Pot-in-Pot Refrigerator Changes Lives

My theme of late seems to be innovative methods of refrigeration for the developing world. Here's some more good news on that front; another simple idea that poor communities in arid areas will welcome.

According to Appfrica, the invention is an earthenware pot with another earthenware pot inside it. Doesn't sound like much to write home about, you say? Well the trick is filling the space between the two pots with wet sand and covering the top of it all with a damp cloth.

The water from the sand moves in the direction of the outer surface of the big pot, where it evaporates into the drier air outside. The laws of thermodynamics dictate that the process of evaporation causes the whole system to cool — much, I would imagine, like a sweating person gets relief — thereby refrigerating the area inside the inner pot.

The invention was cooked up by Mohammed Bah Abba, a teacher from Nigeria, under the auspices of a fellowship from the organization Ashoka, which supports the work of social entrepreneurs, and Lemelson Foundation, focused on improving lives through invention.

Photo courtesy of stock.xchng