Anesthetic vaporizer for a breathing apparatus and method for operation thereof to vaporize a liquid anesthetic agent

摘要

In an anesthesia vaporizer for vaporizing an anesthetic agent liquid and a method of vaporizing an anesthetic agent liquid in an vaporizer, an evaporation unit evaporates the anesthetic agent, a delivery unit intermittently adds a volume of said liquid to the evaporation unit in order to evaporate at least a portion of the volume of the liquid from the evaporation unit. A heat energy storage unit includes a phase change material (PCM) and is thermally coupled to at least a portion of the evaporation unit. The PCM has a phase shift temperature that is higher than the evaporation temperature of the anesthetic agent. The PCM in the heat energy storage unit is preferably at least partly liquid at an operative temperature of the vaporizer.

主权项

1. An anesthesia vaporizer for vaporizing an anesthetic agent liquid, said vaporizer comprising
an evaporation unit for evaporating an anesthetic agent liquid, a delivery unit for intermittently adding a volume of said anesthetic agent liquid to said evaporation unit, a heat energy storage unit comprising a phase change material (PCM), said heat energy storage unit being thermally coupled to at least a portion of said evaporation unit, and wherein said PCM changes from a first phase to a second phase as heat energy is applied to the PCM, and has a phase change temperature that is higher than a temperature at which said anesthetic agent liquid evaporates and a heater in thermal communication with said heat energy storage unit, said heater applying heat energy to said PCM in said heat energy storage unit to maintain at least a portion of said PCM in said second phase during operation of said vaporizer, and thereby maintaining said at least a portion of said evaporation unit at a temperature above said temperature at which said anesthetic agent liquid evaporates.