Coffeemaker Research Paper

Sipping a cup of freshly brewed coffee in the morning has generally become a part of one’s daily routine. The huge demand for this particular beverage from all over the world and the study of energy conversion have therefore led to the invention of coffeemakers (Bunn Coffee Makers, 2011). Although these coffee-brewing machines may be simple to use and require minimal parts to function, the physical processes are still quite a mystery to most. This essay will thus briefly clarify how a non-electric coffeemaker works, and explain the engineering behind a more modern coffeemaker, how it operates, the impact of coffeemakers on society, as well as the potential innovations.

A coffeemaker is designed as a form of convenience for people to make coffee,

Electricity, in particular, is globally used in the modern world to power coffeemakers and allow for the automation of coffee-making. Such development has made it possible for the creation of an assortment of modern coffee machines today, including the automatic drip coffeemaker. The key to engineering this device is to consider the principles of momentum, the materials and their balances, heat and mass transfer, thermodynamics (“engineering science” and equilibrium), process instrumentation, fluid flow, electronics, manufacturing, and controls. The coffee machine, shown in Figure 1, illustrates several engineering principles from various disciplines, including chemical and mechanical engineers. Both engineering disciplines are used to design heat transfers, condensers, and the systems of multiphase transport of fluids, in addition to manufacture plastic and glass components. To further exemplify, the coffee machine in the figure above displays examples of several chemical engineering unit operations, such as the tank drainage via a one-way valve, tubular heater with upward two-phase flow in pipes, flow distribution and bypass, condenser, leaching and filtration, and particle size reduction. Another engineering discipline is the electrical engineering, which is required to design timing circuits, temperature fuses and switches, as well as the electrical resistance heating

Water is firstly poured into the reservoir, and will flow through the hole and into the orange tube. Once it reaches the orange tube, it will flow through the small one-way valve, into the aluminum tube in the electrically powered heating element, and will stream partially up through the white tube. Similar to the vacuum coffeemaker, gravity plays a huge part in this process. Once the switch is turned on, the resistive heating element will heat the aluminum tube, ultimately boiling the water in the tube as well. Bubbles, caused by the boiling water, will then rise up into the white tube. Due to the tube being smaller, it allows for a column of water to ride upwards on the bubbles. Next, the boiling water will rise up the white tube and into the drip area, where there will be water dispersion in order for the water to drip evenly on the coffee grounds. To add, the ideal water temperature during the brewing process is between 195 to 205 degrees Fahrenheit (Klosowski, 2013). Finally, the hot water will stream through the grounds while extracting their oils and essences on their way down to the coffee pot. From this, the reliability of the drip coffeemaker can be assured as there are no mechanical pumps needed and no other moving parts aside from the moving bit of the one-way valve. However, coffeemakers can still be problematic because of several issues, such as broken power cord or switch,