Pod-Based Rapid Cooling System for Room-Temperature Ingredients
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for rapidly cooling food and drinks are inefficient, requiring pre-cooling or pre-freezing and often taking more than two minutes to achieve freezing temperatures, and do not offer convenient single-serving options with easy-to-use interfaces.
Innovation Solution
The development of a refrigeration system with low startup times and a pod-machine interface that uses sterilized pods with efficient heat transfer to cool or freeze contents from room temperature to freezing in under two minutes, allowing for single-serving preparation of items like soft-serve ice cream, frozen cocktails, and other beverages without pre-treatment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If conventional cooling methods are used, then cooling can be achieved, but the cooling time exceeds two minutes and pre-cooling or pre-freezing is required
Solution Approach 1:
The pod contents are pre-sterilized and sealed in a controlled atmosphere during manufacturing, creating a stable starting condition that enables rapid cooling without requiring pre-freezing or pre-treatment of the ingredients before the cooling process begins
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the thermal parameters by using a refrigeration cycle that rapidly extracts heat from the pod contents, achieving freezing temperatures in under two minutes through controlled temperature reduction rather than gradual cooling
2Speed
If rapid cooling is achieved, then freezing temperature is reached in under two minutes, but efficient heat transfer infrastructure is required
Solution Approach 1:
The pod base acts as an intermediary heat transfer component, providing a large surface area contact point between the pod contents and the refrigeration system's cooling element, enabling efficient heat extraction without requiring complex internal heat transfer structures within the pod itself
Solution Approach 2:
The system transitions from one-dimensional heat transfer through the pod wall to two-dimensional heat transfer through the large surface area of the pod base contact interface with the cooling element, significantly increasing heat transfer efficiency
3Stability of the object's composition
If sterilized pods are used for room temperature storage, then ingredient stability is improved, but the pod structure must withstand sterilization processes
Solution Approach 1:
The pod is constructed from composite materials including aluminum or stainless steel that provide both the structural strength needed to withstand high-pressure sterilization processes like HPP and the chemical inertness required to maintain ingredient stability and prevent contamination during storage
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
Enables rapid cooling of food and drinks from room temperature to freezing in under two minutes, providing convenient single-serving options with efficient heat transfer and easy operation, using sterilized pods that can store ingredients at room temperature for extended periods.
Implementation Method 1
a pod-machine interface that is easy to use and provides extremely efficient heat transfer
Implementation Method 2
HPP is a cold pasteurization technique by which products, already sealed in its final package, are introduced into a vessel and subjected to a high level of isostatic pressure (300-600 megapascals (MPa) (43,500-87,000 pounds per square inch (psi)))
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods have demonstrated the capability of rapidly cooling the contents of pods containing the ingredients for food and drinks.