The thermos concept isn’t really anything new. You surround a liquid with an insulator of some sort and it either keeps your hot stuff hot or it keeps your cold stuff cold. German researchers have taken that idea to a whole new level, though, with the ability to keep a beverage, like your morning coffee, at your ideal temperature.
The concept came to Klaus Sedlbauer, head of the Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics, at a Christmas market in Rosenheim. Sedlbauer said his mulled wine was always either too hot or too cold, and never at that perfect drinking temp. I have the same problem with Starbucks coffee. The stuff comes out nuclear, remains that way for a solid 7-8 minutes, and then plummets to lukewarm it what seems to be a 30-second window.
Sedlbauer and his colleague Herbert Sinnesbichler thought to put something called Phase Change Material (PCM) to the task. PCM is a special material capable of absorbing and maintaining heat or cold for extended periods of time. The substance is wax-like, melting when it warms to retain heat. As it cools, it turns back into the waxy material. Applied to a coffee mug, it works just like a thermos, but with the ability to fine tune your results. Different PCMs retain heat at different levels, so just pick the PCM that corresponds to the temp you want and you’re all set.
“Warm drinks, like coffee or tea, are best enjoyed at 58 degrees Celsius (136.4 degrees Fahrenheit),” Sedlbauer explains. “In order to reach and maintain this temperature, we fill the mug with a type of PCM that becomes a liquid at exactly 58 degrees Celsius.” The liquid then retains that heat until the liquid starts to cool down, at which point the PCM releases its heat to keep your coffee hot. “Under ideal circumstances the optimal temperature can be maintained for 20-30 minutes,” according to Sedlbauer.
The two researchers are still looking for a production partner, but expect their mugs to be available as early as the end of the year. Sounds like production can’t be too tough. Hopefully the price will reflect ease of production.
Source: Spiegel
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