COVID 19 vaccine distribution solution to the last mile challenge: Experimental and simulation studies of ultra-low temperature refrigeration system

Jian Sun, Mingkan Zhang, Anthony Gehl, Brian Fricke, Kashif Nawaz, Kyle Gluesenkamp, Bo Shen, Jeff Munk, Joe Hagerman, Melissa Lapsa

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

23 Scopus citations

Abstract

Most COVID-19 vaccines require ambient temperature control for transportation and storage. Both Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are based on mRNA and lipid nanoparticles requiring low temperature storage. The Pfizer vaccine requires ultra-low temperature storage (between −80 °C and −60 °C), while the Moderna vaccine requires −30 °C storage. Pfizer has designed a reusable package for transportation and storage that can keep the vaccine at the target temperature for 10 days. However, the last stage of distribution is quite challenging, especially for rural or suburban areas, where local towns, pharmacy chains and hospitals may not have the infrastructure required to store the vaccine. Also, the need for a large amount of ultra-low temperature refrigeration equipment in a short time period creates tremendous pressure on the equipment suppliers. In addition, there is limited data available to address ancillary challenges of the distribution framework for both transportation and storage stages. As such, there is a need for a quick, effective, secure, and safe solution to mitigate the challenges faced by vaccine distribution logistics. The study proposes an effective, secure, and safe ultra-low temperature refrigeration solution to resolve the vaccine distribution last mile challenge. The approach is to utilize commercially available products, such as refrigeration container units, and retrofit them to meet the vaccine storage temperature requirement. Both experimental and simulation studies are conducted to evaluate the technical merits of this solution with the ability to control temperature at −30 °C or −70 °C as part of the last mile supply chain for vaccine candidates.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)313-325
Number of pages13
JournalInternational Journal of Refrigeration
Volume133
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 2022

Funding

This manuscript has been authored in part by UT-Battelle, LLC, under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the US Department of Energy (DOE). The US government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the US government retains a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for US government purposes. DOE will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan (http://energy.gov/downloads/doe-public-access-plan). Funding for this research was provided by the US Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. The authors would like to thank Erika Gupta and Samuel Petty, Program Manager of Building Technologies Office, for their support of this work. The authors would like to thank the support from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Operations and Facilities team (Gerald Barth, Margret Smith, Brandy Milun). The authors would like to thank Doug Auyer, David Brisson from Carrier Global Corporation to provide some test data. The authors would like to thank leadership team's support from both Oak Ridge National Laboratory Energy Science and Technology Directorate (Xin Sun, Lonnie Love, Marti Head, Ron Ott, Richard Raines, Robert Wagner, Yarom Polsky) and Carrier Global Corporation (Bruce Hoopes, Yu Chen, Stella Oggianu, Nader Awwad, Chris Repice, James Fan).

Keywords

  • COVID 19
  • Refrigeration
  • Ultra-low temperature
  • Vaccine distribution
  • Vaccine storage

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