Portable Cooler Cooling Loop Design to Prevent Heat Back-Flow
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current portable devices for storing temperature-sensitive materials, such as medications and bio-components, have short battery life and risk spoiling due to latent heat from cooling units flowing back to the stored materials when powered off, leading to rapid temperature increases.
Innovation Solution
A highly-insulated volume with a cooling loop that separates the cooling unit from the storage volume, reducing the run-time of the cooling unit and preventing heat back-flow when powered off, utilizing insulated tubing, a water block, Peltier coolers, and thermistors to maintain temperature control.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If thermoelectric coolers are used to directly cool the storage volume, then cooling effectiveness is improved, but battery life is reduced due to continuous operation and latent heat back-flow
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the cooling function into two separate components: a cooling unit that generates cold temperatures and a storage volume that holds the temperature-sensitive materials. These are connected through a cooling loop, allowing the cooling unit to be operated independently from the storage volume, thereby reducing the need for continuous operation and extending battery life.
Solution Approach 2:
A cooling loop acts as an intermediary between the cooling unit and the storage volume. This loop transfers thermal energy from the storage volume to the cooling unit, enabling temperature control without direct thermal contact. The intermediary allows the system to maintain temperature control while reducing the frequency and duration of cooling unit operation, thus extending battery life.
2Duration of action of moving object
If cooling unit run-time is reduced to extend battery life, then battery life is improved, but temperature control reliability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling unit is designed to pre-cool the cooling loop and storage volume before the cooling unit is turned off. This preliminary cooling action ensures that the storage volume maintains its temperature for an extended period after the cooling unit stops operating, thereby maintaining temperature control reliability while extending battery life.
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates temperature sensing and control circuitry that continuously monitors the temperature in the storage volume and adjusts the cooling unit operation accordingly. This feedback mechanism ensures that the cooling unit operates only when necessary to maintain temperature control, extending battery life while maintaining reliability through intelligent, demand-based operation.
3Device complexity
If latent heat is not isolated from the storage volume, then device complexity is reduced, but temperature stability deteriorates due to heat back-flow when powered off
Solution Approach 1:
The system separates the thermal mass of the cooling unit from the storage volume by introducing a cooling loop as an intermediary. This segmentation prevents direct thermal coupling, so when the cooling unit is powered off, its latent heat cannot directly flow back into the storage volume, maintaining temperature stability without requiring complex active control mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The cooling loop serves as a thermal intermediary that decouples the thermal interaction between the cooling unit and storage volume. This intermediary allows the system to maintain temperature stability by preventing direct heat back-flow while keeping the overall device structure relatively simple, as the cooling loop is a passive thermal management component.
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
This solution extends battery life and prevents rapid heating of stored materials, ensuring longer-term storage of sensitive materials by maintaining temperature control without continuous power usage.
Implementation Method 1
These coolers have a hot side and a cold side, and when powered on, the average temperature across these coolers is much higher than ambient.
Implementation Method 2
The present invention implements a highly-insulated volume in which to store the materials
Implementation Method 3
the present invention comprises a highly-insulated volume in which to store the materials, that works by separating the cooling unit from said volume with a cooling loop
Data Source
AI summary
An insulation and cooling system for temperature sensitive materials is disclosed. The system removes the risk of heat back-flow from the powered down cooler to the cooled volume, and in doing so increases the potential battery life of the device and removes the risk of the contents rapidly heating when the cooler loses power.