Equations for obtaining melting points for the ternary system ethylene glycol/sodium chloride/water and their application to cryopreservation.

The present study describes the H(2)O-NaCl-ethylene glycol ternary system by using a differential scanning calorimeter to measure melting points (T(m)) of four different ratios (R) of ethylene glycol to NaCl and then devising equations to fit the experimental measurements. Ultimately an equation is derived which characterizes the liquidus surface above the eutectic for any R value in the system. This study focuses on ethylene glycol in part because of recent evidence indicating it may be less toxic to pancreatic islets than Me(2)SO, which is currently used routinely for islet cryopreservation. The resulting physical data and previously determined information regarding the osmotic characteristics of canine pancreatic islets are combined in a mathematical model to describe the volumetric response to equilibrium-rate freezing in varying initial concentrations of ethylene glycol. Copyright 1999 Academic Press.