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Tempratech Self-Cooling Can

Posted by michael on from the grab-a-cold-one dept.

r.future writes "I saw on Gizmodo that a company called Tempratech has created an 100% safe and environmentally friendly aluminum can that uses a self-chilling process involving a cooling gel, desiccant, and heat sinks, to chill itself. The self-contained I.C. Can is the approximate size of a 500 mL beverage can. This includes the beverage container itself, and the integral self-chilling device, and according to Tempratech the can is 'proven to lower beverage temp by a minimum of 30 degrees Fahrenheit in only three minutes.'"

8 of 492 comments (clear)

  1. That'll be a bitch to recycle. by paanta · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Its not going to be real easy to recycle now, is it? Or can they melt the whole thing down, desiccant and all? Seems unlikely.

    1. Re:That'll be a bitch to recycle. by FortKnox · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Fantastic point. I know there used to be a canteen and thermos that kept beverages colder (or hotter) like 5 times longer than a normal thermos, and got rid of the 'metally' or 'plasticy' tastes. But it wasn't at all recyclable, so the whole project was dropped.

      I think that if it ain't recyclable, its a cool experiment at most.

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    2. Re:That'll be a bitch to recycle. by Politburo · · Score: 5, Insightful

      On the other hand, a lot of desiccants are recycleable. You can pop them into an oven to dry the material out.

      You're not thinking about recycling fully. While getting a virgin or near-virgin material back is a good goal, many other factors must be considered. Such as: energy required to recycle back to near-virgin material, energy required to create virgin material (from the ground, other materials, however it is acquired), amount of virgin material (or constituents) available, etc.

      While dessicant may be easily recycled, it may not be worth it. Burning a bunch of oil, coal and gas to dry it out may harm the environment more than just tossing it in a landfill. However, if the raw materials to make dessicant are non-sustainable/limited, then recycling becomes beneficial again.

  2. Maybe, but I'm thinking no... by Dutchmaan · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Unless this new way off chilling doesn't significantly affect the price of a given can of soda, I don't see it going anywhere.

    If it's bulkier and more expensive what incentive do people have for purchasing a drink stored in such a can?

  3. So that's why... by severoon · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ...that Coke Halliburton sent to Iraq was so expensive...

    Seriously, which would you choose, a beverage that cost $1 which you had to refrigerate, or a beverage that costs $20 which you don't?

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  4. Re:Conversion by LostCluster · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Which would mean that this product would more likely be marketed to the makers of beer rather than the makers of soft drinks... as most soft drinks are found exclusively in bottles in all sizes above 12 oz.

    Besides, the increased cost would seem silly when attached to a soft drink can price, but would likely be more presentable for a "premium" beer brand not available any other way .

  5. Will work in places with strange laws by slusich · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This will be a great seller in places with strange beer laws. For some reason, alot of places around the country won't let you buy cold beer. This will bypass those old laws nicley.

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  6. Recycling by Big+Bob+the+Finder · · Score: 4, Insightful
    That depends upon what is used as the "desiccant." Two possibilities come to mind:

    1) The desiccant volatilizes in the melt during recycling. A number of compounds come to mind. Ammonium nitrate (yes, THAT ammonium nitrate) is used in cold packs for athletic purposes, and decomposes at 250 C into water and N2O (nitrous oxide, or laughing gas). At about 300 C, it decomposes into other, less desirable oxides of nitrogen, and water.

    2) As the reaction itself is inspired by the introduction of water, the "desiccant" must be water soluble; you get an endothermic reaction as it dissolves. Anyway- I don't know too much about recycling these days, but I've seen cans go into chippers so they can be blown into the back of a semi truck to go to the recycling plant. One would assume that at some point, those chips get washed before they get re-melted. Otherwise, carmelized sugar and other gunk left on the inside of the cans- even in tiny amounts, multiplied by many cans- would cause more problems than it's worth.