Mechanical Heat Battery

[thedanimal]

I'd like to make a coffee cup that has a high heat inertia. So you'd warm it up for a while on the stove top and then itll be giving back slowly into your coffee for the next 30 minutes or so.

Any ideas on materials that are easily attainable?

Need to be non toxic.

Edited October 6, 2013 by thedanimal

[Enthalpy]

Hi thedanimal, welcome here!

 

The least bad I see is a paraffin chosen for its melting point, something like 40°C depending on consumers' preference. While freezing, paraffin releases heat - a good amount compared with its mass. Not toxic, but enclose it to avoid the contact with coffee.

 

Wouldn't you prefer a well insulated cup that keeps the coffee hot?

 

Or a plunger that stores heat. It doesn't need to be the cup itself.

[swansont]

People already have commercialized the idea http://blogs.scienceforums.net/swansont/archives/8567

[thedanimal]

Thanks for the link Swansont, I've seen the beans but never a sciency article on them. Neat.

Thanks Enthalpy, for the Paraffin wax idea. Do you think it would work well with a double walled mug of stainless or something like that? Or maybe an inner wall of stainless and an outer wall of some insulated material that has a pleasant texture. Ideas?

What do you think of pouring concrete to make a super thick cup that way? The plunger is a good idea, but i'd love for the solution to be self contained. It is for sure worth asking if a well-insulated cup would keep the coffee hot longer than some kind of material that gives off stored heat. But my first inclination was thinking that insulated cups always require lids, which I'm hoping to avoid. Likewise hoping to avoid plastics and foams.

The little coffee Julies are neat but it'll drive me nuts having them rattling around in my cup.

 

I am an aspiring product designer and the entire coffee drinking experience is paramount to me. Warming something like a small stone mug on a woodstove before pouring my coffee in has a greater appeal to me.

So I was hoping to get advice about a material that had the highest capacity to hold heat and the slowest ability to transfer that heat.

 

I'd love to see a comparison between cement, certain stones, certain clays, or other materials you think would be possible to form mugs out of.

Thanks for the responses! And the welcome note!

daniel

[Enthalpy]

"Paraffin" includes diverse products, for which you can choose the melting point according to your needs.

I find beewax (nearly a paraffin) appealing (if the melting temperature fits) for being natural, nontoxic, and welcome by consumers.

 

I expect little thermal difference between concrete, clay... Just take the material that is easy to proceed, something like porcelain.

 

If the cup must be heated on an oven through its bottom, you can't expect the bottom to insulate - unless you find some trick. That's one reason speaking for a heat storing cup being heatedby the contained coffee rather than on an oven.