By Norman Quesnel, Senior Member of Marketing Staff
Advanced Thermal Solutions, Inc. (ATS)
Ultra-low temperature (ULT) freezers, like the VOSTOK series from ATS, run at high power. Many models require more than 1.5 KW to maintain their extremely low (-40 to -86°C) temperature range. Straying from these levels of coldness can compromise the biological materials, such as vaccines, that require these storage conditions.
That is why different ‘coldness security’ features are built into VOSTOK freezers to help prevent temperature rise. These include door locks, and protective covers on power switches. Alarm systems call fast attention to wide range of issues from power failure, to temperature rises, to ajar doors. Password protection keeps unauthorized users away from system controls.
One of the most important needs for coldness security is a backup cooling system. These separate refrigerator units switch from standby to active cooling modes when a freezer is unexpectedly powered down.
For certain VOSTOK freezers an optional carbon dioxide standby system provides refrigeration for cooling equipment in the event of a power failure or cooling failure to ensure that the temperature inside the refrigeration equipment is maintained within the required range.
When the refrigeration equipment is working normally, the CO2 (liquid nitrogen) backup system is in standby state. When the cooling equipment is powered off, the carbon dioxide (liquid nitrogen) backup system uses its own rechargeable battery to spray liquid CO2 (N2) through the partition into the refrigeration equipment.
The automatically spray-discharged coolant can retain a temperate of -70°C for three hours. (See Standby System Controller image.) In this time, auto alert services can respond and correct the issue or relocate the internal samples.