Investigations on the heat transport capability of a cryogenic oscillating heat pipe and its application in achieving ultra-fast cooling rates for cell vitrification cryopreservation

Theoretically, direct vitrification of cell suspensions with relatively low concentrations (∼1 M) of permeating cryoprotective agents (CPA) is suitable for cryopreservation of almost all cell types and can be accomplished by ultra-fast cooling rates that are on the order of 106–7 K/min. However, the methods and devices currently available for cell cryopreservation cannot achieve such high cooling rates. In this study, we constructed a novel cryogenic oscillating heat pipe (COHP) using liquid nitrogen as its working fluid and investigated its heat transport capability to assess its application for achieving ultra-fast cooling rates for cell cryopreservation. The experimental results showed that the apparent heat transfer coefficient of the COHP can reach 2 × 105 W/m2·K, which is two orders of the magnitude higher than traditional heat pipes. Theoretical analyzes showed that the average local heat transfer coefficient in the thin film evaporation region of the COHP can reach 1.2 × 106 W/m2·K, which is approximately 103 times higher than that achievable with standard pool-boiling approaches. Based on these results, a novel device design applying the COHP and microfabrication techniques is proposed and its efficiency for cell vitrification is demonstrated through numerical simulation. The estimated average cooling rates achieved through this approach is 106–7 K/min, which is much faster than the currently available methods and sufficient for achieving vitrification with relatively low concentrations of CPA.