Coffee Data Science
Heat Pipes for Coffee Cooling
A short investigation for extract cooling technology
I recently investigate a technique called extract cooling which uses cold stones or metal to cool espresso or coffee soon after being brewed. This proved to be a huge improvement in coffee experience, but the trouble is having to freeze something some time before. So my brother suggested a heat pipe. This is a short test I did on feasibility.
A heat pipe has a material inside that vaporizes at a lower temperature, and they are used to cool stuff like computer chips. As the liquid vaporizes, it goes to the cooler end of the pipe where it condenses into a liquid again. This comes back to the other side causing a cooling cycle.
I thought if you could make a cup out of heat pipes, this might make extract cooling easier to accomplish. I tested to see how a single stick would do in cooling hot coffee leftovers. I ran extra water through a spent puck to make this.
Then I measured the temperature over time.
The heat pipe did pull away some heat, but it did not increase the rate of cooling after the first few minutes.
The heat pipe concept has been explored by Coffee Joulies in some regards, but I think it could be utilized in a cup. The challenge is that the other end of the heat pipe is very hot, so the cup may look a bit weird. A different liquid inside also may work better. All of this means that the solution probably isn’t simple or obvious.
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