Miniature Adsorption Blast-Freezer for Use in Space

Adsorption refrigeration using ammoniated complex compounds as the absorbent media can be used for miniature portable blast freezers. This is possible because the technology allows low evaporator temperatures without staging, is scalable to small sizes, and has high reliability because the only moving parts are check valves. Compared to vapor compression or other sorption refrigeration systems, the technology is smaller, lighter, more reliable, and provides enhanced safety. The system is fully hermetic and minimal free (unadsorbed) refrigerant inventory. Phase I will provide a fully operational proof-of-concept blast freezer with cold-box volume of =1ft3, and will be capable of freezing 1/2 pound of water in 10 minutes. Phase II will perform optimization on sorbers and other components to minimize system weight and increase efficiency . At the end of Phase II, one or more prototypes will be delivered to NASA. A blast freezer the size of a portable cooler could be used in space to rapidly freeze biological samples for storage and return to earth. Rapid freezing will preserve the sample in its original state and avoid cell damage which results from slow freezing.