CONSISTENTLY COOL BEERGROUP 1ME 553

Group MembersMatt Anderson, Jacky Henderson

Gerald Lo, Kenya Maddox

PROBLEM STATEMENT Problem:

Beer, left in the line between the tap and keg, is discarded due to elevated product temperature and lack of taste.

Solution: Design attachment to keg and tap to eliminate wasted warm beer

TARGET MARKET Launch markets:

Homebrewers/Avid beer drinkers Microbreweries

Home brewers around North America will spend over $85 million on supplies and equipment in 2010. (http://www.byo.com/advertising)

Product Reviews reveal customer dissatisfaction with current products on market “Kegerator does not provide cold enough beer”

(http://reviews.bestbuy.com/3545/8193527/reviews.htm) “Beer comes out of tap foamy because it is too warm” “Entire length of beer line is not kept cold”

(http://www.kegerator.com/Buyers+Guide:+Kegerator+Troubleshooting/BUYERS_GUIDE_KEG_TROUBLESHOOTING,default,pg.html)

CUSTOMER NEEDS

•The design functions were mapped to the product benefits.•The map revealed that product functions had multiple benefits

LEAN QFD

•A first level lean QFD was completed in order prioritize product requirements.•Functions that emerged with the highest priority were the desire for few components, a design that consistently cools beer and the use of non-toxic medium for cooling.

VALUE CURVE

•Current cooling systems were discussed and rated on key design elements.•Ratings of key elements of the Team 1 design were graphed against those of currently available systems.•Team 1 conceptual design elements consistently rated high in many of the categories.

DECISION PROCESS

•A function/sub-function map was used to determine design concepts for sub-functions.•A morphology matrix was completed to flush out specific sub-function designs.•Through the process of scoring using weights and ratings sub-function designs possibilities were eliminated and final list of sub-functions were specified.

TRIZ EVALUATION

•TRIZ was used to identify contradictions and eliminate trade-offs.

•Features identified as needing improvement include the following: temperature, device complexity, reliability, versatility, and loss of energy.

CONCEPT SKETCH

Multiple concept sketches were completed, the figure (above left) represents the final concept and the figure (above ) shows the process flow of the cooling system.

FAN DESIGN

•A fan was chosen that will output 15 cfm of air

•In order to achieve the optimum temperature of 38°F the air in the kegerator will have to be cooled to 35.4°F.

MODELING

•The fan moves the chilled air into the region of the warmer air. •The beer is insulated by polyethylene tubing. •The RTD and the thermostat work in tandem to provide feedback on the air temperature.

DFA

•Assembly Index Equation: [(number of parts) X (3 seconds)]/assembly time•Ideal assembly index and part reduction score is zero.

COST

DESIGN PROS AND CONSPROS:

Completely addresses a target market (homebrewer)

Allows team to work out developmental issues prior to scaling up

the design

Easily integrated into existing beer keg cooling systems

Uses off the shelf parts to reduce cost

CONS:

Not easily scalable to microbreweries – may not be able to

circulate large quantities of air at long line lengths

However, our other concepts may be more suitable for larger

applications (i.e.. more sophisticated cooling lines)

PATH FORWARD

Optimize design through computer simulations using FEA

Design for cost Common components, reduce fasteners, simplify geometry

Address design for easy adaptability for current keg cooling system owners

Build working prototype and test

Adapt design for medium sized applications (i.e.. microbreweries)