The biotech and biopharma industries utilize freezers to rapidly freeze and store thermally sensitive products such as vaccines and biopharmaceuticals as well as biological materials such as blood plasma. However, conventional compressor-based systems can take hours to reach an ultra-low target temperature, which slows production throughput.
For these industries, the availability of cryogenic, liquid nitrogen (LN2) blast freezers that reliably lower the temperature to -90°C in minutes can significantly increase production throughput, compared to conventional compressor-based systems. The product can then be transferred to long-term storage or the next process step. The quicker the product is frozen to the desired temperature, the faster the production.
When San Diego Blood Bank in San Diego, CA sought to improve its process, it turned to upright liquid nitrogen (LN2) cooled plasma flash freezers and documented the successful results compared to a modern traditional freezer.
In contrast with traditional equipment, the LN2 blast freezers are also designed to eliminate the need for compressors and refrigerants, so perform with greater reliability and energy efficiency as well as reduced maintenance.
To further facilitate throughput in space constrained production areas, some advanced units are designed to “do double duty” by rapidly thawing product when required.
When rapidly freezing a large quantity of pharmaceutical product or biological materials is essential, not all methods are equal to the task. Conventional freezers circulate refrigerants to cool products, but LN2 blast freezers begin with a dramatically lower temperature coolant, so can achieve considerably lower temperatures much faster.
