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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.'"

3 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.

      --
      Good quote, too many chars. Seriously, the slashdot 120 char limit sucks!
    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.