X-Message-Number: 4470
From: Brian Wowk <>
Date: Wed, 31 May 1995 17:47:51 -0500
Subject: LN2 adjustable temp. freezers

	It is not currently known to what extent storage at
-130'C vs. LN2 temp would prevent cracking, although it
is almost certainly better I would think.  The basic
problem with -130'C storage units (whether mechanical or LN2
cooled) is that they are inherently more expensive to
operate compared to LN2 immersion until a certain 
economy of scale is reached.

	Even disregarding the cracking issue, storage at
-130'C for large patient populations will cost 1/4 as
much as LN2 storage for basic physics reasons.  For this
reason, I believe that the future of cryonics patient
storage lies in large -130'C facilities.  No cryonics
organization as yet, however, feels that it has a patient
population that is large enough yet to justify the
large R & D outlay needed to build the first such
facility.  I am confident that someone, though, will
take a crack at it (oops!) within the next 15 to 20 years.
The economy of such a facility is just too good to
ignore.

---Brian Wowk


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