Cambridge start-up Triple Line Expertise has created what’s seemingly the world’s first eco-friendly compressed fuel siphon for duties resembling whipping cream and foaming milk.
In contrast to the nitrous oxide (N2O) historically used as a propellant and foaming agent in foods and drinks single-use aerosol cans and refillable siphons, Triple Line Expertise’s patented TLT-Foamer know-how creates zero greenhouse fuel emissions throughout use, because it replaces N20 with sustainable compressed air or nitrogen, explains the agency.
N20 is a potent greenhouse fuel, with a world warming potential almost 300 occasions that of carbon dioxide (CO2) – and it sometimes stays within the ambiance for greater than 100 years earlier than disintegrating. The fuel in every 8g can or canister of N2O has a carbon footprint equal to 2.4kg of CO2 – roughly the identical because the emissions from driving an SUV for 10 miles. N2O can also be supplies and vitality intensive to fabricate.
“Elimination of the N2O propellant can be massively helpful to reaching net-zero targets,” stated Mark Nicmanis, co-founder of Triple Line Expertise. “Nevertheless, merely swapping N2O for one more propellant fuel for foods and drinks merchandise just isn’t that straightforward. Toxicity, flammability, value and poor product outcomes restrict or prohibit using many propellant gases broadly utilized in non-food aerosol functions.
“That’s why we’ve got developed our proprietary compressed fuel siphon. It may be charged with compressed air or nitrogen, that are each meals secure, not greenhouse gases – and don’t contribute to different environmental or well being points, resembling poor air high quality. Air and nitrogen are usually not manufactured gases or based mostly on petrochemical feedstocks. They’re round in use – taken from and returned to the ambiance.”
The modern method of the TLT-Foamer know-how entails exploiting a novel bubble break-up mechanism by passing a combination of compressed air (or nitrogen) and a foamable liquid (e.g. cream or milk) by way of a collection of alternating shear fields. It generates microfoams with tiny bubbles lower than 100 microns in diameter – significantly appropriate for the whipped cream and foamed milk utilized in many espresso drinks.
The contribution of N2O propellant to meals trade greenhouse fuel emissions was highlighted by Starbucks in its 2018 Baseline Environmental Report. The espresso big stated the N2O utilized in its whipped cream accounted for half its international scope 1 emissions that 12 months. The report declared an N2O emissions worth for the corporate equal to just about 160 million kilotons of CO2 – representing using 67 million metal N2O charger bulbs in a 12 months.
The TLT compressed fuel siphon will be charged utilizing small charger bulbs containing compressed air or nitrogen. However there are additional value financial savings and environmental advantages from charging through a compressor or compressor base unit, a fuel cylinder or a nitrogen generator – which does away with the necessity to manufacture, fill, ship and get rid of the charger bulbs.
Though the TLT-Foamer know-how has been developed to fulfill the wants of the foods and drinks trade, it might additionally supply an alternative choice to single-use foam aerosols in different retail and industrial sectors, resembling hair and wonder functions or cleansing merchandise – serving to to interchange propellants based mostly on unstable natural compounds (VOCs), in addition to N20, with sustainable compressed gases.
