Thermodynamic Cooler Preserves Food Using Zero-electricity!

Thermodynamics – although we are not quite sure about you guys, we certainly do know that the only memories we have of this subject are the nightmares it used to give us in first year elementary chemistry in college!

Yet we all do realize the importance of these laws with regard to the workings of many of our fundamental life processes.

What we have here is a crafty designer (Rochus Jacob from the USA) and his innovative thermodynamic cooler which brings together teachings from thermodynamics and basic technology from developing countries to result in a green addition to your kitchen.

In a sentence…

What we are talking about here is a cooler that does not need electricity and makes use of the cooling effect of evaporating water to preserve fruits and vegetables!

What is it made of?

Recyclable material mostly. To be specific it’s made use of bio-plastics, clay and glass foam in its construction. Glass foam by the way is a waste product of the glass recycling process.

A word on the design…

As you can see in the image it basically looks like a pot. It actually consists of two pots however, where one is placed inside the other. Wet glass foam is used to fill the space between the two pots. As this water evaporates the temperature of the inner pot, which by the way is covered with a damp cloth, falls by several degrees. This chills the food inside the container and hinders the survival of microorganisms.

To keep the cooling and preservation process active…

Water needs to be added by the user at a frequency of about once every two days.

A green indicator on the outside will give the user information about the cooler’s water requirements.

With a resume like this the thermodynamic cooler seems to be the ideal candidate for the second fridge in your ‘green’ kitchen. And it’ll probably serve just as well as your very own high-tech fruit bowl as well!

Images and news via: Design Boom