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North Slope Chillers

Industrial Water Chiller Systems

Archives for September 2019

Dairy Cooling Solutions

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Don’t have a cow over keeping your milk cool

Farmers are well accustomed to staying in control over milk temperatures. What methods do they use?

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It’s said that you should never cry over spilled milk. When you utilize dairy coolers, you’ll never have to cry about spoiled milk either. In the cooling of milk, stable temperatures are crucial in ensuring it will still be fresh when it reaches the grocery store. 

Temperature control for milk starts as soon as it leaves the udder. It leaves the body of the cow at 98° F, but remaining at that temperature would spoil the milk quickly. The ideal range for dairy cooling tanks is between 40° F and 32° F, which balances keeping it above freezing with preventing bacteria growth. 

milk cow dairy

There are two main methods currently used to keep milk cool. 

  • In-line coolers: Some dairy farms prefer in-line plate coolers because they use less expensive electricity than other milk cooling methods. Milk is precooled by running it through an in-line plate cooler before it is stored in a larger dairy cooling tank. The heat is removed from the milk as water is also circulated in and out of the cooling plate. According to Wisconsin dairy experts, doing so only takes about 10 minutes, as opposed to cooling milk in large batches that can take as long as 45 minutes. Running in-line plate coolers to cool the milk for shorter times can save up to 50% of energy costs, and the water can be reused as long as it was clean going into the plate. 
  • Process chillers: Often used on large-scale dairy farms, process chillers utilize water or another coolant liquid to remove heat from the milk tank. Chillers pump coolant at low temperatures from the chiller machine to a cooling wrap encasing the milk tank, enveloping it in a blanket of cold. As the heat is absorbed into the wrap, the coolant then flows from the wrap back to the chiller, where it is cooled back down and sent back out to the wrap. 

Process chillers are by far the most effective dairy cooling solution. A milk tank wrapped in a Fluxwrap from North Slope Chillers will keep temperatures exactly where you want them, regardless of external climate influences. When connected to Beacon temperature control technology, Fluxwraps and chillers collect temperature data and allow for remote access to milk tank cooling settings. 

North Slope Chillers carries everything needed for milk cooling solutions. Contact North Slope Chillers to learn which cooling equipment is right for your dairy needs at 866-826-2993 or [email protected].

cow

Medical Applications of Chillers

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A quick peek at the common applications of medical chillers.

Medical chillers are most commonly used to keep equipment running smoothly. They are also used to lower patients’ body temperatures during certain procedures and to keep medical samples at proper temperatures.

Blood Samples.

Chillers are used in various applications throughout the medical industry. Often, proper chilling in medical applications means keeping life-saving equipment running smoothly; there is very little room for error. It is therefore extremely important that medical facilities take great care in implementing cooing solutions. 

What are medical chillers used for?

Typically medical chillers are used to  perform one of the following three functions:

  1. First chillers are used in medical applications to remove heat from a patient’s body during certain procedures, 

Common procedures that require removing heat from body parts or reducing a patient’s body temperature are: hair and tattoo removal, laser eye surgery and vein treatments. 

  1. Second, medical chillers are used to cool down pieces of equipment that generate large amounts of heat. 

MRI machines, PET and CT scanners, lasers, x-ray machines, and linear accelerators, all generate significant heat. They require quick cooling to operate for an extended period of time. 

  1. Third, chillers are commonly used to keep sensitive medical samples (i.e. blood samples) at ideal temperatures. 

These types of chillers are commonly found in labs where medical testing is performed. 

Medical Equipment Chillers

Let’s take a closer look at the mechanics of some medical equipment that require chilling and how medical chillers are used to keep the equipment cool. 

MRI Machine Chillers


Patient being positioned for MR study of the head and abdomen.

MRI machines use a powerful magnetic field, radio waves and a computer to produce detailed pictures of the inside of your body

.The magnet inside MRI machines has to stay cool in order for the machine to work efficiently.When it overheats, the magnet and, consequently, the MRI machine, will stop working properly.  

Either air or water-cooled chillers are used to transfer heat from the MRI machine. Water-cooled chillers transfer heat to process fluid that is recirculated and air-cooled chillers transfer heat to the ambient air. 

CT Scanner Chillers

Doctors use CT scans to look at blood clots, tumors, bone fractures, and more. CT scanners contain an x-ray tube that heats quickly and requires 10 to 30 minutes of cooling time. This cooling time delays patient care and increases medical costs.When this excess cooling time is eliminated via medical chillers, medical facilities are able to help more patients. 

PET scans

PET scanners produce three-dimensional images of body processes. Their operation generates too much heat for the scanners to continue operating without a cooling solution. Heat must be removed to keep the machines from malfunctioning. 

Linear Accelerator Chillers

Linear accelerators are most commonly used for external beam radiation treatments for patients with cancer. These machines deliver high-energy x-rays or electrons to the region of the patient’s tumor. The x-ray tubes, however, create large amounts of hear. The tubes require a non-stop cooling solution to function properly. 

Medical vs. Regular Chillers

Medical chillers will operate similarly to any other air or water-cooled chiller. (For more information on how chillers work, check out this blog article).

Medical chillers are somewhat unique, however, in that they are not cooling a constant operating load. Their demand is very cyclical;  unlike most process cooling applications, the load ramps up quickly and then dissipates equally as fast.

Medical chillers must be able to handle the immediate shock of a load surge and maintain proper cooling for the duration of the load. 

Cooling solutions from North Slope Chillers

Chillers from North Slope chillers are durable, reliable, and customizable for any application. You can take a look at our product offerings here.