Refrigerated transport
OwnerLewis Tyree, Jr.inventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A refrigerated transport having an insulated enclosure and including a cryogen reservoir, e.g., high-pressure liquid cryogen or solid CO.sub.2. A plurality of thermosyphons associated with the walls and floor of the enclosure adjacent the interior skin intercept heat attempting to enter the enclosure. An intermediate heat sink draws the intercepted heat from the upper portions of the thermosyphons. The temperature of the heat sink is thermostatically controlled in a manner that the rate at which heat from the heat sink is absorbed by the cryogen is regulated to maintain the heat sink within a desired temperature range such that the thermosyphons will in turn maintain the enclosure and its product load at the desired subambient storage temperature.
Claims20
A refrigerated transport comprising
- means defining an insulated enclosure including a plurality of walls and a floor for holding a quantity of product at a storage temperature below ambient temperature, and including opening means for inserting and removing said product,
- means for holding a cryogen reservoir,
- thermosyphon means in heat-transfer relationship with said walls and floor containing a vaporizable refrigerant which exhibits liquid-vapor two-phase form at about said storage temperature and at an equilibrium pressure not greater than 500 psia.,
- intermediate heat sink means in heat-transfer relationship with upper portions of said thermosyphon means, and
- means for controlling the transfer of heat from said intermediate heat sink means to said cryogen to maintain said heat sink means at a desired temperature below said storage temperature but substantially above the temperature of said cryogen reservoir, whereby heat attempting to enter said enclosure is intercepted by said thermosyphon means, transferred to said intermediate heat sink and ultimately absorbed by said cryogen.
A refrigerated transport comprising
- means defining an insulated enclosure including a plurality of walls and a floor for holding a quantity of product at a temperature below ambient temperature, and including opening means for inserting and removing said product,
- means for holding a cryogen reservoir and including first and second tanks, said second tank being adapted to contain cryogen sluch,
- thermosyphon means in heat-transfer relationship with said walls and said floor,
- intermediate heat sink means in heat-transfer relationship with upper portions of said thermosyphon means, and
- means for controlling the flow of liquid cryogen from said first tank to said intermediate heat sink means where vaporization occurs, then to said second tank where condensation occurs and then back to said heat sink means where revaporization occurs, whereby heat attempting to enter said enclosure is intercepted by said thermosyphon means, transferred to said intermediate heat sink means and ultimately absorbed by said cryogen.
A method of maintaining product in refrigerated condition within an insulated transport enclosure having a plurality of walls and a floor for holding a quantity of product and including opening means for inserting and removing said product, which method comprises
- providing a cryogen reservoir,
- providing intermediate heat sink means in an upper region of said transport,
- controlling the transfer of heat from said intermediate heat sink means to said cryogen to maintain said heat sink means at a desired temperature, and
- employing a confined vaporizable refrigerant to remove heat from said walls and floor and to transfer said removed heat to said heat sink means, whereby heat attempting to enter said enclosure is intercepted, transferred to said intermediate heat sink and ultimately absorbed by said cryogen to maintain said product in refrigerated condition.
A refrigerated transport comprising means defining an insulated enclosure including a plurality of walls and a floor for holding a quantity of product at a storage temperature below ambient temperature, and including opening means for inserting and removing said product,
- thermosyphon means in heat-transfer relationship with said walls and said floor containing a vaporizable refrigerant which is in a two-phase liquid-vapor form at about said storage temperature of said product,
- said floor including elongated structural members which provide support for the product held within said transport enclosure and elongated plate means of good thermal conductivity disposed atop said structural members,
- said thermosyphon means includes a closed refrigerant-containing tube connected by a good thermal-conducting bond to said elongated plate means, and
- means including a vaporizable cryogen for maintaining the temperature of upper portions of said thermosyphon means at a desired temperature below said storage temperature, whereby heat attempting to enter said enclosure is intercepted by said thermosyphon means causing refrigerant vapor to be formed which rises in said closed tube and ultimately transfers the intercepted heat to said cryogen to cause vaporization thereof.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.