Is It Time For A Change? Alternatives To Water-Based Phase Change Materials

By Jean Bedard, CEO, Infitrak

The purpose of a complete temperature controlled packaging system is to maintain an interior thermal environment sufficient to meet the product’s temperature requirements. The system includes not only the packaging material itself, but the insulation, and passive phase change materials that hold temperature (active refrigeration systems will not be covered here).

Phase Change Materials (PCM) oscillate between solid and liquid phase within a certain temperature range. When the environment’s temperature is higher than that of the PCM, heat transfers from the surroundings to the material, which creates a cooling effect and changes PCM’s state from solid to liquid. When the environment’s temperature is lower than that of the PCM, heat transfers from the PCM to the surroundings, generating a warming effect and PCM changes back to its solid state.