System for maintaining materials at freezer temperatures for shipping

Abstract

At least one embodiment of the inventive technology relates to a frozen environmental sample temperature control system that comprises a frozen formulation having water in an amount from substantially 87% to 78% by weight of the formulation, and salt in an amount from substantially 13% to 22% by weight of the formulation, the system further including at least one container containing the frozen formulation; and a cooler having insulating material disposed between an outer wall and an inner surface that defines an inner chamber into which the at least one container and the at least one frozen environmental sample may be placed for storage and / or transport. Various embodiments may incorporate specific types of insulating material and / or adaptations to an inner surface of the cooler to enhance the insulation effected thereby.

Description

GOVERNMENT LICENSE RIGHTS [0001] This invention was made with Government support under Cooperative Agreement DE-FC26-98FT40322 awarded by the United States Department of Energy. The Government has certain rights in the invention. In particular, funding for this study was provided by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Fossil Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory, Morgantown, Va. under Cooperative Agreement DE-FC26-98FT40322, Task 3.8. The U.S. Government has a paid-up license in this invention and the right in limited circumstances to require the patent owner to license others on reasonable terms as provided for by the terms of Cooperative Agreement DE-FC26-98FT40322, Task 3.8. awarded by The United States Department of Energy.[0002] This is a United States non-provisional patent application and claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60 / 583,177, filed Jun. 25, 2004, hereby incorporated herein by reference.7 BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] Materials such ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0004] At least one embodiment of the inventive technology relates to a frozen environmental sample temperature control system that comprises a frozen formulation (e.g., a solution) having water in an amount from substantially 87% to 78% by weight of the formulation, and salt in an amount from substantially 13% to 22% by weight of the formulation, the system further including at least one container containing the frozen formulation; and a cooler having insulating material disposed between an outer wall and an inner surface that defines an inner chamber into which the at least

Problems solved by technology

Known systems for achieving such temperature control are often impractical or simply not feasible: shipping samples from the field in freezer compartments with electronic cooling devices powered by batteries is not feasible in most cases; shipping in coolers with dry ice is also not a viable option because air shipment of packages containing dry ice is regulated (dry ice sublimes to gaseous carbon dioxide, which can displace air in sealed aircraft).

Also, dry ice has a temperature of −78 C, which is so cold that it will cause the seals of the sample containers to be compromised, and VOC's will be lost.

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