Need a Cold Drink Quickly?? Try 3 Phase Fluidization

Hi SS,

Could you post a picture or drawing? I'm having a little problem visualizing it. Sounds interesting. thanks.

"Could you post a picture or drawing?"

Don't know reason Bret chose a WYE type drainage fitting but here it is bottom left:

<http://www.pexsupply.com/CategoryPre.asp?cID=470&brandid=>

A 10" or 12" length piece of pipe would work just as well. Maybe he wanted a place for a window to watch the action. It is the violent agitation of the crushed ice and water by, the compressed air, that speeds up and enhances the cooling effect.

Okay, now I get it. I thought there was something special in the shape that made it work.

Basically, it just needs to be wide enough to hold the beer can or bottle plus some space for the crushed ice and water and stir with the air jet.

I've heard of a different method where you put the can or bottle in a bucket of ice and water and agitate it manually. This won't be as fast as the air agitated method though, I'm sure.

Good post.

It would make the ultimate beer helmet! All you need is a dive tank on your back and you never have to drink warm beer again.

... I'll post pics if i make one in the near future.

Great idea & extension of the original. An occassional burst of compressed air keeps the drink(s) cold as long as the ice lasts. May need to carry along a supply of ice too.

I know this doesn't follow the concept, but on the portable version, if I understand correctly, "If I carry beer and ice with me I can have a cold drink at any time?" That's amazing!

Don't mind me I'm in a rare mood today. Apparently this speeds up the heat transference process. I would think, X amount of ice could transfere X amount of calories. Does this process add to amount of cooling 1 part of Ice can complete, or does the ice melt more rapidly?

Addition of salt would not change the amount of heat removed. This unit affects heat transfer rate not the total amount of heat removed.

Jowens,

I don't remember ZZ Top working at Comtek when I came over in 2001! Are you still using Felix over there and if so is ATExcel still going?

Still Felix and yes ATEexel. We're Powerwave Technologies now.

Myth Busters say to add salt to an ice/water mixture. It is supposed to make the cooling effect faster also. I wonder if that would make this idea even better?

better start with a very cold 35% brine, then ice and agitation. this will cool faster and may freeze cans to the bursting point with ice expansion.

cools to -21C. A look at the phase diagram shows how. I start at 35% brine to allow for some dilution as oce melts

http://antoine.frostburg.edu/chem/senese/101/solutions/faq/zero-fahrenheit.shtml

When water freezes into ice, a certain amount of temperature must be removed to change state from liquid to solid,. This is called "latent heat".When ice changes to a liquid, the exact same amount must be absorbed to change state from a solid to a liquid.This absorbtion of heat is perceived as "cold".The same rules apply when water changes to water vapor(evaporates).A certain amount of heat must be absorbed to change state. When air changes from a low pressure to a high pressure, heat is removed.When it is decompressed, (as in this case), heat is absorbed. In this particular device, all three effects are combined.The ice is absorbing heat as it melts.The air is absorbing heat as it decompresses.The air flow increases the evaporation rate of the water into vapor.All three effects combine at once to giva a large amount of "heat debt" that must be absorbed from the surrounding environment. So here you have a three-phase transition occuring:ice into water, water into vapor, and the decompression of very dry air, which absorbs water vapor and which enhances the whole process. (Remember, when air is compressed, water is "squeezed" out, and accumulates in the bottom of the tank).There is also some sublimation occuring, where the ice is changed directly into vapor, and both "heat debts" must be paid at once. The stirring of the ice is a side effect that in and of itself does not lower temperature. I hope this somewhat explains the process.I will be glad to go into futher detail if nescessary. HiTekRedNek

One thing I forgot to mention:Adding ice to the mixture will enhance the effect to a certain degree, because it increases the melt rate of the ice, which dilutes the salt mixture, which tends to stabilize after a certain point.Once all of the ice has melted, there will still be some cooling due to the compressed air expansion and evaporation of the water, but nowhere as dramatic as all processes occuring simultaneously. Remember, there is a fixed quantity of latent heat available in the ice, when it is gone, the absorbtion of heat decrease.When all the water evaporates, the only remaining cooling effect is the decompression of the air.I suspect the originator of this device used a "Y" fitting to increase the surface area exposed to the air, with the can being inserted into the side opening. HitekRedNek

Correction to the posting above: It should have read "adding SALT to the mixture" HTRN