Project Details
Projekt
Continuous cryopreservation of red blood cell concentrate based on a float procedure (cryo-float)
Subject Area
Technical Thermodynamics
Term
since 2024
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 549978252
The project aims to conduct fundamental research into process steps for the continuous freezing of blood reserves. These preserves are usually in the form of red blood cell concentrates, the shelf life of which can be significantly extended by cryopreservation. The continuous process will achieve a uniform quality, a very high cooling rate and thus a reduced use of antifreeze additives in the blood. The process envisaged is based on the floating process used in flat glass production and involves feeding the still fluidic red cell concentrate (EC) onto a very cold carrier liquid that is immiscible with EC. The EC is intensively cooled immediately after feeding by spray cooling with liquid nitrogen and continuously drawn out of the apparatus to the rear. Expertise in the handling of cryopreservation of biological fluids, especially blood, is contributed to the project by the Institute for Multiphase Processes of the Leibniz Universität Hannover, and the development of the spray cooling and the simulation models for the temperature field within the concentrate by the Institute for Thermodynamics of Leibniz Universität Hannover. The carrier fluid qualification is a challenge for both institutes. In a first step of the project, which is planned to last 3 years, the supply mechanisms, the intensive cooling and the periphery of the planned apparatus will be developed and simulated individually. In a second step, a prototype will be built and put into operation. The EC-model fluid used in the experiments is ethylene glycol at first, then porcine blood.
DFG Programme
Research Grants
