Beverage Cooling Contraption Contest at DC16

[Deviant Ollam]

So it's about that time... I ought to let people know that I will indeed be running the Beverage Cooling Contraption Contest again at DC16. We've had a great time with it in the past and this year should be no exception!

Changes from previous years...

There are two significant ways in which the contest has evolved for the new year. One will pertain to power use. The other concerns fluid flow.

Power Use

Electrical devices are now totally allowed and can run on AC power if necessary. (I still haven't cleared that with anyone, but there were loads of power cords outside last time and i think we should be able to tap into that for a couple of simple little devices, right? I mean, come on... you're not breaking out huge meat lockers. We're talking about devices that would in theory be able to run on a car battery with an inverter attached.

In fact, that's a good guideline... electrical contraptions should be able to run on 12volt DC power from an automobile or marine source, if necessary. So, you'll have AC power (hopefully) but we may see how things perform with an inverted DC source (or maybe you just make your devices DC-powered in the first place)

Fluid Flow

A while back we eliminated the "cooling in can" aspect of the competition and kept just the "cool by pouring from an open can" system. Now that will be modified further. Contestants will be given a supply of open beverage cans and will pour them (at whatever pace they choose) directly through their contraptions. Instead of incorporating cooling "reservoirs" where the beverage will remain stationary as its temperature drops, fluid should flow freely through.

Ideally, a contraption should be able to handle a sustained, continual supply of beverage and produce consistently cooled results. Beverages shouldn't take more than a minute to pass from the input to the output spout.

So who's up for the cooling this year? :biggrin:

[hackajar]

Instead of just being a supplier of Dry Ice, Vegas 2.0 will be an active team this year! Especially with the two above mentioned changes!

[spam]

Team HeBrew will be back.

[Deviant Ollam]

Right on, i'm so pleased that people are returning again to compete. this event is really coming along well and becoming popular with observers. I really think that if people who participate this year really bring their A game and everything works well that perhaps this has the potential to become an official event one day soon. Just me guessing there, however.

[DJ Jackalope]

Do you have any sort of "who won what with what" list going somewhere that is public so we can check out the tried and true (and failed) methods of refreshment cooling?

[Deviant Ollam]

Do you have any sort of "who won what with what" list going somewhere that is public so we can check out the tried and true (and failed) methods of refreshment cooling?i tend to keep a bare-bones sort of summary of previous years' submissions and how they did on the contest results page (http://deviating.net/bccc/results).

also the photos there are fucking priceless and should be viewed by all who want some fond memories of cons past. anything featuring noid and lil freak is photographic gold, particularly when science is afoot. :biggrin:

http://imgs.xkcd.com/store/imgs/stand_back_square_0.png

[DJ Jackalope]

Honorable Mention of the week...
since the local tornado snapped all the power poles near where I live, we found out that 10#s of dry ice in the fridge keeps the fridge colder than it usually is and successfully freezes all the eggs solid.

[DCFluX]

Where will the event be held this year and on what day?

[Deviant Ollam]

Where will the event be held this year and on what day?as one can see from the Where & When section (http://deviating.net/bccc/#logistics) of the contest web site (http://www.deviating.net/bccc), this will take place at Noon on Friday.

[Rhenium]

So what are the winning conditions? Time, volume, consistency, temperature drop?

[Deviant Ollam]

So what are the winning conditions? Time, volume, consistency, temperature drop?the winning conditions (as in, to even be counted as successful) are to get a beer from ~90° F down to below 40° F without going below freezing (sometimes we've allowed beers to reach 31° but never below 30°) in as fast a time as possible.

In the past, teams would have beers contained within their contraption for extended periods of time. Now, the requirement is that beer flow freely and directly through your contraption. It can pass through a series of tubes on its way to the output spout, but at no time should the overall journey take longer than one minute.

Most of this is covered in greater detail here (http://www.deviating.net/bccc/#rules).

You thinking of participating? :biggrin:

[Rhenium]

Thanks, I just wanted to confirm that it is similar to last year.

As for participating I have a few ideas, and I will have to convince my friend to help me source a few parts, but sure, why the hell not.


the winning conditions (as in, to even be counted as successful) are to get a beer from ~90° F down to below 40° F without going below freezing (sometimes we've allowed beers to reach 31° but never below 30°) in as fast a time as possible.

In the past, teams would have beers contained within their contraption for extended periods of time. Now, the requirement is that beer flow freely and directly through your contraption. It can pass through a series of tubes on its way to the output spout, but at no time should the overall journey take longer than one minute.

Most of this is covered in greater detail here (http://www.deviating.net/bccc/#rules).

You thinking of participating? :biggrin: