International.
A group of developers created a mobile cooling unit without electricity, which helps small farmers and the rural population with limited resources.
Dubbed an Evaptainer, it's a lightweight, foldable storage unit that uses evaporative cooling to keep perishable food fresh for up to two weeks. (The human body uses evaporative cooling to regulate its temperature through sweating.) The internal compartment of the container, a waterproof rubber chamber, is enclosed in a cloth shell that absorbs moisture.
Evaporative cooling has been used successfully for centuries in products such as the Zeer Pot (Two-Vessel Refrigerator). These products have been proven to be effective for agricultural use, tripling or quadrupling the shelf life of most products. The company has taken these inventions and updated them for modern and commercial use. Using state-of-the-art materials and improved design, they have created more efficient, durable and easy-to-use production units. The units achieve the same thermal efficiency as the Zeer Pot and have extended fresh food storage times from days to weeks in pilot program testing.
Two years later, the Evaptainers team is about to launch the first commercial version of the product, with plans to launch hundreds of units in the next year. Evaptainers chief technical officer Jeremy Fryer-Biggs notes that the team applied for a provisional patent on its design earlier this year and compares the filing to taking a ticket at a deli counter. "This gives us a placeholder for a year to continue developing technology and a stronger product," he explains.
Learn more at http://www.evaptainers.com
