Scientists Make Temperature-Regulating Coffee Mug
August 25, 2009 by Lisa Zyga
The PCM absorbs the warmth of the mug's content, stores it and brings it down to the optimal temperature. Then the PCM helps maintain the content's temperature at this optimal level by slowly releasing the stored heat back into the mug's contents. Image credit: Fraunhofer IBP.
(PhysOrg.com) -- A well-insulated mug may keep your coffee somewhat warm, but now scientists have designed a high-tech mug that can keep drinks hot or cold at the perfect temperature for up to half an hour.
Researchers Klaus Sedlbauer and Herbert Sinnesbichler from the Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics have created the temperature-regulating mug using phase change material (PCM). PCM is capable of storing and releasing large amounts of heat by changing its phase, such as changing from a solid to a liquid.
To design the new mug, the researchers first created a hollow porcelain shell filled with ribbons of highly conductive aluminum. The aluminum formed a honeycomb structure, which the researchers filled with solid PCM. When the mug is filled with a hot beverage, the PCM absorbs the heat and melts like wax into a liquid. This process cools the beverage down to the optimal temperature. As the beverage cools over time, the PCM slowly releases the stored heat back into the drink, maintaining the optimal temperature for up to 30 minutes.
As the scientists note, different drinks have different optimal temperatures. Warm drinks such as coffee and tea are best enjoyed at 58° C (136.4° F), beer tastes best at 7° C (44.6° F), and ice-cold drinks are best at -12° C (10.4° F). Since different types of PCM have different chemical properties and melting temperatures, the scientists can make different mugs for different beverages. The downside for the consumer is that there is not a single mug for hot and cold drinks.
The researchers hope that, if they can find a business partner, the PCM mugs could be on sale by the end of the year. However, despite the fact that PCM is relatively inexpensive, the mugs will still probably cost significantly more than most mugs.
Besides mugs, PCM could have other interesting applications. For instance, researchers are investigating the possibility of using it to keep perishable foods from spoiling, and even putting it on museum walls to protect paintings in the case of a fire, since PCM is non-flammable. PCM already has commercial uses in construction materials, where it is embedded in walls and ceilings to maintain a comfortable room temperature. Some winter jackets also contain PCM for providing greater warmth. In addition, due to their long-term memory capabilities, PCM could be used for storing computer data without the need for an electric current.
via: Spiegel
© 2009 PhysOrg.com
4 hours ago
http://en.wikiped...Material
But I don't see any reason for aluminium here, except it makes construction a bit more stiff (the cup is basically Dewar flask without vacuum).
Humphry Davy first identified the existance of a metal base of alum which he briefly called alumium before settling on aluminum.
Oersted, the first person who isolated pure aluminum also used the -um ending.
Some anonymous british twat decided that it should be called aluminium, with the -ium ending, to harmonize with the majority of elements(though far from all, e.g. platin-um and tantal-um where known at the time).
Aluminum is not an american dumbing down of the british word aluminium; aluminium is a british ponce-ificiation of the proper spelling of the word which aluminum.
As for the mug, I agree that with Al in it, it probably wouldn't work in microwave oven.
I see, I checked this on Wikipedia.
http://en.wikiped...luminium
Google search gives 45.900.000 results for Aluminium
65.200.000 for Aluminum.
Wrong. It BOTH. Depending on whether you use American English or British English.
And on top of that the British version is NOT the original version. So the American version is the more correct of the two.
From:
http://en.wikiped...luminium
Bloody damned Latinists yet again botching English so it sounds like Latin. Its English and often it is the American version that has the original spelling as opposed to some Latinized version. Leave Latin to the Italians and the French.
Ethelred
Sorry for the new signature. But It Needed Killun.
From QubitTamer's fake profile
Qubitwit gets the rest of August in my signature for aiming his idiocy at me. Again.
Throw on these Chains of Oppression
No Cross of Simplicity
No Crown of Reason
Freely stolen from William Jennings Bryan famous pro silver speech. Yes the same Bryan that was the sole defense witness in the Scopes Evolution Trial.
Ethelred
Sorry for the new signature. But It Needed Killun.
From QubitTamer's fake profile
Qubitwit gets the rest of August in my signature for aiming his idiocy at me. Again.
Glucium? Is that related to gluons?
Both words were used equally in the US until around 1900, when inexplicably aluminum won out.
Read more here: http://www.worldw...nium.htm
So how about that PCM and how it could help build more efficient HVAC systems. I like the idea utilized by some libraries that cool water to ice form at night with off-peak energy, later converting it to water to cool the building during the day. Is there room for PCM incorporation into most thermodynamic systems?
As for gluonium, is there any evidence for it, or is it another product of a warped imagination, like mine?
It should be possible to build PCM into walls and floors, which would at least even the temperature swings in a building. That, in turn, should result in more even energy consumption, which would reduce the need for peaking power. Off peak use would go up, while peak use would drop, but overall, it should reduce the need for new power plants.
My two cents: the US can't even go metric. You think we're going to be bothered by a dropped vowel or common misspelling?
Pwn.