Frozen Coolant Pack
A frozen coolant pack is a cooling element whose filling is designed for temperature control below 0 °C. A PCM with a negative melting point is often used for this purpose. One example is PCM −21 for appropriately designed shipping packaging in the −15 to −25 °C range.
How does it differ from a water-based pack?
- Frozen water absorbs latent heat as it melts at around 0 °C. A specialised frozen-shipping medium uses a lower temperature range for this purpose.
- Frozen coolant pack describes the thermal application. Depending on the filling, suitable formats include gel packs, foam bricks or rigid-shell packs.
- Melting point, filling quantity and preconditioning must together match the packout. The melting point alone does not guarantee a product temperature.
Can a frozen coolant pack replace dry ice?
This is possible where product requirements allow, but it is not a universal substitution rule. Very low target temperatures may require other cooling media. Before a change, the entire system, required shipping duration and ambient conditions must be assessed. Simply using the same mass of another cooling medium is insufficient.
Related terms: Frozen · Dry Ice for Deep-Frozen Transport