A cool cart to preserve the freshness of fruits, designed by students of The Crossword School here, has won the laurels at the Young Innovators Programme 2017, held at IIT Kharagpur on October 28 and October 29. The innovation, ‘Kool Kart’, made the students emerge as the second runners-up from among 24 entries from across the country.
The class VIII students, Vijayaditya Reddy, M. Sudhamsu G.Vishnu Teja, guided by the Principal Naga Padmaja, designed the ‘push kool kart’ as a means to preserve the fruits sold by vendors on the streets.
“The students have designed the cool cart making use of Peltier’s Thermoelectric Cooler (TEC). Peltier Plate or more popularly known TEC has two sides. It creates a temperature gradient on both sides of the plate when a potential difference is supplied to them,’’ said M. Chenna Kesava Reddy, director of the school.
The students have used a 60W solar panel powering the Peltier module. Fibre sheets have been used to cover the cart. The students have attached a heat sink and a fan to dissipate the heat and maintain a steady temperature. A 12V rechargeable battery is attached to the solar panel to allow for uninterrupted power supply.
With cold air convection, the students were able to achieve about 20-25 degrees Celsius in the controlled area, which is quite suitable for the preservation of our perishables.
