Quality Control

Tight Temperature Control

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Food Manufacturing Cold Plate:

Tight Temperature Control
Food Manufacturing Cold Plate

TECA’s smallest Laboratory Air Cooled Cold/Hot Plate, Model AHP-301CPV, offers precise temperature control, protecting food samples in a sensitive application. In this example, our customer has placed food samples into a simple aluminum block insulated with Styrofoam. The AHP-301CPV Cold/Hot plate can be used to control the temperature to a tenth of a degree. This thermal management solution provides a small footprint. More importantly, the samples can be reliably cooled or heated to a variety of temperatures per the end user’s requirements. Our customer reports the rapid transition between temperatures is beneficial.

 

The AHP-301CPV, part of TECA’s extensive “CPV” product line is a UL/CSA, CE-Marked product with a decade of experience serving in laboratories worldwide. The built-in temperature controller and communications software allow for versatility in use. Modifications and additional accessories are available to suit the end user’s needs. Please explore the different sizes and types of cold/hot plates TECA offers here. If we can be of assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us. We would love to hear from you.  Phone 773.342.4900

Molecular Diagnostics

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Molecular Diagnostics

Molecular Diagnostics   COVID-19 tests

Several TECA Cold/Hot Plates are being used by our customer in their manufacturing process for COVID-19 tests. The AHP-301CPV is UL/CSA and CE marked. It has universal power supply for 100-240 VAC and includes communications software. With the premium features that all our “CPV” products offer, the AHP-301CPV is economically sized for smaller applications. The small footprint also makes it ideal for use at individual workstations. Please contact TECA for pricing or for sizing help. Click on the previous links to view product information on our website.

Cosmetics Manufacturing

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Custom, consumer-created lipstick:

TECA Cold Plate Model AHP-301CPV is utilized by an international beauty company. A fun novelty for shoppers, the customer can create their own custom shade of lipstick. The process takes minutes and is done right at the retail counter. TECA’s cold plate AHP-301CPV is the ideal place to quickly cool and solidify the lipstick. The AHP-301CPV is part of our growing Laboratory Cold Plate product family.

consumer created lipstick  cold plate cooling lipstick mold

These products offer incredible versatility in function and ability to customize. Serving laboratories (and make-up counters!) all over the world, these products accept 100-240 VAC input and come with a sophisticated temperature controller communications software. Contact us and tell us what you need. Whether it is remote sensing, whisper-quiet operation, or extreme temperature set points, we can advise you on the best solution.

PH 773.342.4900
teca@thermoelectric.com

Another Day, Another “A”

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Thermoelectric Cold/Hot Plate Replaces Liquid Nitrogen:

TECA’s cold/hot plates utilize thermoelectric cooling, a solid-state method of heat transfer. Also called the Peltier Effect, this technology is valued for its reliability and lack of maintenance needs. For over a decade, TECA cold/hot plates have been cited in peer-reviewed, published academic research papers. Pictured here is our youngest known researcher, a 7th grade student who designed a physics experiment for her school science fair. TECA could not pass up the opportunity to support a budding scientist and lent our Model AHP-301CPV, free of charge.

thermoelectric cold plate

Lisa, a 7th grader, used the AHP-301CPV in her science fair project, Electric Ice. Following the methods from a paper published in the journal Science, she obtained pyroelectric crystals, which develop an electric field in response to a temperature change. When the pyroelectric crystals are cooled in a controlled manner, their electric field affects the freezing point of the moisture in the air that condenses on them.

Unlike the scientists in the Science paper, Lisa did not have access to large amounts of liquid nitrogen to provide the cooling. Enter TECA Model AHP-301CPV Cold/Hot Plate. The pyroelectric crystals, housed in copper cups, were placed on the cold plate surface. Using the AHP-301CPV’s integral temperature controller and included communications software, Lisa programmed the cooling to ramp down by 2°C per minute, from room temperature to -20°C. A video camera recorded the condensation of the ambient moisture and its subsequent freezing. By comparing the time base of the video with the data captured by the AHP-301CPV’s communications software, Lisa was able to measure the freezing temperature for 3 separate configurations: within a positive electric field, a negative field, and no electric field.

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Controlled Temperature Cycling in a Research Lab

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Direct contact cooling 65°C below ambient:

controlled temperature cyclingA large state university in the U.S. has been using a collection of several TECA Model AHP-1200CAS Cascaded Cold/Hot Plates for years, to perform various research on the characteristics of cement paste samples.

In a cascaded system, the thermoelectric element acts as a heat sink for the element above it. Therefore, the more “stages” there are, the colder the top-most stage becomes. The research team which provided this photo successfully ran temperature profiles such as: from -20° to +24°C, and +23° down to -40°. This consistent accuracy and reliability of TECA Cold/Hot Plate products are a smart addition to any lab needing plug-and-play benchtop cooling or heating.

All Laboratory-Style TECA Cold/Hot Plates include an integral temperature controller and tecaLOG communications software. Versatile accessories are available such as cutting surfaces for grossing, barriers for lab animals, and more. The possibilities are endless. Please reach out to us for help selecting the right TECA solution for your lab. Ph 773.342.4900.

Museum Exhibit, Thermoelectric Cold Plate

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Educational use for thermoelectric cooling cold plate:

A large children’s science and technology center in the Midwest, specializing in hands-on exhibits, has been using multiple TECA Cold/Hot Plates, Model AHP-1200CPV. The AHP-1200CPV supports part of an exhibit teaching children about insulation. The built-in temperature controller and attractive, ergonomic exterior are perfect for the museum’s display.

Thermoelectric Cold Plate  thermoelectric cooling thermoelectric cooling

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BATTERY COOLING

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R & D Battery Cooling:

battery cooling

In this example, the customer is using TECA’s AHP-1800CPV to keep a 60 pound lithium ion battery cool during R&D testing. This saves the customer the trouble of using a plate with pumped coolant to cool the battery, which was the original method.

The customer reports that upgrading to the TECA AHP-1800CPV “makes testing much easier”.

The AHP-1800CPV is the largest thermoelectric cold plate on the market with a plate surface area of 12.80 x 13.30 inches.  The large surface area and robust cooling power were ideal for this application.

FIBER OPTICS

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Fiber Optics:

fiber optics

The customer makes fiber optics and related components and subsystems, they use an AHP-1200CPV cold plate for testing components.

They are using it to run temperature test on them, they set the temperature, and it goes to temperature and sits there, heating or cooling.

“It works well”.  Before they were cobbling together home brew solutions with a heater here, a circuit and a fan there but it’s nice to have a system that does it all.

HIGH SPEED CRYSTAL OSCILLATORS

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High Speed Crystal Oscillators:

High Speed Crystal Oscillators

The customer makes high performance crystal oscillators and atomic clocks for satellites and laboratories and they needed something for temperature control and stabilization.

They found TECA and the AHP-301CPV, tried one and say it is “working fantastic”. Well enough to order more for production, quality and engineering tests. They use them to maintain a stable temperature of the oscillator which in turn provides a stable frequency.

PERFORMANCE TESTING

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Performance Testing:

performance testing performance testing

 

Customer needed to test low-temperature performance of inertial measuring devices.  In this application of low temperature thermoelectric cooling; the user is testing inertial measurement devices over a temperature range.

The devices as well as the TECA cascaded cooling assembly are subjected to various rotational and acceleration stimuli while device temperature is controlled.  The custom thermoelectric cold plate cascaded (Peltier cascade) was built up from a standard Model AHP-301CP cold plate.

The finished test fixture was able to function with a maximum rotation rate of 1700° per second and 50 g acceleration.  The rotation is evident in the photo. By using a standard product as the basis for the cooling system, higher costs associated with a custom solution were avoided.

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