2. Superconductor environment

Cryogenics is the science of low temperatures, below around 100 K, but this limit is arbitrary. Although cryogenics used to be the preserve of certain research laboratories, it is now a well-known technology that is perfectly mastered by industry.

A refrigerator extracts a quantity of heat at a cold temperature. To do this, it supplies work to a fluid that follows a thermodynamic cycle (Joule-Thomson cycle, Brayton cycle, etc.) that depends on the type of refrigerator. This fluid is very often helium. It is generally compressed at room temperature, then cooled by heat exchangers and finally expanded to extract energy at cold temperature. Most of the power is consumed by the compressor.

For a more detailed approach, please refer to the articles on Cryogenics in the Energy Engineering treatise.