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Further Studies on the Realization of a Cold Carbon Portable Artificial Kidney
Author(s) -
Giordano Carmelo,
Esposito Renato,
Leo Vito A. Di,
Bello Pierino,
Quarto Ernesto
Publication year - 1980
Publication title -
artificial organs
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.684
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1525-1594
pISSN - 0160-564X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1525-1594.1980.tb03900.x
Subject(s) - heat exchanger , dialysis , urea , artificial kidney , water cooling , carbon fibers , chemistry , mass transfer , thermodynamics , materials science , chromatography , biomedical engineering , surgery , engineering , composite material , biochemistry , medicine , physics , composite number
Optimal conditions have been determined for the realization of a closed‐loop, cold carbon, portable artificial kidney to depurate the dialysate of urea and other catabolites. It has been noticed that a dialysate flow rate of about 250 ml/min represents an optimal compromise between urea mass transfer through the dialytic membrane and its mass adsorption on cold carbon. Under this condition, the use of a 2‐kg carbon column to remove urea is satisfactory for a routine dialysis treatment. Our experiments have been performed on simulated dialysis. A portable cold carbon artificial kidney requires a cooling unit and a heat exchanger to recover the power necessary to produce the 0°C temperature. A flat heat exchanger, consisting of three superposed plates, with a heat exchange surface of about 0.09 m 2 and a total coefficient of thermal exchange, H., of 380 Kcal/m 2‐ °C‐hour has been chosen. With heat recovery, the cooling power required is 1/3 hp to allow for parasitic cold losses and the power necessary to reach a steady state. All mechanical parts necessary for heating and cooling weigh about 12 kg.