How important are internal temperature gradients in french straws during freezing of bovine sperm in nitrogen vapor?

Abstract: The subject of present work was to predict internal temperature gradients developed during freezing of bovine sperm diluted in extender, packaged in 0.5 ml French plastic straws and suspended in static liquid nitrogen vapor at -100 ºC. For this purpose, a mathematical heat transfer model previously developed to predict freezing times (phase change was considered) of semen/extender packaged in straw was extended to predict internal temperature gradients during the cooling/freezing process. Results showed maximum temperature differences between the centre and the periphery of semen/extender “liquid” column was 1.5 ºC for an external heat transfer coefficient, h = 15 W/(m2 K), and only 0.5 ºC for h = 5 W/(m2 K). It is concluded that if a thermocouple wire were inserted in a 0.5 ml plastic straw to monitor the freezing process in nitrogen vapor, its radial position would have little importance since expected internal gradients may be safely neglected. This finding facilitates the interpretation of freezing rates in 0.5 ml plastic straws immersed in nitrogen vapor over liquid nitrogen, a widely used method for cryopreservation of bovine spermatozoa

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Santos, María Victoria, Sansiñena, Marina Julia, Zaritzky, Noemí, Chirife, Jorge
Format: Artículo biblioteca
Language:eng
Published: Ingenta 2013
Subjects:CONGELACION, ESPERMA BOVINO, TRANSFERENCIA DE CALOR, VAPOR DE NITROGENO, COEFICIENTE,
Online Access:https://repositorio.uca.edu.ar/handle/123456789/5491
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