Methods and apparatuses for using dry ice containers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Commercially available containers for storing and transporting biological materials using dry ice suffer from heat ingress issues, leading to reduced cooling duration and temperature gradients, which compromise the quality of the materials, and pose handling and safety challenges due to excessive dry ice weight and potential damage to items.
Innovation Solution
A tapered container design with a narrow interior neck section and a single restrictive access opening, featuring a barrier-like structure that separates the dry ice chamber from the internal product storage volume, minimizing heat ingress and allowing for efficient dry ice filling without contaminating the storage area, thus maintaining item integrity and safety.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Duration of action of moving object
If more dry ice is introduced into the container to overcome shorter cooling duration, then cooling duration is extended, but container weight increases and handling becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The container interior is divided into two separate chambers: a dry ice chamber and an internal product storage volume. This segmentation allows the dry ice to be contained in a specific region, improving cooling efficiency without requiring excessive quantities, thereby reducing overall container weight while maintaining extended cooling duration.
Solution Approach 2:
A barrier-like structure serves as an intermediary element between the dry ice chamber and the product storage volume. This barrier minimizes heat transfer from the product side to the dry ice, allowing the dry ice to maintain lower temperatures for longer periods, thus extending cooling duration without increasing dry ice quantity or container weight.
2Duration of action of moving object
If more dry ice is introduced into the container, then cooling duration is extended, but ergonomic difficulties and transportation expenses increase
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the container into separate dry ice and product chambers, the design optimizes cooling efficiency with reduced dry ice quantities. This reduces container weight and improves ergonomics, making the container easier to handle and transport while maintaining extended cooling duration through the barrier structure.
3Duration of action of moving object
If dry ice quantity is increased, then cooling duration is extended, but items can float and shift and become embedded within the dry ice
Solution Approach 1:
The segmentation of the container interior into separate dry ice chamber and product storage volume physically prevents items from contacting and becoming embedded in dry ice. This segmentation maintains item integrity and reliability while the barrier structure extends cooling duration by minimizing heat transfer, allowing adequate cooling with reduced dry ice quantities.
Solution Approach 2:
The barrier-like structure acts as an intermediary that prevents direct contact between items and dry ice, eliminating the risk of items becoming embedded. Simultaneously, this barrier extends cooling duration by reducing heat ingress from the product side, allowing effective cooling with optimized dry ice quantities that maintain item safety.
4Loss of energy
If a single restrictive access opening is used, then heat ingress is minimized, but accessing and removing items becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The segmentation of the container into separate dry ice chamber and product storage volume, accessed through the single restrictive opening, minimizes heat ingress while maintaining operational ease. The barrier structure guides item removal through the restricted opening without requiring larger access points, thus preserving thermal efficiency while enabling item access.
5Reliability
If the barrier-like structure is not removable, then dry ice and product storage remain separate, but accessing items requires discarding dry ice
Solution Approach 1:
The barrier-like structure is designed to be removable, transforming the system from static to dynamic. This allows the barrier to be temporarily removed to facilitate item access through the restrictive opening, then reinstalled to maintain separation integrity. This dynamic design enables both reliable separation and convenient item access without requiring dry ice disposal.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution extends the cooling duration, reduces handling difficulties, and ensures the integrity of biological materials by maintaining a separate and distinct dry ice and product storage environment, allowing for safe and efficient access and removal of items without discarding dry ice, thereby enhancing storage and transport capabilities.
Implementation Method 1
An apparatus with an internal product volume that is separate and distinct from a dry ice chamber... minimizing heat ingress
Implementation Method 2
The biological material is often frozen or kept frozen by placing it in proximity to solid carbon dioxide (i.e., dry ice), which is approximately -78.5°C at atmospheric pressure
Implementation Method 3
dry ice within the container can be susceptible to the transfer of heat from the surrounding environment during storage, handling and transport, which can cause a significant portion of the dry ice to sublimate too quickly
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2a~2b
Figure 3a~3b
AI summary
Methods and apparatuses for loading, removing, accessing, positioning or preserving one or more items in a presence of dry ice are provided. The apparatus includes a tapered container that has a barrier-like structure which can partition the inner volume of the tapered container into an internal product storage volume and a dry icechamber. Each of the regions remain substantially undisturbed during handling, operation, use and transport of the tapered container. Methods for selectively introducing dry ice into the dry ice chamber of the tapered container and engaging the barrier-like structure within the tapered container can be achieved with a novel guiding assembly apparatus. The methods and apparatuses are particularly useful when loading and retrieving one or more items in the presence of dry ice for tapered containers that have single restrictive access openings and/or other characteristics which make access and handling difficult.