MADMEC 2007:
MIT and Dow Materials Engineering Contest
"Materials Solutions for Alternative Energy"

Team Name: THAT'S COLD

Team Members (L to R):
Timothy Chin, Jennifer Hsieh, and Chung-Yi Chiang, all DMSE G

Abstract:
Refrigeration is a large consumer of electricity in the developed world. However, this technology, often taken for granted, can not be effectively used in developing nations where there is limited or no electricity. We propose to build a refrigeration device that does not require electricity, but rather, it operates based on the simple principle of evaporative cooling. As a liquid refrigerant evaporates, it extracts heat from an insulated chamber, thereby cooling the chamber. An electricity-free refrigerator has potential to prolong the shelf life of crops for subsistence farmers and to store critical medicines and vaccines, which require long-term, low-temperature storage. The inspiration for this device came from Professor Mohammed Bah Abba's "pot-in-pot preservation/cooling system". However, Prof. Abba's design has been tested to cool only to 15C, which is insufficient for medicinal storage. By using advanced materials technology, we believe we can improve the performance of Prof. Abba's system, providing refrigeration down to 4C or below.