Phase-Change Thermal Storage Cell for Cold Box Temperature Limits
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cold transport boxes for pharmaceuticals and biopharmaceuticals face issues with maintaining a consistent temperature range during transport, leading to potential freezing or damage due to thermal performance cannibalization and the need for costly, precise pre-conditioning, as well as ecological and economic concerns related to non-reusability and disposal.
Innovation Solution
A thermo-cell with multiple phase-change materials (PCMs) that change phases at specific temperatures to maintain a temperature range, providing independent protection for both minimum and maximum barrier temperatures without latent heat loss, allowing for efficient and precise temperature control within a transport box.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If separated warmth and cold energy storage cells are used, then the thermal performance can be optimized for extreme temperatures, but the temperature range stability deteriorates due to thermal cannibalization
Solution Approach 1:
The storage cell is segmented into multiple independent filling chambers, each containing phase-change materials with different phase change temperatures. This segmentation allows each chamber to independently manage specific temperature thresholds without interfering with others, preventing thermal cannibalization while maintaining stable temperature range.
Solution Approach 2:
Different phase-change materials are selected with specific phase change temperatures (e.g., first PCM at lower temperature, second PCM at upper temperature). By changing the thermal parameters of the materials in each chamber, the system optimizes for both extreme temperature protection and overall temperature range stability.
2Measurement precision
If a warmth-cold-combination-cell with paraffin is used, then the temperature control precision is improved, but the pre-conditioning cost and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The combination cell is divided into multiple filling chambers with different PCMs instead of using a single paraffin-based system. This segmentation allows each chamber to be independently filled and conditioned, reducing the precision requirements for pre-conditioning while maintaining overall temperature control precision through the complementary action of different PCMs.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses a composite approach by combining multiple phase-change materials with different thermal characteristics in separate chambers. This composite structure achieves superior temperature control precision compared to single-material systems while simplifying the pre-conditioning process, as each chamber can be prepared independently at less stringent temperature conditions.
3Ease of manufacture
If conventional cold transport boxes are used, then the initial setup is simple, but the reusability deteriorates due to disposal requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The storage cell is designed as a modular segmented structure with multiple removable filling chambers. This segmentation facilitates easy maintenance, refilling, and replacement of individual chambers without disposing of the entire system, thereby improving reusability while maintaining simple initial setup.
Solution Approach 2:
The design enables recovery and reuse of the phase-change materials by allowing individual filling chambers to be removed, emptied, and refilled. This approach prevents disposal of the entire transport box and its thermal management system, extending the service life and improving sustainability while keeping the initial setup simple.
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 thermo-cell effectively maintains a stable temperature range, preventing damage to temperature-sensitive goods, reducing heat loss, and enabling reusability of transport boxes, thus minimizing ecological and economic impacts.
Implementation Method 1
The at least one filling chamber is filled with a first phase-change material (short: pcm) which changes its phase at the lower point of temperature
Implementation Method 2
The at least one filling chamber is filled in addition with a second phase-change material which changes its phase at the upper point of temperature
Data Source
AI summary
A thermo-protection-storage-cell (1) for the ensuring of a temperature range from a lower temperature exposure limit to an upper temperature exposure limit contains a thermo-cell body (2) and at least one filling chamber (3) which is arranged in the thermo-cell body (2). The at least one filling chamber (3) is filled with a first phase-change material (4) which changes its phase at the point of the lower temperature exposure limit. The at least one filling chamber (3) is filled with a second phase-change material (5) which changes its phase at the point of the upper temperature exposure limit. The thermo-protection-storage-cell (1) facilitates an efficient and safe ensuring of a temperature-sensitive good in a useful way, especially during its transport.