Keeping fluids cold
Keeping fluids cold
(OP)
I am currently working in a cytometry facility, and we are having a very basic problem of keeping fluids chilled. The problem is that we run salt water through relatively thinned walled tubing (maybe a centimeter) that has a very narrow flow chamber (.25cm) so that the fluid is running very slow. Due to the set up of our equipment, the fluid must travel through this tubing over a distance of 2 meters. Across this distance the fluids, even if we start them very cold in the source tank, always warm back up to room temperature. Do we have any ideas as to how we could more effectively get that fluid to be at approximately 8 Celsius by the time that it has exited the tube set? Thanks!





RE: Keeping fluids cold
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RE: Keeping fluids cold
If you're not hurting for pressure you could always try much smaller tubing to reduce the residence time, but insulation is your best bet by far.
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Also: There's usually a good reason why everyone does it that way
RE: Keeping fluids cold
RE: Keeping fluids cold
My motto: Learn something new every day
Also: There's usually a good reason why everyone does it that way
RE: Keeping fluids cold
Want to know the do's and don'ts of Eng-Tips? Read FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies.
English not your native language? Looking for some help in getting your question across to others or understanding their answers? Go to forum1529: Translation Assistance for Engineers.
RE: Keeping fluids cold
Home Depot also sells spray insulation, which expands pretty well and you might just be able to use plastic sheeting to block off the region where the tubing is and just spray the insulation around it.
TTFN

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RE: Keeping fluids cold
RE: Keeping fluids cold
RE: Keeping fluids cold
Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
RE: Keeping fluids cold
RE: Keeping fluids cold
Want to know the do's and don'ts of Eng-Tips? Read FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies.
English not your native language? Looking for some help in getting your question across to others or understanding their answers? Go to forum1529: Translation Assistance for Engineers.
RE: Keeping fluids cold
Better to enclose all the plumbing, or as much as possible, and keep it in a constant temperature bath. ... which could be deionized water, or Kool-Aid, or just conditioned air.
Air has the advantage that minor leaks are not a housekeeping issue and not a performance issue either, so the enclosure could comprise the split corrugated pvc tubing used for wire looms, with the process tubes just layed in.
Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
RE: Keeping fluids cold
Regards,
Johan Sentjens
www.linkedin.com/in/johansentjens
RE: Keeping fluids cold
Your alternative is to put the whole thing into a cold room. Insulation won't be enough.
RE: Keeping fluids cold
RE: Keeping fluids cold
Just a few thoughts.
It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all.