Modular Quench Chest With Chilled Water Recirculation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional ice chests are inefficient in rapidly cooling beverages to a pre-selected temperature and lack visual notification of when beverages are cooled, requiring users to manually monitor temperature and suffer from ice melting issues, leading to warm beverages.
Innovation Solution
A refrigerated chest with an ice maker, quench tray, and control system that includes temperature sensors and a conduit for chilled water circulation, allowing for precise temperature control and visual notification through a mobile app, ensuring beverages are cooled efficiently and maintained at optimal temperature.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If traditional ice chests are used for cooling beverages, then the structure is simple and easy to manufacture, but the cooling time is long (30-60 minutes) and temperature control is imprecise
Solution Approach 1:
The system is divided into separate functional modules: an ice maker unit, a pump system, quench trays with beverage holders, and a control system. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function efficiently while enabling rapid cooling through coordinated operation, resolving the contradiction between cooling speed and system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The ice maker pre-produces and stores ice in a reservoir before the cooling cycle begins. When cooling is needed, the pump immediately circulates pre-chilled water through the quench trays, eliminating the delay of waiting for ice to form during the cooling process. This preliminary action enables rapid cooling without requiring a complex real-time ice generation system.
2Loss of information
If traditional ice chests rely on manual ice addition, then the operation is simple, but the user has no visual notification of cooling status and must manually monitor temperature
Solution Approach 1:
Temperature sensors continuously monitor the beverage temperature and feed this information to the control system. The control system processes this feedback and automatically adjusts the pump operation and ice addition to maintain the desired temperature. This closed-loop feedback eliminates the need for manual monitoring while providing precise temperature control.
Solution Approach 2:
The manual visual monitoring and temperature checking process is replaced with electronic temperature sensors and a digital control system. The sensors automatically detect temperature changes and transmit this information electronically to the controller, which then makes automated decisions about cooling adjustments, replacing the mechanical/manual monitoring approach.
3Temperature
If ice is added continuously to maintain cooling, then the cooling effect is maintained, but the ice melts and water becomes warm, turning cooled beverages warm
Solution Approach 1:
The pump system continuously circulates chilled water through the quench trays throughout the cooling process, maintaining constant thermal contact between the cooling medium and beverages. This continuous circulation prevents temperature fluctuations and ensures stable cooling without the need for intermittent ice addition that causes temperature swings and energy loss.
Solution Approach 2:
The system recovers and recirculates the chilled water that has absorbed heat from the beverages. Instead of discarding this warmed water, the pump returns it to the ice reservoir where it is re-chilled by contact with fresh ice, creating an efficient heat exchange cycle that minimizes energy loss and maintains stable temperatures.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system rapidly cools beverages to the desired temperature and maintains it, providing visual notification and reducing the need for manual monitoring, while also recycling chilled water for continuous cooling.
Implementation Method 1
a pump, hose and filter can collectively manage a flow rate of up to 10 GPM
Implementation Method 2
Activation of the pump is operative to draw water from the water level of the cooled water bath of the thermally insulated cooler into the quench container and direct the cooled water over the at least one beverage container
Data Source
AI summary
The disclosure features various embodiments and aspects of a chest for quenching beverages. The chest can include a tank for holding a chilled mixture of ice and water, an ice maker adapted for making ice having an output for ejecting ice into a conduit in fluid communication with the tank, and a plurality of quench trays disposed above the tank for holding containers of beverages located in first and second positions. The trays can be filled with cold water by way of a conduit in fluid communication with the tank. The quench trays can include a compartment defined by a bottom and a plurality of walls, and defining therein a plurality of rows for aligning and containing a plurality of beverage containers. The drawers can further include at least one drain orifice configured to guide water out of the quench tray.