COOLING SAMPLES TO -40 °C Research Study

Cooling Samples to -40 °C

Cooling Samples to -40 °C Cooling Samples to -40 °C

 

A university research team utilized TECA’s AHP-1200C31 Cascaded Cold Plate to build a calorimeter for a research paper that was recently published. The researchers aimed to determine the thermal properties of their specimen as part of a study on cement and concrete durability.

Originally the customer used only the AHP-1200CAS base cold plate and was able to reach -15 °C. When he determined that colder temperatures were needed, he added the CCP-31 cascade attachment to reach -40 °C. With a cascade system each cascade stage acts as a heat sink for the stage above it. This allows the top stage to reach colder temperatures.

TECA offers two and three stage cascade systems for reaching temperatures as low as -60 °C (LHP-1200C31).

MEDICATION STORAGE

Medication Storage:

medication storage medication storage

 

Keeping medication at optimal storage temperature is very important.

A customized AHP-1200CPV thermoelectric cold plate (Peltier cooling plate) with plate that has grooves with various diameters to accommodate vials of different sizes and lengths was a perfect solution for the customer. Another feature of this custom thermoelectric cooling unit (Peltier cold plate) is tamper proof temperature controller.

MASS SPECTROMETER LABORATORY

Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometer Laboratory:

MASS SPECTROMETER LABORATORY MASS SPECTROMETER LABORATORY

 

Stock thermostated sample tray supplied with mass spectrometer holds water samples at above ambient temperature. This leads to evaporation and condensation within the sample vials, and problems of gas transfer through sample needle to mass spectrometer (liquid condensation blocks gas flow through capillary tube).

USF Geology Stable Isotope Laboratory installed a second auto-sampler with a TECA AHP-1200CPV cold plate to keep samples at precisely controlled temperatures to prevent condensation and evaporation of the sample within the vials, and maintains the thermal stability required for isotope ratio mass spectrometry of water samples analyzed by equilibration method.

ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL

Environmental Control:

environmental control

A municipal waste plant had an emergency requirement for a water drop device (to condense moisture for analysis) to be installed in a smokestack. In this time critical application TECA responded with a custom designed variation of the AHP-150CP thermoelectric cold plate, to be mounted high up in the stack. Working with the customer TECA was able to design and deliver the product in less than two weeks, more than meeting the customer’s timetable.

NeoGraft FUE HAIR TRANSPLANT

NeoGraft FUE Hair Transplant:

NeoGraft FUE Hair Transplant NeoGraft FUE Hair Transplant

 

Our customer calls the ICE-160 Electric Ice Trays a “dramatic improvement”. He uses several in his medical practice.

From our customer: “We use the ICE-160 during the quality-control and graft-storage portion of our minimally-invasive hair transplant procedures. While hair transplant grafts are outside of the body, they are fragile and susceptible to damage from dehydration and other factors as they are separated from their blood supply. During this delicate phase of the hair transplant, the harvested follicular unit micrografts are now in a special physiologic holding solution at 4 °C using the thermoelectric ICE-160 before and after being counted and sorted and while they are awaiting implantation. This is a dramatic improvement over the use of traditional graft coolers using frozen water which need to be swapped out often during a long NeoGraft FUE hair transplant procedure.

We are confident that this method of graft storage ensures maximum graft viability and helps us maintain exceptional results for our hair transplant patients. The solid metal surface is simple to clean and disinfect after each procedure. Thank you for this great addition to our practice!”

MEASURING PLANT METABOLISM

Measuring Plant Metabolism:

measuring plant metabolism plant metabolism measuring plant metabolism

 

A university-based agriculture research laboratory in Spain is measuring plant metabolism under various conditions. TECA Corporation’s high-capacity version of the AHP-1200CPV (please refer to part number 9-35KB-1-0A0 on our product specification sheet) is used to cool the plant to 22 °C. Precise temperature control is important in this application as the plant’s roots must not get too cold.

There is a significant heat load to deal with as well: the plant is being illuminated with LED lights. Finally, thermal contact is an issue. The plant is inside a glass container, which is inside an aluminum block, which is placed on the AHP-1200CPV Cold Plate surface. Working closely with TECA engineers, the customer was successfully able to integrate the AHP-1200CPV Cold Plate into this unique experiment design and his sensitive thermal management needs were met.

The customer shared with us: “Your suggestion to add water between the glass and the aluminum block is a good one. It does lower the temperature inside, probably by increasing the thermal contact. The fit between the block and the glass is pretty tight. The glass was made first and then the block was drilled out using the glass as a reference. Still, even a tiny space basically ruins the heat transfer, so adding the water seems to fix that. Thanks for your help and suggestions, they were quite useful.”

TESTING MATERIALS PROPERTIES

Testing Material Properties:

testing material properties

A materials scientist at a state university used TECA’s AHP-1200CPV to conduct published research. The researchers built a thermal fatigue chamber using the AHP-1200CPV.

A 2mm-thick specimen was sandwiched between two laboratory-built hot plates. The hot temperatures were as high as 400 °C.  The AHP-1200CPV cold plate cooled the researchers’ load to 30 °C. Our customer reports that he was able to maintain the 30 °C temperature within +/- 2 °C.

EQUIPMENT TESTING AND MAINTENANCE

Equipment Testing & Maintenance:

equipment testing

Three AHP-1200CPV Cold Plates are running continuously and in tandem at 17 °C to monitor satellite equipment. The customer has added air deflectors of his own design. TECA offers standard air deflectors as well. The customer applies approximately 50 Watts of heat to the cold plate.

QUALITY CONTROL

Quality Control:

quality control quality control

 

The AHP-1200CPV is used in a customer’s Quality Control inspection process. The customer required a specific piece of equipment that would allow for bench top inspection of solution samples contained in small vials. Maintaining a 5C temperature throughout the QC inspection process was crucial.

Ease of use and dependable control by TECA Model AHP-1200CPV Cold Plate has made the customer’s process more efficient.

CONSUMER ELECTRONICS

Consumer electronics:

consumer electronics

They manufacture navigation devices for land, road, trail and water and they needed to evaluate circuit boards @ various temperatures (-30 °C to -40 °C, no or minimal heat load, room temperature ambient) and on recommendation of a person who joined them from a controls company and had been using the solid state cold plate AHP-1200CAS. The system required the cold plate, cascade, cascade control and tapped plate. The tapped plate is built into the cold plate in place of a smooth plate surface to attach to the cascade plate.

The cascade control facilitates power and temperature control to the cascade. The system also included an acrylic cover and insulation block. They received the system and liked how it is built.

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