In order for CO2 to come out of solution, it needs a nucleation site. The nucleation sites are usually gas pockets that form on microscopic scratches on the wall of the can or bottle.

When a beverage is shaken, the main air pocket is broken up into millions of small bubbles dispersed throughout the beverage. When the container is opened, the solution has nucleation sites everywhere and the CO2 comes out of solution so quickly that the bubbles throw the liquid out of the top of the can, spraying fizz everywhere.

When a beverage is smoothly rotated by a SpinChill, all the small bubbles combine to form one large air pocket. There are less nucleation sites for bubbles to form so the drink doesn't fizz.   All you'll hear is the satisfying pssssst! of a freshly opened cold brew (or soda).

THE SPINCHILL STORY

Ty Parker and Trevor Abbott began the SpinChill adventure during the summer of 2013 in Gainesville, FL. 

As part of the HackerHouse accelerator program, they traveled to Atlanta, GA for the AngelHack hackathon. Coming from Mechanical Engineering backgrounds, neither of them wanted to delve into computer programming so they set out for WalMart to see what physical thing they could "hack" together.

Many times during their college career they'd had warm beers and only one way to cool them down: throw them in ice water and wait. They decided to use our knowledge of heat transfer and love of cold beers to solve this problem by creating the first SpinChill prototype.

The hypothesis was that spinning the beer can in ice would add convection and increase the rate of heat transfer significantly. When they opened the first SpinChilled can in front of a live audience at AngelHack, they were sure that the beer would spray everywhere but would at least be cold. Everyone was shocked to find that of the two beers placed in the ice, the stationary beer foamed more than the beer that was spun. 

Since then, they've prototyped, developed, and refined the designs.  They've found manufacturers, both here and abroad, to produce the products.  They ran a successful Kickstarter campaign to raise the initial funds for tooling costs and to pay for a first round of production.  Once the Kickstarter campaign ended, they started selling products online and shipping them from Gainesville, FL, where they still are today!

They've enjoyed traveling around, sharing their story, and drinking cold beers with like minded people. Ty and Trevor hope you have as much fun SpinChilling as they have.

THE TEAM

Trevor Abbott was born and raised in New Port Richey, FL.  He is currently pursuing a Mechanical Engineering degree from the University of Florida.

 

Ty Parker was raised on a potato farm in Elkton, FL. Fascinated with machinery from working on the farm he decided to get a Mechanical Engineering Degree from the University of Florida.  He has worked as an engineer at a large coal fired power plant and has designed and manufactured drones in Gainesville, FL.