POST 01148E : FRONT-OPENING REFRIGERATORS

POST 01148E : FRONT-OPENING REFRIGERATORS Follow-up on Posts 01125E, 01133E and 01141E 27 August 2007 ________________________________________ This posting contains two contributions discussing domestic refrigerators. The first is from Soren Spanner from UNICEF/India and the second from Olivier Blanchet from Doctors Without Borders in France. ____________________________________________________ Looking at the bright side and being practical. There are different types of domestic. The "old" ones having the evaporator at the top at the same time functioning as a freezer, they get too cold just below the freezer. There is the so called frost free; they get too cold at the outlet for the cold air that is being circulated. However, there is also a different type with which I have done tests at 32. It a domestic fridge, having the evaporator at the back, behind the plastic lining. Defrosting is automatic, no heating element used for defrosting. It also has a separate freezing compartment. It is working perfectly well with 24h electricity and less because of the new 20% above 8 relaxation. Even the temperature in the door compartments is within range. There are more and more district stores and PHCs having more stable electricity supply. This type of fridge can easily be improved to having a longer holdover time. Having the evaporator at the back, a set of ice-packs can be put against the lining and they will serve as a "cold lining" , depending on the thermostat setting. The cost is approx. $ 400. Having the VVMs on all vaccines, and being able to make a fixed thermostat setting that does not allow freezing. I think this type of fridge makes a lot of sense. Without having tried I would also think it can work as a SPR. The fridge Ian Tansley is mentioning is also a possibility; in fact it is an ice lined refrigerator that has been turned 90 deg. In Europe where GPs are storing vaccines it is done in a domestic refrigerator. I am not saying that there are no breaks in the cold chain. Soren Soren Spanner Project Officer Cold Chain Health Section, UNICEF, India Country Office, New Delhi, India [email protected] ------------------------ Greetings to all, The use of domestic refrigerators causes problems as well, because of both the diversity of models and techniques used. - ventilated cold without a freezing compartment, where cold air is sucked from around the evaporator and blown (outflow temperature below 0°C) by a ventilator; the cold zone is retricted to only one ventilator. - ventilated cold with a freezing compartment, where the cold air is sucked behind the freezing compartment and blown (outflow temperature below 0°C) through several ventilators ; the cold zone expands over the entire refrigeration area. - equipment with freezing compartment, but without ventilation, equivalent to Sibir V170 - equipment with ice compartment, without ventilation, equivalent to Sibir V110. Without mentioning the use of the vegetable container, with temperatures often over 10°C. In any case we would advise to check temperatures in different areas before usage, in order to identify the cold zone(s), and fill doorshelves and the vegetable container with icepacks, attached with scotch-tape, to prevent their utilization. In spite of all this, results are still unpredictable and linked with ongoing user training. Olivier Blanchet Doctors Without Borders ______________________________________________________________________________ All members of the TechNet21 e-Forum are invited to send comments on any posting or to use the forum to raise a new discussion or request technical information in relation to immunization services. The comments made in this forum are the sole responsibility of the writers and do not in any way mean that they are endorsed by any of the organizations and agencies to which the authors may belong. ______________________________________________________________________________ Visit the TECHNET21 Website at http://www.technet21.org You will find instructions to subscribe, a direct access to archives, links to reference documents and other features. ______________________________________________________________________________ To UNSUBSCRIBE, send a message to : [[email protected]][email protected][/email] Leave the subject area BLANK In the message body, write unsubscribe TECHNET21E ______________________________________________________________________________ The World Health Organization and UNICEF support TechNet21. The TechNet21 e-Forum is a communication/information tool for generation of ideas on how to improve immunization services. It is moderated by Claude Letarte and is hosted in cooperation with the Centre de coopération internationale en santé et développement, Québec, Canada (www.ccisd.org ______________________________________________________________________________