# US 2014/0190183 A1 · Efficient chiller for a supercritical fluid chromatography pump > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2014/0190183 A1 - Document ID: US20140190183A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 13/699,804 - Filed: 2010-05-26 - Published: 2014-07-10 - Earliest claimed: 2010-05-26 - Assignees: Agilent Technologies, Inc. - Inventors: Terry A. Berger; Kimber Fogelman - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20140190183A1 ## CPC - F25B 21/04: reversible - B01D 15/12: relating to the preparation of the feed - F04B 39/064: {Cooling by a cooling jacket in the pump casing} - F04B 53/08: Cooling; Heating; Preventing freezing - F25B 21/02: using Peltier effect; using Nernst-Ettinghausen effect - B01D 15/40: using supercritical fluid as mobile phase or eluent - G01N 2030/326: {pumps} - F25B: REFRIGERATION MACHINES, PLANTS OR SYSTEMS; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS - B01D: SEPARATION (separating solids from solids by wet methods B03B, B03D; by pneumatic jigs or tables B03B; by other dry methods B07; magnetic or electrostatic separation of solid materials from solid materials or fluids, separation by high-voltage electric fields B03C; centrifuges, vortex apparatus B04; presses per se for squeezing-out liquid from liquid-containing material B30B9/02; treatment of water C02F, e.g. softening by ion-exchange C02F1/42; {arrangements of air intake cleaners in gas turbine plants F02C7/05} ; arrangements or mounting of filters in air-conditioning, air-humidification or ventilation F24F13/28) - F04B: POSITIVE-DISPLACEMENT MACHINES FOR LIQUIDS; PUMPS (machines for liquids, or pumps, of rotary-piston or oscillating-piston type F04C; non-positive-displacement pumps F04D; pumping of fluid by direct contact of another fluid or by using inertia of fluid to be pumped F04F) - G01N: INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES (measuring or testing apparatus or processes other than immunoassay, involving enzymes or microorganisms C12M, C12Q) ## Abstract Methods and systems for pumping compressible fluids in high pressure applications such as high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) or supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) applications are disclosed. An improved cooling device for a pump head for use in a supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) system is described. A system for chilling a pumping system, includes a Peltier cooling element in thermal contact with a pump head, wherein the cooling element chills the pump head and a mobile phase fluid flowstream prior to the mobile phase fluid entering the pump; a fluid-cooled heat exchanger, attached to the Peltier cooling element, which removes heat from the cooling element using a circulating fluid; and a second heat exchanger which cools the circulating fluid. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A system for chilling a pumping system, comprising: a Peltier element arranged adjacent a pump head of a pump such that the Peltier element and the pump head are in thermal contact, wherein the Peltier element is configured to chill the pump head and a mobile phase flowstream prior to fluid from the mobile phase flowstream entering the pump; a first heat exchanger, attached to the Peltier element, configured to remove heat from the Peltier element using a circulating fluid; and a second heat exchanger configured to cool the circulating fluid, wherein the Peltier element and the pump head are arranged in an area that is isolated from the second heat exchanger. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the Peltier element and the pump head are located in a thermally isolated area from the circulating fluid and second heat exchanger. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the Peltier element and the pump head are located in a compartment that seals ambient air from entering the compartment. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the second heat exchanger comprises a radiator remote from the Peltier element in a frame housing, the circulating fluid being transported via low pressure tubing to the radiator. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The system of claim 4, wherein the low pressure tubing, the first heat exchanger, the circulating pump, and the second heat exchanger operate above ambient temperature. ### Claim 6 (depends on 3) The system of claim 3, wherein the compartment is sealed to prevent ambient moisture from entering the compartment. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the Peltier element is thermally mounted behind the pump head such that the pump head can be removed without removing or modifying the Peltier element. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the system is part of a supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) system, and further comprises: a mobile phase gas supply at ambient temperature, wherein the Peltier element chills a gas that is supplied from the mobile phase gas supply as the mobile phase flowstream to supply the fluid entering the pump over an entire operating range of the pump. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the second heat exchanger comprises a radiator and fan configured to cool the circulating liquid without adding additional heat to the isolated area. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the pump is located external to the isolated area, and the pump and the Peltier element are mounted as a single unit with common electrical controls. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the Peltier element comprises a chiller assembly. ### Claim 12 A pump head chiller assembly for chilling a pump having a pump head, the pump head chiller, comprising: a Peltier element; a chiller plate arranged on a cool side of the Peltier cooling element and configured to pre-chill a flowstream prior to entering the pump; and a first heat exchanger arranged on a warm side of the Peltier cooling element and configured to remove heat from the Peltier cooling element using a circulating fluid, wherein the Peltier element, the chiller plate, the cooler block and the pump head are contained in a compartment separated from a second heat exchanger configured to cool the circulating fluid. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The pump head chiller assembly of claim 12, further comprising: tubing embedded in a channel in the chiller plate, the tubing comprising an inlet through which the flowstream enters the tubing and an outlet from which the flowstream exits the tubing to the pump head. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The pump head chiller assembly of claim 13, wherein the flowstream comprises carbon dioxide. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The pump head chiller assembly of claim 14, wherein the flowstream enters the tubing as gaseous carbon dioxide and exits the tubing plate as liquefied carbon dioxide. ### Claim 16 (depends on 12) The pump head chiller assembly of claim 12, wherein the chiller plate comprises a plate extension configured to mount the chiller plate to the pump head and to carry away adiabatic heat of compression from the pump head. ### Claim 17 A system for chilling a pumping system, the system comprising: a Peltier element; a chiller plate in thermal contact with serpentine tubing carrying a flowstream entering a pump via a pump head, the chiller plate being arranged on a cool side of the Peltier cooling element and configured to pre-chill the flowstream from a gaseous state to a liquid state prior to the flowstream entering the pump; a first heat exchanger arranged on a warm side of the Peltier cooling element and configured to remove heat from the Peltier cooling element using a circulating fluid; and a second heat exchanger arranged outside a compartment containing the Peltier element, the chiller plate and the first heat exchanger, and configured to cool the circulating fluid. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The system of claim 17, wherein the second heat exchanger comprises a radiator and a fan to provide ambient cooling of the circulating fluid. ### Claim 19 (depends on 18) The system of claim 18, further comprising: low pressure tubing configured to carry the circulating fluid from the first heat exchanger within the compartment to the radiator of the second heat exchanger. ### Claim 20 (depends on 19) The system of claim 19, wherein the circulating fluid comprises a propylene glycol/water mixture and the flowstream comprises carbon dioxide.