JP7217878B2 - Refrigerator, Cargo, Transportation Equipment, Transportation Method and Refrigeration Method - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates to ice packs, ice packs, freight and transportation equipment, transportation methods, and cold insulation methods.

2. Description of the Related Art Cooling agents (cold storage agents, ice packs) used for transporting food in a cold state are known (for example, Patent Document 1). Conventionally, the term "cooling agent" may refer not only to the cooling agent but also to the entire container enclosing the cooling agent, but in the present disclosure, the cooling agent refers to the cooling agent itself. , the cooling agent and the entire container enclosing the cooling agent shall be referred to as a cooling device.

In cold insulators generally available on the market, cold insulators are made by adding various additives to water. Additives include, for example, preservatives, freezing point depressants, thickeners, antifreeze, and colorants. In the cold insulator, for example, a cold insulator is frozen in a freezer, and packed together with a cold-retained object (for example, food). The temperature of the freezer is generally -20°C to -10°C, and the temperature of the ice pack is -20°C to -10°C at the start of use.

Patent Literature 1 discloses a refrigerant for keeping cold in an extremely low temperature range of -65°C or lower. This ice pack contains water and a solute containing lithium chloride and sodium chloride. Patent Document 1 discloses an example in which this refrigerant is frozen in an environment of -90°C or lower.

JP 2017-128622 A

For example, the temperature suitable for cold storage or the upper limit temperature for cold storage differs for each type of cold-insulated object. It is desired to lengthen the cooling time for each of such various temperatures.

A cooling agent according to an aspect of the present disclosure contains water and salt, and is made of ice of −100° C. or lower.

In one example, the weight of the salt is 5% or more with respect to the total weight of the water and the salt.

In one example, NaCl is included as the salt, and the mass of NaCl is 5% or more with respect to the total mass of the water and NaCl.

In one example, the mass of NaCl is 20% or more and 26% or less with respect to the total mass of water and NaCl.

In one example, the weight of NaCl is 10% or less with respect to the total weight of water and NaCl.

In one example, the melting point is -25°C or higher and -3°C or lower.

A human body cooling apparatus according to an aspect of the present disclosure includes the above-described cooling agent and an enclosed container in which the cooling agent is enclosed.

A cargo according to an aspect of the present disclosure includes the cold insulator, an object to be cold-insulated, and a container accommodating both the cold insulator and the object to be cold-insulated.

A transportation device according to an aspect of the present disclosure includes the above-described cold insulator, an object to be cold-insulated, and a container that accommodates both the cold insulator and the object to be cold-insulated.

A transportation method according to an aspect of the present disclosure includes a step of accommodating both the cold insulator and the object to be cold-insulated in a container, and transferring the container accommodating both the cold insulator and the object to be cold-insulated. and a step.

A cold storage method according to an aspect of the present disclosure includes a step of accommodating both the above-described cold insulator and the object to be kept cold in a container.

According to the above configuration or procedure, for example, it is possible to lengthen the time for which the cold-insulated object is kept at a relatively low temperature (for example, −20° C. or below).

The figure which shows the temperature change of the refrigerant|coolant (0% of NaCl density|concentration) which concerns on a comparative example. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing temperature changes of a cooling agent (NaCl concentration of 5%) according to the embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing temperature changes of the cooling agent (NaCl concentration: 10%) according to the embodiment. The figure which shows the temperature change of the refrigerant|coolant (24% of density|concentrations of NaCl) which concerns on embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the time during which the temperature of −20° C. or lower is maintained for each concentration of NaCl in the cooling agent. 6(a) to 6(c) are schematic diagrams for explaining application examples of the cooling agent.

[the term]
Hereinafter, for convenience of explanation, the term "salinity" or "salt concentration" refers to the ratio (% by mass) of the mass of salt to the total mass of water and salt unless otherwise specified. For example, even when the cooling agent contains additives in addition to water and salt, the salt concentration is the mass of salt/(mass of water+mass of salt). That is, the mass of the additive is not included in the denominator when calculating the salt concentration. In addition, when the salt contained in the cooling agent is a mixture of various salts (for example, NaCl, MgCl ₂ and CaCl ₂ ), the mass of the salt is the mass of the mixture (the total mass of the various salts). be.

Unless otherwise specified, the term "NaCl concentration" shall refer to the ratio (mass %) of NaCl to the total mass of water and NaCl. For example, even when the cooling agent contains water and NaCl as well as salts other than NaCl (for example, borate) and/or additives other than salts, the concentration of NaCl is the mass of NaCl/(mass of water + mass of NaCl). That is, the mass of salts other than NaCl and additives other than salts is not included in the denominator when calculating the concentration of NaCl. Although NaCl is mentioned as a salt, the same shall apply to other than NaCl when referring to "concentration of".

When the decimal point is omitted, such as "5%", the concentration is rounded off to the nearest whole number unless otherwise specified. Therefore, for example, the range of "5% or more and 26% or less" also includes 4.5%, 4.45% and 26.4444%. The same applies to temperature.

[Ingredients of cooling agent]
A cooling agent according to an embodiment of the present disclosure contains water and salt. When the cooling agent contains salt, for example, the freezing point of the cooling agent (unless otherwise specified, the same as the melting point; hereinafter the same) is lowered. Ice packs, on the other hand, typically maintain a temperature near the freezing point while absorbing latent heat. Therefore, the cooling agent maintains a low temperature (for example, −20° C. or lower) for a longer time than when it does not contain salt.

The term "salt" as used herein is a chemical salt, that is, a compound in which an acid-derived anion (anion) and a base-derived cation (cation) are ionic bonded. Such salts include, for example, acid salts (e.g. _NaHCO3 , _NaHSO4 , _Na2HPO4 or _NaH2PO4 ), basic salts ₍ e.g. MgCl(OH) or _{MgCl2.Mg (OH)2 )} . ), normal salts such as NaCl, CaCl ₂ , NH ₄ Cl, CH ₃ COONa or CuSO ₄ . Mixtures of the various salts mentioned above may be used as salts.

Also, the salt may be selected from those found in sea water. Examples of salts contained in seawater include NaCl, MgCl ₂ (bittern), MgSO ₄ , CaSO ₄ , KCl and CaCl ₂ . Apart from overdose, these salts are listed as additives that do not harm health under the Food Sanitation Law.

The quality (grade) of salt does not matter. The salt may be used for various purposes such as general use, industrial use, and food additive use, and it does not matter whether it is first grade or special grade.

The cooling agent may be water to which only salt is added, or an additive other than salt may be added. For example, less than 10% by mass or less than 5% by mass of other additives may be added to the total mass of the cooling agent. Additives include, for example, the above-described components (eg, preservatives, thickeners and/or colorants) contained in ordinary cooling agents. The water may be pure water (H ₂ O) or may contain impurities such as tap water. Impurities may be evaluated in the same manner as other additives above.

The salt concentration of the cooling agent is, for example, higher than that of seawater (approximately 3.5%). For example, when the various salts described above are used, the salt concentration of the cooling agent is 5% or more. Details of examples of salinity concentration will be described later.

[Temperature of refrigerant]
The temperature of the cooling agent is -100, for example, when the cooling of the cooling agent is completed, or when the cooling agent is started to be used (for example, when packed together with the object to be cooled) or immediately before that (for example, within 10 minutes of the start of use). °C or below or -120°C or below. The ice pack freezes when cooled to -100°C or lower. In other words, the ice pack consists of ice at the completion of cooling, at the start of use, or immediately before.

By setting the temperature of the cooling agent to −100° C. or lower, for example, the sensible heat absorbed by the cooling agent increases until the temperature of the cooling agent reaches the freezing point. As a result, it is possible to lengthen the time during which cold storage is performed at a relatively low temperature (for example, −20° C. or lower). In addition, depending on the type of food and the mass of the cooling agent relative to the mass of the food, the food can be instantly frozen by bringing the cooling agent of −100° C. or lower close to the food. In other words, the cooling agent is used not only for cold storage but also for flash freezing of food.

In order to cool the refrigerant down to -100°C or lower, for example, "Ultra Low Temperature Chiller Cold Wave" manufactured by ADD Co., Ltd. may be used. This ultra-low temperature chiller can cool the supplied gas (for example, air, Freon gas, liquid nitrogen or argon gas) to a temperature of about -130°C by using a multi-stage evaporator and a mixed refrigerant. Then, for example, the cooling agent can be cooled to -100° C. or below by supplying the gas cooled by the chiller to the surroundings of the cooling agent.

To confirm, the chiller includes the freezer concept. Although not shown, the chiller has, for example, a basic configuration including a compressor that compresses the refrigerant, a condenser that cools the compressed refrigerant, an expansion valve that lowers the pressure of the cooled refrigerant and sends it, and a It has an evaporator that cools the object to be cooled (refrigerant or gas supplied around the refrigerant) with the lowered refrigerant along the circulation flow path in this enumeration order. The chiller may be installed, for example, at a location where cold-storage objects are produced or wholesaled, or installed at each business office of a delivery company.

[Concentration of NaCl]
In the following, taking NaCl as an example of salt, the experimental results of the temperature change of the cooling agent will be shown. Then, the effect of salt concentration on cold storage is explained, and an example of the range of salt concentration is presented.

(first experiment)
A cooling agent was prepared from a solution consisting only of water (tap water) and NaCl. This refrigerant was sufficiently cooled in an atmosphere of −120° C. and housed in a container (foam case commercially available for general household use). The mass of the cooling agent in the container was set to 2000 g. Then, the container was placed at room temperature, and the temperature change inside the container was examined. Such an experiment was conducted for a plurality of cases with different NaCl concentrations.

1 to 4 are diagrams showing experimental results. In these figures, the horizontal axis indicates time t (h: hour). The vertical axis indicates the temperature T (°C). The plotted line indicates the relationship between the passage of time (horizontal axis) and the temperature change (vertical axis). 1-4 correspond to experimental results with different concentrations of NaCl. The correspondence between each figure and the density is as follows. Figure 1: 0%, Figure 2: 5%, Figure 3: 10%, Figure 4: 24%. In addition, FIG. 1 is a cooling agent according to a comparative example because it is a cooling agent consisting only of water.

In each figure, the temperature is indicated numerically on a scale line such as elapsed time t(h)=2, 4, 6 and 8. FIG. In these figures, an auxiliary line is drawn at the position of −20° C., and the time point when the temperature exceeds −20° C. is indicated by an arrow, and the elapsed time at that time (outline) is described.

As typically shown in FIG. 1 (comparative example), when a solid (ice) refrigerant is placed in an atmosphere at a temperature higher than its melting point, the temperature of the refrigerant is increased by the sensible heat generated by the refrigerant. It gradually rises due to the absorption of , and reaches the melting point (0° C. in FIG. 1). After that, the cooling agent gradually changes from solid to liquid (in other words, part by part). In this process, the temperature of the cooling agent is maintained near the melting point by absorption of latent heat by the cooling agent. After almost all of the cooling agent has changed to liquid, the temperature of the cooling agent gradually rises due to the absorption of sensible heat by the cooling agent and reaches the temperature of the atmosphere.

In FIGS. 2 to 4 (embodiments) as well, the outline of the temperature change of the cooling agent is the same as the temperature change described above. However, since the refrigerant contains NaCl, the melting point of the refrigerant is low. The melting point varies with the concentration of NaCl. Specifically, the melting point decreases in proportion to the molar concentration of the solute in solution. Therefore, FIGS. 1-4 differ from each other in the temperature maintained at a constant temperature. The melting point of each cooling agent is as follows. FIG. 1 (NaCl: 0%): 0° C., FIG. 2 (NaCl: 5%): about −3° C., FIG. 3 (NaCl: 10%): about −7° C., FIG. 4 (NaCl: 24%): about -20°C.

The cooling agents according to FIGS. 2 and 3 have a melting point higher than -20.degree. Therefore, if the temperature of the cooling agent rises to the melting point due to the absorption of sensible heat by the cooling agent as described above, the temperature changes in FIGS. 2 and 3 are the same as those in FIG. should be similar. That is, the temperature should rise gradually (at a roughly constant rate of change) to the melting point. From another point of view, FIGS. 1 to 3 should be roughly equivalent to each other in terms of how long the temperature is maintained at −20° C. or less.

However, in FIGS. 2 and 3, the temperature of the cooling agent stops rising and is kept constant even at around −20° C., which is lower than the melting point. As a result, compared to FIG. 1, FIGS. 2 and 3 show that the time during which the temperature of −20° C. or less is maintained (the time from the start of measurement (t=0) until the temperature of the cooling agent exceeds −20° C. , hereinafter referred to as "-20°C holding time") is longer. That is, the −20° C. retention time is extended by including NaCl in the cooling agent. The concentration of NaCl at this time may be lower than the concentration (for example, about 23%) at which the melting point of the cooling agent is −20° C. or lower. For example, in the present experiment, it was confirmed that the concentration of 5% or more has the effect of lengthening the −20° C. holding time.

The reasons why the temperature rise temporarily stops at around −20° C. even when the NaCl concentration is low are as follows. Microscopically, the liquid refrigerant contains a portion with a high NaCl concentration and a portion with a low NaCl concentration. In addition, in the liquid refrigerant, NaCl (a concept including ionized Na ⁺ and Cl ⁻ ) is moving in the solvent, and focusing on a part of the solvent, the concentration of NaCl changes. there is When such a cooling agent is cooled, first, a portion of the cooling agent having a low NaCl concentration freezes. The portion that remains unfrozen has a higher concentration of NaCl compared to the portion that has already been frozen. In this remaining portion, if a portion with a low NaCl concentration (for example, a portion with a concentration similar to that of the already frozen portion) occurs due to movement of NaCl in the solvent, that portion will freeze first. As this action is repeated, the difference in NaCl concentration between the first frozen portion and the remaining unfrozen portion increases. When the entire ice pack is finally frozen, the ice pack contains a portion with a low NaCl concentration and a portion with a high NaCl concentration. The concentration of the portion with high NaCl concentration corresponds to, for example, the concentration (approximately 24%) at which the melting point is approximately -20°C.

Strictly speaking, as described above, the refrigerant contains portions with different concentrations (melting points from another point of view), but unless otherwise specified, the concentrations and melting points are the average values of the refrigerant as a whole. shall refer to

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing specific times during which the temperature of −20° C. or lower is maintained from FIGS. 1 to 4. FIG. The horizontal axis C (%) indicates the concentration of NaCl. The vertical axis t ₋₂₀ (h) indicates the −20° C. holding time. The plotted round points indicate the measured results of the relationship between the NaCl concentration and the −20° C. holding time. Curves indicate approximate curves for the measurement results.

As shown in this figure, the higher the NaCl concentration, the longer the −20° C. holding time. Therefore, when it is desired that the object to be cold-retained be kept cold at a temperature of −20° C. or lower, it is possible to keep the cold-retained object at a desirable temperature for a long time by increasing the concentration of NaCl. can. The rate of change of -20°C retention time with respect to concentration is generally constant in the results of this experiment, and more strictly, the rate of change between 0% and 10% is 10% to 24%. rate is increasing.

The reason why the -20°C holding time is longer as the concentration is higher is as follows. As described above, the frozen ice pack contains high concentrations of NaCl (parts with low melting points) and low concentrations (parts with high melting points). The higher the average concentration of the cooling agent as a whole, the larger the volume of the portion with the lower melting point. As a result, the higher the NaCl concentration (average value), the longer the −20° C. holding time.

Returning to FIGS. 1-4. As noted above, the higher the concentration of NaCl, the longer the −20° C. holding time. 1 to 4, the holding time at −20° C. in FIG. 4 (NaCl: 24%) is the longest. Conversely, among FIGS. 2 to 4, FIG. 4 shows the time during which the temperature of 0° C. or less is maintained (the time from the start of measurement (t=0) until the temperature of the cooling agent exceeds 0° C.). hereinafter referred to as “0° C. holding time”) is the shortest. In FIG. 1, the time during which the temperature is maintained at around 0° C. (for example, 1° C. or less) is long, but the 0° C. holding time is shorter than in FIG.

Therefore, for example, when it is not necessary to keep cold-insulated objects at a temperature of −20° C. or lower, but only at 0° C. or lower, the concentration of NaCl may be suppressed to a certain level. As a result, the cooling time at the required temperature can be lengthened. In other words, the higher the concentration of NaCl, the better, and it is desirable that the concentration be appropriately set according to the type of the object to be kept cold.

The reasons why the 0° C. holding time is longer when the NaCl concentration is lower are as follows. The lower the temperature inside the container, the greater the temperature difference between the inside and outside of the container. As a result, external heat is easily transmitted to the inside through the container. On the other hand, the lengthening of the -20°C holding time means that the temperature inside the container is kept low for a longer period of time. In other words, the time during which external heat is easily conducted to the inside through the container becomes longer. As a result, the higher the concentration of NaCl and the longer the holding time at -20°C, the faster the cooling agent absorbs a large amount of heat, and the earlier it reaches 0°C. Another reason is that the higher the salt concentration, the smaller the specific heat.

As can be inferred from the above description, in the case of using a salt that can lower the melting point more than NaCl, the temperature in the container is a predetermined temperature lower than -20 ° C. (for example, about -30 ° C. or about −50° C.) occurs. As a result, the time during which the temperature inside the container is maintained at or below the predetermined temperature becomes longer. Conversely, however, the −20° C. retention time and the 0° C. retention time are shortened. Although not shown, the inventor of the present application has confirmed the above tendency through experiments using MgCl ₂ and CaCl ₂ that can lower the melting point more than NaCl. Therefore, when NaCl is used as the salt, the −20° C. retention time can be easily extended compared to when other salts are used.

(Auxiliary experiment of the first experiment)
Although not shown in particular, after sufficiently cooling 1000 g of a cooling agent with a NaCl concentration of 20% in a generally commercially available freezer (atmosphere of approximately -20 ° C.), the temperature change in the container containing the cooling agent. We also conducted an experiment to investigate As a result, the phenomenon that the temperature inside the container was maintained around -20°C could not be confirmed. This is because the cooling agent is hardly solidified in an atmosphere of -20°C. From this, it was confirmed that the effect of lengthening the −20° C. holding time by adding NaCl can be obtained only when the cooling agent is cooled to a sufficiently low temperature (for example, −100° C. or lower).

(Second experiment)
A cold insulator consisting of water (tap water), NaCl and impurities (NaCl means impurities for brine) was prepared. H ₃ BO ₃ was used as an impurity. 260 g of this refrigerant was placed in a PET bottle having a volume of about 350 ml and was sufficiently cooled in an atmosphere of -120°C. Then, the PET bottle was placed at room temperature, and the temperature change of the cooling agent was examined. Such an experiment was conducted for a plurality of cases with different NaCl concentrations.

Below, the temperature change every hour from the start of measurement is shown for each concentration of NaCl. The change in temperature is °C.
% 1h 2h 3h 4h 5h 6h
0 -59.3 -27.7 -10.4 -3.1 -0.9 -0.5
5 -58.7 -26.6 -21.5 -17.2 -12.1 -9.7
10 -57.2 -26.0 -20.8 -20.0 -17.0 -13.8
24 -61.2 -29.5 -20.9 -20.8 -20.5 -19.5

From the above results, it was confirmed that even when the cooling agent contains impurities, the −20° C. holding time becomes longer as the NaCl concentration increases, as in the first experiment.

(Third experiment)
An ice pack was prepared containing water and MgCl ₂ (30% concentration) as salt. Two types of cold insulators were prepared, one containing a gelling agent and gelled before freezing, and the other containing no gelling agent. The amount of gelling agent was the same as the amount of gelling agent in a commercially available cooling agent. Then, similarly to the second experiment, a PET bottle with a volume of about 350 ml containing 260 g of a cooling agent was sufficiently cooled in an atmosphere of −120° C., and then the temperature change was examined. Such an experiment was conducted for a total of 6 cases of 3 cooling agents containing a gelling agent (referred to as G1 to G3) and 3 cooling agents containing no gelling agent (referred to as G4 to G6). rice field.

Below, the temperature change for each appropriate elapsed time from the start of measurement is shown. The change in temperature is °C.
4h 7h 9h 12h 16h
G1 -29.6 -27.1 -19.8 -13.1 -0.2
G2 -29.3 -27.0 -19.7 -13.2 -0.2
G3 -30.7 -27.9 -20.3 -13.5 -0.2
G4 -29.5 -27.3 -20.3 -13.2 -0.0
G5 -30.5 -28.1 -21.0 -13.7 -0.1
G6 -29.4 -26.4 -19.6 -12.4 +0.2

From the above results, it was confirmed that even when the cooling agent contains a gelling agent, the −20° C. holding time becomes longer as the salt concentration increases.

(Example of NaCl concentration range)
From the above experimental results, examples of the lower limit of the NaCl concentration can be 5%, 20%, or 23% (the numbers below the decimal point are rounded off. The same applies to the upper limit, etc.). If the NaCl concentration is at least 5%, the −20° C. retention time is longer than when the concentration is 0% (pure water). Also, the lowering of the freezing point of the cooling agent due to increasing the concentration of NaCl reaches its limit when the concentration is 23.3%. Therefore, if the concentration is 20% or more or 23% or more, the −20° C. holding time can be lengthened as much as possible.

Moreover, 24% or 26% can be given as an example of the upper limit of the concentration of NaCl. As mentioned above, the melting point depression reaches its limit at a concentration of 23.3%. Therefore, for example, if the concentration is 24% or less or 26% or less, the −20° C. holding time can be sufficiently long, and the risk of wasting NaCl can be reduced.

From the combinations of the above lower and upper concentration limits, examples of NaCl concentration ranges include 5% to 26%, 20% to 26%, and 23% to 24%. Within this range, the −20° C. holding time can be lengthened while suppressing the cost of NaCl.

From a viewpoint different from the above, examples of the NaCl concentration range include 5% to 10% and 5% to 6%. In this case, for example, compared to when the concentration is 0%, the sub-zero temperature can be reliably maintained, and compared to when the concentration exceeds 10%, the time for which the sub-zero temperature is maintained can be longer.

(Example of melting point range of refrigerant)
In the above description, the refrigerant is defined by its concentration, but the refrigerant may be defined by its melting point. For example, at a concentration of 5% NaCl, the melting point is about 3°C. In addition, the lowering of the melting point of the cooling agent by increasing the concentration of NaCl is limited to about -21°C. Therefore, for example, the cooling agent may have a melting point of −25° C. or higher and −3° C. or lower. The reason why the temperature is -25° C. instead of -21° C. is that the influence of additives other than NaCl is taken into consideration.

[Application example of cooling agent]
Application examples of the cooling agent according to the present embodiment will be described below. Specifically, cooling equipment, cargo, transportation equipment, transportation methods, and cold insulation methods using cooling agents will be described.

FIG. 6(a) is a perspective view showing an example of a cold insulator 3 using the cold insulator 1 described above. A part of the human body cooling apparatus 3 is shown broken.

The cold insulator 3 has a cold insulator 1 and an enclosed container 5 in which the cold insulator 1 is sealed. The human body cooling apparatus 3 may be of a repeatedly used type or of a disposable type. Gas (for example, air) may be enclosed in the enclosure 5 together with the cooling agent 1 .

The size, shape and material of the enclosure 5 may be set as appropriate. For example, as the enclosure 5, enclosures for various known cold insulators may be used. Specifically, for example, the enclosed container 5 may be a bag-like one made of a flexible material (resin, etc.), or may be made of an inflexible material (resin, etc.). It may be a hard type container (illustrated example). Further, for example, the enclosure 5 may have no injection port (the cooling agent 1 cannot be taken out without destroying the enclosure 5), or may be closed with a cap as shown in the example. It may have an injection port that is closed. Further, for example, the shape of the enclosed container 5 may be a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape (example shown in the figure), or may have a unique shape depending on the application. Also, for example, the volume of the enclosure 5 (maximum volume in the case of flexibility) may be 10 ml or more and 1 liter or less.

The sealed container 5 may have a structure similar to that of a paper pack that is commercially used for beverages, unlike a container for a general cooling agent. If the cooling agent is cooled to −100° C. or lower, the enclosed container 5 may be damaged due to expansion of the cooling agent. In experiments conducted by the inventors of the present application, it was found that when a paper pack is used as the enclosing container 5, the possibility of breakage is lower than that of a general refrigerant container. To clarify, the material used for paper cartons is a relatively thick paper material (milk carton paper) that is waterproof (water resistant). Such a paper material has, for example, paper in a narrow sense (carton paper) and impervious layers covering both sides of the paper. The paper is composed of a material and thickness capable of ensuring strength for constructing a box-like container, and is generally relatively thick. The impervious layer is formed by coating or laminating paper with polyethylene, for example. As for the shape of the paper pack, for example, gable top type, brick type and tetra type can be mentioned as those generally used in the marketing of beverages. Of course, other shapes may be used.

FIG. 6(b) is a cross-sectional view showing an example of the cargo 11 using the refrigerant 1. As shown in FIG.

The cargo 11 has, for example, one or more cold-insulated objects 13, one or more cold insulators 3, and a box 15 containing them together. Note that the box 15 is an example of a container.

For example, food can be mentioned as the object to be kept cold. Foods include, for example, frozen foods, frozen sweets, fresh sweets, dairy products, and fresh foods. Frozen foods are foods that are frozen for the purpose of long-term storage, and include unheated foods, heated foods, pre-cooked foods, and post-cooked foods before freezing. Frozen confectionery includes, for example, ice cream. Examples of unbaked sweets include cakes. Dairy products include, for example, yogurt. Examples of fresh foods include fresh fish (seafood), meat (meat), and fruits and vegetables. In FIG. 6B, ice cream in a cup is exemplified as the object 13 to be kept cold.

As already mentioned, the cooling agent at -100°C or lower can be used not only for cold storage but also for instant freezing of food, depending on the type of food and the mass of the cooling agent relative to the mass of food. As a confirmation, if the time for the food to pass through the temperature range of -1°C to -5°C is within 30 minutes in the process of cooling the food, flash freezing, quick freezing, quick freezing, etc. It is called.

In addition, in the experiment of the inventor of the present application, when using a cooling agent with a temperature of -100 ° C or less (at the start of cold storage) for cold storage of fresh fish, the cooling agent frozen in a commercial freezer (-10 ° C to -20 ° C) By comparison, it was confirmed that deterioration in the quality of fresh fish was suppressed. One of the reasons for this is that, for example, when a cooling agent at -100°C or below is brought close to fresh fish, an ice film is formed on the surface of the fresh fish. This film contributes to suppressing the outflow of water from the fresh fish or the inflow of water into the fresh fish, and also functions as a heat insulating layer that suppresses freezing of the fresh fish meat (inside the scales).

In addition to foods and beverages, the objects to be kept cold include, for example, organs for transplantation and vaccines (containers enclosing organs for transplantation or vaccines). The term cold storage is generally used for foodstuffs, but as understood from the above examples, in the present disclosure, the object to be kept cold is not limited to foodstuffs.

The size, shape, and material of the box 15 may be appropriately set, and for example, various known boxes may be applied. Typical examples include a relatively small box (for example, 1 m or less x 1 m or less x 1 m or less) made of styrofoam or cardboard, and a cooler box (ice box) that combines a plastic case with a heat insulating material. is mentioned. In addition, the material of the box 15 may have relatively high heat insulation, or may have low heat insulation.

Arrangement positions of the cold-insulated object 13 and the cold insulator 3 in the box 15 may also be appropriately set. For example, the cold insulator 3 may be positioned laterally (example shown), above, or below the object to be cold-insulated 13. , may be arranged in a combination of two or more thereof. Note that depending on the type of the cold-insulated object 13, its packaging, and/or the configuration of the box 15, the cold insulator 3 is not housed in the box 15, but the cold insulator 1 is directly (without being enclosed in the enclosure 5). ) can also be accommodated in the box 15 .

FIG. 6(c) is a side view showing an example of a transportation device 21 using the ice pack 1. As shown in FIG.

The transportation equipment 21 has, for example, one or more cargoes 11 and one or more containers 23 containing the cargoes 11 . Note that the container 23 is also an example of a storage container, like the box 15 .

Examples of transportation equipment 21 include automobiles (illustrated examples), aircraft, trains, ships, and two-wheeled vehicles. In FIG. 6(c), a refrigerating or refrigerating vehicle with a container 23 attached is illustrated.

Arrangement of cargo 11 in container 23 may be set up suitably. Further, instead of accommodating the cargo 11 in the container 23, the object to be kept cold 13 and the cold insulator 3 may be directly accommodated in the container 23 (without being accommodated in the box 15). Depending on the type of object 13 to be insulated, its packaging, and/or the structure of container 23, it is also possible to store refrigerant 1 directly in container 23 (without enclosing container 5).

Here, the box 15 and its contents are described as cargo 11 . In other words, relatively small items that can be transported by one person or a small number of people (manpower) are illustrated as cargo. However, the cargo may be larger than such dimensions. For example, in FIG. 6(c), the container 23 is attached to a car, but it may be loaded and unloaded on a container ship, truck and/or train, and this container and its contents are used as cargo. It may be taken as

6(a) to 6(c) also show a transportation method and a cold storage method according to the embodiment. The transportation method includes a step of cooling the cold insulator 3 (Fig. 6(a)), a step of housing the cold insulator 3 and the object to be cold-insulated 13 together in a box 15 (Fig. 6(b)), a step of storing the cold insulator 3 and and a step of transferring the box 15 containing the object 13 to be kept cold (FIG. 6(c)). In addition, the cold insulation method includes a step of cooling the cold insulator 3 (FIG. 6A) and a step of housing both the cold insulator 3 and the object to be cold-insulated 13 in a box 15 (FIG. 6B). ing. The cold storage method may simply keep the food cold without transporting it. As already mentioned, the temperature of the cold insulator 3 is −100° C. or lower, for example, at the start of use of the cold insulator 3 (for example, when packed together with the cold-insulated object 13) or immediately before that (for example, within 10 minutes from the start of use). Or -120°C or less.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the cooling agent contains water and salt and is made of ice at −100° C. or lower (at the start of use, etc.). Therefore, for example, the −20° C. holding time can be lengthened. In general, salt is not subject to regulation or is unlikely to be subject to regulation in light of national and international standards and/or laws relating to transportation. Therefore, the cooling agent of this embodiment has a wide range of applications. Domestic laws and regulations related to transportation include, for example, the Food Sanitation Law, the Poisonous and Deleterious Substances Control Law, the Industrial Safety and Health Law, and the Chemical Substance Management Promotion Law.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Cooling agent, 3... Cooling tool, 5... Enclosing container, 11... Cargo, 13... Cold-insulated object, 21... Transportation equipment.

Claims (7)

a cooling agent;
an enclosed container in which the cooling agent is enclosed;
and
The cooling agent contains water and NaCl and is made of ice at -100 ° C. or less,
The mass of NaCl is 20% or more and 26% or less with respect to the total mass of water and NaCl,
The weight of additives other than salt contained in the cooling agent is less than 10% with respect to the total weight of the cooling agent,
The cooling agent has a melting point of -25°C or higher and -3°C or lower.
Cold pack. The cooling agent contains only NaCl as a salt
The human body cooling apparatus according to claim 1. The human body cooling apparatus according to claim 1 or 2 ,
an object to be kept cold;
a container accommodating both the cold insulator and the object to be kept cold;
Cargo that has The human body cooling apparatus according to claim 1 or 2 ,
an object to be kept cold;
a container accommodating both the cold insulator and the object to be kept cold;
transportation equipment that has A step of housing both the human body cooling apparatus according to claim 1 or 2 and an object to be kept cold in a container;
a step of transferring the container containing both the cold insulator and the object to be cold-insulated;
transportation method. It further comprises the step of cooling the ice pack to a temperature of -100°C or below with a chiller before the step of containing.
A transportation method according to claim 5 . A cold preservation method comprising the step of accommodating both the human body cooling apparatus according to claim 1 or 2 and an object to be cold preserved in a container.

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