by Dr. Ke Tang, Associate Prof., Deputy Director, Institute of Refrigeration and Cryogenics, Zhejiang University, ktang@zju.edu.cn

Held at Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China, April 6-9, the 5th International Conference on Cryogenics and Refrigeration (ICCR2013) attracted more than 330 participants from 17 nations and areas, with 220 papers presented.

Chairmen were Prof. L. M. Qiu (Vice President of A2 commission, IIR) of Zhejiang University and Prof. R. Z. Wang (Vice President of B1 commission, IIR) of Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Topics covered hot issues in the fields of cryogenic engineering and refrigeration, including cryogenic gas liquefaction, cryocoolers, LNG applications, heat pump, absorption refrigeration, novel refrigerants, cryogenic heat transfer, etc. Additionally, the ICCR exhibition comprised 17 international and domestic companies.

Eight plenary lectures highlighted the conference. Mr. V. Chrz, the former chairman of the A2 committee of IIR, reported on new trends in liquefied cryogenic gas technology, including growing sizes of cryogenic bulk equipment closer to the end-user with dedicated designs of complete systems and preassembled units for a variety of applications, LNG road vehicles and ship fueling.

Prof. G.M. Chen, from Zhejiang University, introduced a novel thermodynamic concept, i.e., cooling availability, and demonstrated its the advantages for developing new refrigeration cycles, as well as for improving existing refrigeration cycles. Prof. J. Pfotenhauer from University of Wisconsin-Madison, Prof. E. A. Groll from Purdue University, R. Radermacher from University of Maryland, Prof. E .C. Luo from Institute of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mr. T. Watson (Chairman of ASHRAE) and Mr. K. Ohlig (CEO of Linde) also presented highly informative reports.

The 6th ICCR will be held in 2018 in Shanghai, China.