X-Message-Number: 1952 Date: Sat, 13 Mar 93 13:43:29 CST From: Brian Wowk <> Subject: CRYONICS Cold Nitrogen Gregory Bloom: > Do the cryonics organizations allow LN2 to boil off to the atmosphere? > Would there be much energy/cost savings had by compressing the already > very cold nitrogen as it boils off? > On a similar line, are there any porous insulators which the nitrogen might > slowly seep through? It seems like this would allow a continuous > 'convection'of incoming heat away from the interior, putting that > boil-off nitrogen to good use. A liter of LN2 absorbs 175 kilojoules in the process of boiling. It takes about another 100 kilojoules (just 50% more energy) to raise the temperature of the generated gas all the way to room temperature. With only a few tens of percent potential savings, it isn't worth the hassle to do anything special with the cold gas. --- Brian Wowk [ By the way Kevin, Ralph Merkle's 1991 reply to the radiation question is concise and right on the money. I suggest you post it if you havn't done so already. ] Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=1952