Phase Change Material Used In Temperature Controlled Packaging & Transport

Temperature controlled packaging and transport is a vital part of the modern society and it is used when the contents of a delivery, usually food or medications, must be maintained at a certain temperature in order to prevent spoilage and wastage.

Temperature controlled packaging and transport usually guarantees that the shipped item or items will remain fresh, safe and under an agreed temperature band for as much as 96 hours from the time of shipment until delivery. Meats, medicines, vaccinations, tissues, blood products and other temperature sensitive materials can safely be shipped from store to consumer or from drug supplier to pharmacist or doctor without any risk of contamination or spoilage.

Temperature controlled packaging generally consists of varying sizes insulated boxes and the contents can be kept at +2°C to +8°C (36°F to 47°F) for the chilled product range. However, if colder temperatures are necessary, a low temperature controlled packaging is available which can keep items at a constant temperature of between -62°C to 0°C (-80 ° F  to 32° F). Finally, or alternatively the recently near ambient 20 ~24°C (70 ~80°F) packaging and transport becomes a critical issue for many newly developed food and medical products.

Traditionally, refrigerated contents are shipped using water ice or dry ice for chilled and frozen applications. In temperature controlled packaging, there is no need for the potentially hazardous dry ice. Instead, temperature controlled packaging utilizes many layers of high quality insulation and regular ice and water to keep the interior contents at cold temperatures for up to four days.

There are a number of reasons why temperature controlled packaging is a better choice than traditional dry ice packaging. First, dry ice is considered hazardous. Therefore, any packaging using this chemical substance must be transported through a shipping system capable of transporting hazardous materials. Dry ice can be harmful to the environment, animals, and humans, so extreme caution must be taken when dry ice is utilized in shipping containers. 

However, water ice freeze and melts at 0 °C (32 °F). If we can offer designers an ice which freezes and melts above or below 0°C (32 °F) these new products will open new horizons for environmentally friendly and economical systems for the modern temperature controlled products packaging and shipping applications.

Eutectic or generally called Phase Change Material (PCM) solutions are  mixtures of two or more chemicals which, when mixed in a particular ratio, have a freezing / melting point above or below water freezing temperature of 0C (32 °F) and they offer a thermal energy storage facility between -114 °C (-173 °F) and +164 °C (327 °F).

Phase Change Material Eutectic (PCM) solutions can be either supplied as solution which can be used to fill client's containers or alternatively using our standard range of permanently sealed metallic or non-metallic cells generally called ice packs or Eutectic plates which enable heat transfer via natural convection with surrounding air.

Eutectic Plates can be reused by means of charging (freezing) and discharging (melting) cycles, over and over again to satisfy static passive cooling and cold storage applications.

Eutectic plates can be placed in insulated containers whereby the shelf-life of the products such as medicines, cooked or raw food, medical items or any perishable item can be extended without any mechanical refrigeration at an affordable investment. 

The energy stored by the Phase Change Material is released to keep the surrounding space / product below a pre-set desired temperature.

The heat transfer between the icepack and the surrounding space provides a cooling facility without a mechanical cooling system.

Eutectic plates can also be manufactured in round shapes to form a passive cooling transport option using a refrigeration pipe to charge the PCM solution for both land and sea based cold storage and transport applications

* VACCINE TRANSPORT

* ICE CREAM VENDING

* BEVERAGE VENDING

* CHILLED GOODS TRANSPORT

* FROZEN FOOD TRANSPORT

* TRUCK REFRIGERATION

* MARINE REFRIGERATION

* TRANSPORT CONTAINERS

* FRESH PRODUCE TRANSPORT

* MEDICINE STORAGE

Temperature control packaging makes sense in today's busy and costly world. Safer packaging helps keep environmental damage to a minimum. Water ice is the most economical option but the limit of a fixed freezing and melting range somehow restricts its use for new temperature sensitive products which can easily freeze due to sub-cooled ice packs, hence, Eutectic and Phase Change Materials (PCM) ice packs are developed to handle wider temperature ranges to satisfy the temperature sensitive products operating ranges, ensuring the items arrive fresh and unspoiled.

Zafer Ure, M.Sc., C.Eng., MCIBSE., MASHRAE., MInstR., is the Managing Director of Environmental Process Systems Ltd. and has 25 years experience in the HVAC industry and has writen many papers for industry conferences and magazines. Details of PCM Products can be found ay www.pcmproducts.net  and Zafer can be contacted on +44 1733 243400 or at z.ure@epsltd.co.uk