Package and Product Integrity Blog

This is an excerpt from a presentation given by Cryopak’s Technical Services Manager, Anthony Alleva on Thermal Management Panel: Phase Change Materials for Thermal Management.

There are many design factors to consider when combining components such as insulated containers, gel packs or phase change materials to be incorporated in thermal package designs used for shipping temperature sensitive products.

The primary drivers for a temperature control package design are:

• Payload volume and temperature requirements

• Expected ambient temperatures during transit

• Duration of the shipment

Basic design steps:

• Select a Phase Change Material (PCM) that will maintain the proper temperature and cover as much of the payload as possible.

• Determine the balance of insulation quality and PCM amount so as to overcome the amount of heat flow into or out of the package.

• The goal is for the PCM to not complete its phase change until the shipment is delivered and unpacked.

EXPERIMENTAL EXAMPLES

PCM Temperature vs Shipment Duration

• Water Gel: Phase Change at 0°C

• Phase 5: Phase Change at 5°C

• Phase 22: Phase Change at 22°C

• Cube of PCM encased in Cube of Polystyrene

• Freeze/Thaw all three samples and monitor the temperatures of each

Insulation Quality vs Shipment Duration

• Water Gel: Phase Change at 0°C

• Empty Corrugated RSC Box

• Expanded Polystyrene Lined RSC

• Vacuum Insulated Panel Lined RSC

• Freeze all three samples and monitor the temperatures of each

Insulation Quality vs Shipment Duration (Freezing)

PCM Temperature vs Shipment Duration (Freezing)

PCM Temperature vs Shipment Duration (Melting)