgery devices for ablation of cancerous tissue. Many of the machines used for these processes are open-loop systems whereby the liquid nitrogen evaporates as it is used. Constant replacement of liquid nitrogen is both costly and inconvenient. Smaller size Qdrive cryocoolers (2S102K/2S132K) replace this expenditure by continuously condensing evaporated nitrogen into liquid nitrogen, turning an open-loop system into a closed-loop system with greater safety and reliability, but at lower cost.

The industrial gas marketplace has used large central plants and truck deliveries for most of its customers for nearly a century. Only the largest users have justified an on-site liquid plant. Now, efficient, compact Qdrive cryocooler/liquefiers (cryocoolers with liquefier option) make local liquid production and recondensation practical for many smaller users.

Qdrive has non-exclusively licensed Praxair - North America's largest industrial gas supplier - for production, use, and sale of CFIC Technology (above 4kW power ratings), to help accelerate adoption of acoustic-Stirling liquefiers in this field, or these liquefiers can be obtained directly from CFIC-Qdrive.