Plunger Pump Head Cooling for Stable Chromatography Flow
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing liquid delivery devices in high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) suffer from instability in liquid delivery flow rates due to volumetric shrinkage of the mobile phase caused by heat generation and cooling, leading to inaccuracies and pulsations.
Innovation Solution
A liquid delivery device with a pressurizing pump equipped with a cooling part connected to the outlet channel, which absorbs the heat of the discharged mobile phase to stabilize its temperature, improving reproducibility and accuracy by restricting temperature fluctuations in the outlet pipe.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If pre-compression operation is performed to increase pump chamber pressure to system pressure, then liquid delivery stability is improved, but mobile phase temperature increases and volume expands causing delivery accuracy to deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
A cooling part is introduced as an intermediary component between the pump chamber and outlet channel. This cooling part absorbs heat from the mobile phase during pre-compression operation, acting as a thermal mediator that removes excess heat while allowing the pre-compression function to continue. The cooling part includes a cooling channel through which coolant flows to maintain mobile phase temperature control.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the thermal parameters of the mobile phase by introducing active cooling during pre-compression operation. By controlling the temperature parameter through the cooling part, the system maintains the necessary pressure increase while compensating for the thermal expansion that would otherwise cause volumetric shrinkage and delivery inaccuracy.
2Stress or pressure
If mobile phase is compressed to generate heat and then cooled by channel wall surface, then pressure is maintained, but volumetric shrinkage occurs causing pulsation and accuracy to deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling part serves as an intermediary thermal management system that actively removes heat from the mobile phase. Instead of relying on passive cooling by channel wall surfaces, the cooling part provides controlled thermal interaction that prevents excessive heat generation during compression while maintaining system pressure.
Solution Approach 2:
The cooling part performs preliminary cooling action during the compression process itself, rather than allowing full heat generation and then cooling afterward. By removing heat during the pre-compression operation, the system prevents the thermal expansion-volumetric shrinkage cycle that causes pulsation and accuracy loss.
3Reliability
If cooling part is connected to outlet channel to absorb heat, then temperature stability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling part is merged with the pump head structure, integrating the cooling function into the existing pump components. The cooling part includes cooling channels that are formed within or attached to the pump head, combining the pumping and cooling functions in a single integrated component rather than separate systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The pump head is designed with multi-functionality, serving both as the pumping mechanism and as the housing for the cooling part. The pump head structure performs multiple functions: containing the pump chamber, providing the outlet channel, and incorporating the cooling channels. This universal design reduces the need for additional separate cooling components.
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 device enhances the reproducibility of the cooling process, stabilizing the mobile phase volume expansion and shrinkage, thereby improving the accuracy and reproducibility of liquid delivery and analysis in chromatography systems.
Implementation Method 1
a cooling part that is connected to an outlet channel from the pump chamber and causes the pump head to absorb heat of a mobile phase discharged from the pump chamber to cool the mobile phase
Implementation Method 2
a mobile phase sucked into a pump chamber is compressed to generate heat, and a temperature of the mobile phase increases and the volume is expanded
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~3
Figure 4
AI summary
A liquid delivery device includes a pump head having a pump chamber provided in the inside, a plunger whose tip is slidably inserted into the pump chamber, and at least one plunger pump having a drive mechanism that reciprocates the plunger in its axial direction. Then, at least one of the plunger pumps is a pressurizing pump that pressurizes a mobile phase including a compressible fluid sucked into the pump chamber and then discharges the mobile phase from the pump chamber, and at least the pump head of the pressurizing pump includes a cooling part that is connected to an outlet channel from the pump chamber, and allows the pump head to absorb heat of the mobile phase discharged from the pump chamber to cool the mobile phase.