Making Liquid Nitrogen with my Homemade Cryocooler

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In this video, I'll show how I built a cryocooler out of salvaged air conditioner parts that's able to make liquid nitrogen at -196C.
The system operates on a process known as the Mixed-Gas Joule Thomson cycle. A mixture of refrigerant gases are compressed, cooled to ambient temperature, and then expanded inside a long counterflow heat exchanger. When the gases expand, they cool. Cold, low-pressure gas cools the incoming high-pressure gas causing it to drop its temperature even further, creating a snowball effect that drives the cycle down to cryogenic temperatures. The lowest temperature I've achieved is -180C with a 30/70 mixture of Propane and Argon.
For higher performance, a separate vapor compression system is used to pre-cool the gas mixture to around -30C before it enters the regenerative heat exchanger. This adds complexity, but nets a performance gain, since total cooling power goes up by 30-50% with only a 15-20% increase in energy consumption.
The super cold gas travels through a heat exchanger pipe in a small tank. High pressure nitrogen is pumped into the tank at up to 30 bar and liquefies at around -150C. Once the tank is filled with liquid nitrogen, it's discharged through an electronic expansion valve at the bottom of the tank into a thermos or dewar.
This is different from the pure-gas joule thomson cycle in which nitrogen is expanded from 200-300 bar to atmospheric pressure to create a cooling effect. In the mixed-gas cycle, the refrigerant gases and the process gases being liquefied are two different streams.
The gas mixture being used is:
25% Propane
15% Ethylene
20% Methane
20% Argon
20% Nitrogen
The typical operating pressure is 400 psiG on the high pressure side and about 20 psiG on the low pressure side. Power consumption is approximately 1.4 kW, and my current production rate is about 130cc/hour of liquid nitrogen, though I'm confident this can be improved close to 300cc/hour with some adjustments. The current energy cost is about $1.29 per liter produced.
For this video I've used nitrogen gas from a tank I purchased, but in a future video I'll show the process of separating out oxygen/nitrogen.
Music Used:
Kevin MacLeod - Groove Groove
Kevin MacLeod - George Street Shuffle

[@airtongabriel6827]

Yeahh the fridge guy!!

[@nunyabisnass1141]

We like fridge guy..

[@DevBhalodia1]

200th like

[@alexdyke194]

Don't forget the homemade submarine

[@konstantinletuchy2222]

@@alexdyke194 say more?

[@TwoMetalDonuts]

Yeahh the fridge guy!!

[@codures]

He finally did it!

[@explosify5035]

And he got to keep all his fingers to boot!

[@Segranz]

Finally, the reverse microwave is complete!

[@MrPizzaman09]

A bit faster than Project Binky!

[@wojciechdebowski5014]

Hyperspace Pirate: complains about his methane tank exploding Also Hyperspace Pirate 5 seconds later: Shows us a very competently designed pipe bomb disguised as heat exchanger

[@firstletterofthealphabet7308]

This is true.

[@absalomdraconis]

Nah. It's not a disguise, it's dual-purpose.

[@AppliedScience]

Nice work! I've enjoyed following your progress, and it's great to see liquid nitrogen made with everyday parts. I haven't seen anyone else make ln2 with air conditioning compressors. What a journey!

[@demandred1957]

Hi Ben! it's a great series for sure.

[@Zaniahiononzenbei]

I always feel like I'm watching the right videos when I find your comments under them.

[@jensdecker8864]

Getting a comment from AppliedScience after making LN2 is like first contact with the Vulcans after getting the first Warp drive ;-)

[@t0k4m4k7]

@@Zaniahiononzenbeibadge of honour

[@CollectiveSoftware]

Take that, entropy and Airgas

[@MyOtherCarIsAPlane]

but mostly airgas

[@ThePowerofElectricity]

The reason you lost your rotary compressor despite the cooling was indeed an oiling issue. While the piston compressors like the fridge transfer one have their oil sump in the low pressure housing and actively use a small centrifugal pump to lube themselves up, the bigger rotary ones have their oil sump on the high pressure side. That means in order to avoid efficiency loss, they can't simply allow the oil to bypass back into the rotary set and instead rely on oil making it all the way trough the loop and back into the suction side. If there is no oil in the gas that comes from the suction, they have no lubrication at all. A fix would be another oil separator loop for the nitrogen comp. Even while the fridge transfer compressor might work, you're still loosing oil out of it slowly, so with enough time and no refill it will die too. Not to mention that some oil might get all the way into the cryo chamber and freeze up in there.

[@V8Power5300]

I think an r290 freezer compressor would be fine with 500psi and still have the oil sump. Might be a bit larger than the small r600a bar fridge compressor he's using (if I remember correctly)

[@SkylerLinux]

Watching your videos really makes me want to make a compressor cooling system for my PC

[@demandred1957]

Tech ingredients here on youtube shows how to make a window ac unit into a pc cooler. works like a charm, and easy to do.

[@SkylerLinux]

@@demandred1957 Neat, mind I always think about a Micro-Split kinda thing. To dump the heat outside.

[@rian0xFFF]

Water cool but with peltier cooler, what about ?

[@xStStSx]

We have localy so called Tami4 (Mini bar). It's like water filter, sanitizer, cooler , heater in one box. 35x35x35 box on kitchen. It has small compressor inside, capable cooling water to 5-7 degress within 10 minutes (tapwater around 25-28 C). Small thermos about 2L to store and keep water cooled. But if you remove tapwater , filter and sanitizer with closed loop true thermos , you can easly cooling CPU or GPU water block. I don't know exacly about BTU of this system and all the parameters. But seems plausible.

[@Groovewonder2]

The term you're gonna wanna use for research is "phase-change cooling", maybe with something about PCs added onto it for googling. It's possible, but requires a fair bit of setup to get right. Definitely spare no expense for condensation resistance.

[@maximus_stp]

I always wondered why old AC units always came with that extra part in the bottom left <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="23">0:23</a>, glad it wasn’t just me who noticed.

[@Flashv28]

its a bottom part

[@yngndrw.]

It just plugs the drain hole.

[@bachibak]

well it certainly is for bottoms, just of the human kind

[@DreadX10]

This is the reason a word like "Wow" was invented. You not only did it; you did it well and we all know how well because you were so kind enough to take us with you every step (and step back) of the way!

[@thomasthecrunkengine3512]

Highlight of my month right here. I love these videos!

[@flat-earther]

hi thomasthecrunkengine, have you become a flat earther yet? If not I suggest watching _Level with Me (2023)_ by Hibbeler Productions

[@joemama397]

It’s 3am and I’m watching this😂😂

[@squa_81]

The coolest video to watch at this hour

[@no-damn-alias]

where are you?

[@shoitah]

@@no-damn-alias China or some parts of Australia

[@boostin99]

It's 01:42 AM for me

[@boostin99]

​@@squa_81real

[@Seb_292]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="718">11:58</a> That equation brings me right back to my first semester of electrical engineering :D The TCR of copper will stick with me for the rest of my life

[@ThatOneSpace_Guy]

The KSP music in the background lmaoo.

[@deputy1388]

Glad I’m not the only one lmao

[@max1tur3]

KSP is a great game

[@Nobe_Oddy]

This HONESTLY has been one AWESOME JOURNEY!!!! I have learned SO MUCH from watching your videos from the beginning (well, the beginning of this journey to make LN2) - I probably don't and won't retain much of it, but I LOVE learning about new things that are so far removed from my typical realm (computers are MY thang) But YOU made this journey frikkin HILARIOUSLY ENJOYABLE and I JUST CAN'T WAIT to see what you come up with next!!! - Thank YOU for EVERYTHIGN Hyperspace Pirate... YOU ROCK!!!!

[@erhardpostinger1326]

de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linde-Verfahren#Geschichte - So geht Zeitreise ! Passt gut zum 130. Geburtstag.

[@YourFreeness]

That KSP ambient music is so nice!

[@ElektronDeForza]

It really elevates the jank

[@aeriumsoft]

YES

[@techsbyglebbagrov7470]

Fridge guy did it! Onwards, to Liquid Hydrogen progress!

[@janoutuber1069]

Literally watched like 5 of your vids today, they're masterpieces, the memes, the chemistry, the animations and engineering. This is my 1% top channel on here

[@janeczekdeliverservices7831]

Same, has to be the best series on yt

[@erhardpostinger1326]

"... This is my 1% top channel on here" - Was zur Hölle ist ein 1% top channel ?

[@DerMarkus1982]

Ah, the binge caught up with you, for *you* to catch up with HSP! 😁

[@janeczekdeliverservices7831]

@@erhardpostinger1326 excuse me, I don't speak angry short Austrian guy

[@DerMarkus1982]

@@janeczekdeliverservices7831 "What the hell is a 1% top channel?" Hmmm. I recommend saying "top 1% channel". Sounds more fluent, OP ( @janoutuber1069 ). Btw, I myself am not a native English speaker. Just a versatile Austrian Guy(TM). Neither am I short. 😁

[@-r-495]

„what are you doing?“ „cryo-cleaning the garage, honey!“ Well done!

[@emanuelgoncalvessantos4499]

Argon from air please!!!! I would love this!

[@SlamminGraham]

You and literally every welder out there... lol! :D

[@paranoiia8]

Damn I love that series 😅 only here we have pretty advanced diy cooling methods with 1000 versions of tubes and tanks... But no button to open a valve 😅

[@thesentientneuron6550]

You have no idea how much glee this video brought to me! It feels like somewhere in the back of my mind an unknown challenge had been conquered…or I suck at thermodynamics. Probably both . Anyway, crazy cool stuff, fridge pirate! Need that cryo pod for hyperspace travels, right? Perfectly understandable and a valuable resource for fellow pioneers. We do appreciate your contribution.

[@gredennight]

I love watching Mr. Freeze's videos 🥰

[@steelcannibal]

I love seeing the progress you've made on this project. Keep up the great work man!

[@klavspr]

Good to see an upload. I started to think there's been a lab accident.

[@cocusar]

oh yeah, the industrial processes done in the garage guy! lol, seriously, absolutely amazing job. your videos really got me through some really bad times in the recent times, and I appreciate that. I'd like to see a full HMI monitoring the process of the nitrogen once it's "easily doable"

[@lukesmith9059]

Congrats on achieving liquid nitrogen production, I admire your dedication!

[@CervantesXavier]

I always appreciate you showing what didn't work and explaining why.

[@weston3303]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="235">3:55</a> looks like a surefire way to end up on a 3-letters "list"

[@Drjtherrien]

So, next is liquid helium... right?

[@Osmium2000]

lol

[@WeltBauern_7117]

Liquid helium is very difficult to liquefy below -269°C

[@brokens1097]

Brilliant! It's nice to finally see the ingenuity needed to produce a result vs a mess. Great goob.

[@yannrampitsch6678]

he did the thing!!

[@90762709]

I’m impressed with your tenacity! You’ve been at this for quite a while.

[@benruniko]

Consider me AMAZED and super impressed you got to this point doing it all DIY! I have watched the refrigeration system vids and sooooo many of the problems did not seem to have an accessible solution. Yet you did it! Wooooow seriously cool

[@DefensorMilitas]

The plug. lol

[@Ariccio123]

Seing the leidenfrost effect with such a cold liquid is amazing

[@andresyesidmorenovilla7888]

Duuude, congratulations! Seeing all your time and effort finally pay off was incredibly cathartic. This is an insanely impressive build!

[@SamuelLiJ]

The equation at <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="718">11:58</a> is a linear approximation around room temperature. The true curve as a function of temperature is nonlinear and is a strong function of the copper purity. The NIST Cryogenic Materials Property database provides some empirical equations for OFHC copper (C101).

[@EvocativeKitsune]

You absolute legend!!

[@groundcontrol6876]

Finally!! A new Hyperspace Pirate homemade supercooling video!

[@trygvetveit4747]

Yelled to my dagther .. crazy genious heat pump is back!!!!!

[@systemloc]

Congrats on the achievement! Hands down, my favorite channel! How much longer till you start a liquid rocket program!🤣

[@Lumen_Obscurum]

I mean, the nastiest part of liquid oxygen isn't that it's a fire hazard. It's that it's hyper-reactive, and things that aren't flammable in normal atmosphere are all too happy to burn in pure oxygen. Which gets formed quite nicely by the leidenfrost effect you demonstrated with the liquid nitrogen, except way worse because any ignition source is an instant fireball due to the whole oxygen being an overreactive diva situation. I love these videos, please keep them coming.

[@Stiefel420]

Hey i am from Germany and work as a HVAC and have mainly -80 degree Freezer that i work on. Dude thats so impressive!

[@AnalogDude_]

I once worked "on" a compressor at chemical plant, it's output was 2000 bar, a v8 with a 3 meter rotor. the tubing was insane thick.

[@frederikwolf2244]

We need more people like you

[@arthurmoore9488]

FYI, over in the extreme overclocking community, Kingpin produces thermocouples specifically designed for Liquid Nitrogen temps. Once you get the efficiencies you're looking for, you should really start making Liquid Methane and LOX. Home made rocket fuel!

[@railworksamerica]

Then he can build his own rocket and visit the ISS! LOL

[@wb5mct]

Truly awesome! Love your reasoning and persistence, and your cartoons are a great tool.

[@nilamotk]

Im all of 45 seconds into the video and as an HVAC "standard refrigeration components" tech with adhd and not enough time, I'm 10,000% going to copy you. I want home made liquid nitrogen. *For absolutely no reason whatsoever* Thanks for the videos, I've actually learned quite a bit about refrigeration from you.. and I do this shit for a living 😂

[@DarkMultiBigTrees]

Your copper work is getting pretty awesome! Keep up the good work. I'm a welder with some brazing experience, pretty impressed with your knowledge of filler materials.

[@leyvarecio3699]

This is very cool

[@TrinomCZ]

Literally cool :D

[@calholli]

get it... get it

[@blakes8901]

HE DID IT! HE FINALLY DID IT!! THE DREAM IS REAL! I respect the hell out of this dude, you should feel so proud. Honestly in your situation I might shed a tear or two every time I took a gander at that Dewar full of hopes and dreams.

[@Daschizznitt]

Still *the* best channel on KZbin. It's like the chemistry channels, but actually relatable(ish) and interesting. Not to mention the comical edits! I don't expect tons of videos. Just know, I'll always be looking forward to the next one

[@adrenalinejunky789]

A More in depth video on how you made the cooler would be amazing PLEASE 🙏

[@ozzymandius666]

Awesome! You can adapt some of your electric/magnetic past projects to superconductor equivalents, to boot! Yay!

[@SteveSiegelin]

I came across this video and now watching your list of things needed I realized I have everything at home. I just happened to get two window units that were given to me because their fan motors froze up but they're compressors are awesome 👍

[@ck-li6yr]

Awesome. Can't wait for the PSA video

[@PhillipChalabi]

Congratulations on your success! This was one hell of a project.

[@wickedprotos1937]

This is AWesome Work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@jdmeesey]

ITS FINALLY HERE!!!! ⛽

[@Jupiter-rs4zl]

Perfect for PC cooling with theese new components

[@andersl.359]

my favorite madlad on youtube! godspeed. looking forward to more of your content

[@hectictechnic5526]

This guy is my favorite KZbinr. He can seamlessly transition from explaining random physics stuff super well to hiring frozen oranges with a hammer. Thank you so much for doing what you do. PS I love the KSP music.

[@ssolomon999]

Here's a potential project if you're interested - consider a boat or RV that relies on solar or other sources to charge batteries. I've seen examples of using a hot water heater as physical energy storage once the a batteries are fully charged. Wondering if you could use a heat pump instead of a heater, creating a "heat sink" and a "cold sink." Then, ideally, you'd leverage the hot side for anything on the boat/rv that needs warming, and the cold side for anything that needs cooling. Could you store enough heat and "cold" in a sufficiently efficient and reliable way to make this practical?

[@peteaulit]

Well done sir! I like the no bullshit attitude and narration. We could’ve had fun 10 years ago as neighbors when I was experimenting with AC stuff.

[@gumunkulus]

fun fact: Monster energy has a pH of ~2.7, which is quite acidic but not dangerous, except to your tooth enamel if consumed in large quantities.

[@sonofasalesman]

I JUST got into liquid nitrogen myself, and then I saw this video, spectacular timing! Hats off to the pirate

[@Frank-bc8gg]

congratulations on your cold juice!

[@KapitanWalnut]

Congratulations! Ive been following this series from the beginning! I look forward to your pressure swing absorption video!

[@nikkeloneboot8326]

Congrats! That took a lot of persistence

[@Skyliner_369]

Lox is gonna be fun to use. I have a terrifying idea to do *somewhere safe* which is mixing lox and liquid methane and adding a spark. Also lox absorbed into foamy flammable materials might be fun too

[@Igbf]

Never had a doubt the day you make an actual usable Cryocooler for LN2 will come. And here we are. Nice job!

[@WeltBauern_7117]

The man fridge guy!

[@ceilingfanmusic6597]

For the compressor that feeds nitrogen into the condenser chamber you should put afew oil separators on its discharge so you dont loose all the oil and have clumpy nitrogen oil mix clogging your EEV on the output:0 over all this is a cool build

[@CriticoolHit]

Fridge guy's back. Get your learnin' on.

[@specific-solutions]

Yes I like your thing, it's very cool and makes my brain feel vicariously productive. Your pacing is excellent, you are among the very few creators that I do not skip ahead. Who knew thermodynamics could be so interesting. Well, you. You clearly did.

[@AlbertoGirardi747]

CONGRATULATIONS! It has been amazing to follow this project in the last year. I hope to be able to replicate it in a few years too.

[@Runoratsu]

Showing the Leidenfrost effect on your hands w/o taking your metal ring off… daring! ;)

[@bain5872]

I have enjoyed following this project. I have to hand it to you, you're determined.

[@drhxa]

Congrats! Amazing work!

[@edriyin]

For insulating pipes, please careful about critical insulation thickness. If you insulation thickness is low you would increase heat transfer. Nice video, keep it up.

[@dallynsr]

Spent the last year and a half of engineering to make an EXTRA CRISPY SALAD! Yeah man.

[@ockeojoj]

Congratulations are in order!

[@michelgrenier1878]

Job very well done ! Congrats ! Subcooling is the answer , It prevents a lot of flash gas and make's the system more efficient .

[@zyeborm]

Hey a thing you might like to try is those cheap double wall glass vacuum cups. I've seen it done with some professional gear (presumably boro glass) and you can see the actual liquid gas inside and the outside doesn't frost over. If the glass can handle the thermal shock (Keeping in mind they do get used for coffee at 100 ish C) then it may work for you with the LN2 for a few $

[@brianmoreau5274]

I’m anxiously awaiting a mini bench top closed loop model to connect to a PC for extreme over clocking. I’d buy that fer a dollar!

[@williamackerson_chemist]

YES!! I knew it was coming one of these days! Liquid nitrogen from mostly scrap window ac units is huge!

[@1215drew]

We've got liquid Nitrogen! Excited to see where you go from here!

[@Lisa_Nicholas]

Yeah your thing was pretty badass.!!

[@truthsmiles]

Bro! You did it! This is amazing and super impressive. And frankly, quite accessible for anyone who dabbles in HVAC. Great job! I have a few old window units I’m not using… hmmmm

[@aeriumsoft]

that kerbal space program music got me good, i was playing it almost had me wondering if it was still running

[@mattkingston6157]

“How about cooling this salad” killed me

[@lardbarth5180]

KSP Editor music made this even better

[@gertbenade3082]

Great Project! Thanks for going the extra mile to freeze the salad!🥶🤣

[@JohnDoffing-g2l]

Hi Mr. Hyperspace Pirate. Interesting video. I've been work with the National Science Foundation to get them to support my Flywheel with Superconducting Coil windings as an energy storage system. Preliminary testing will be done at NIAR here in Wichita. We'll need to do something like this to cool the superconducting coils. Thanks for the video! John

[@VibesInMotion]

Babe wake up Hyperspace pirate dropped

[@testpilotmafia862]

You finnally did it ! Now i just need all your LN for my Cloud Chamber. 😄

[@larndey2356]

Glad you got your way all the way down to liquid nitrogen!! This is really cool and your series on this has been very educational! :D

[@DJrainbizzles]

I really appreciate your videos man. They’re super entertaining, and as an engineer and hobbyist: inspiring. Much love

[@larrythehedgehog]

it's nice to see you finally achieve your goal!

[@jacquesb5248]

might not be much but you still did it, so awesome job