8.8.

5 Cooling Coffee When It Is Poured into a Cup

Pablo Nunez Hernandez, Hunter Pigg, Michael Trapani

*Ignore convection
Problem Statement
Many burn injuries due to hot beverage (such as coffee) spills occur at the drive thru windows of fast-food restaurants. Coffee is poured from a
holding container into a cup and is served to the customer. One issue in this scenario is how much the coffee is cooled during the process of
being poured from the holding container into the serving cup as the coffee and cup come to thermal equilibrium. The objective of this problem
is to calculate the amount of cooling that occurs for two different styles of cups. 
  
A typical holding temperature for coffee at a fast-food restaurant is 185°F (85°C). Coffee is poured into a cup that is initially at room
temperature, which can be assumed as 25°C. Since the coffee is hotter than the cup, some of its energy is transferred to heat up the cup,
thereby cooling the coffee. The coffee will also be cooled by convection and radiation to the environment during the pouring process, but you
can neglect these factors for the purposes of this calculation. You are to determine the cooling for a Styrofoam cup and for a ceramic cup.
The amount of liquid poured into the cup is 250 ml. The cup dimensions are 70 mm diameter and 90mm height. The wall and bottom
thickness of the Styrofoam cup is 2mm and of the ceramic cup is 7.1 mm. The thermal properties of these materials are given below. 
  
How much will the temperature of the coffee be reduced in coming to thermal equilibrium with the cup? For this calculation, you can assume
the final temperature distribution in the material of the cup is the same for both the wall and the bottom and that the outer and inner surface
temperatures are identical to the surrounding fluids (air on the outside and coffee on the inside). What is the ratio of the change in coffee
temperature when poured into Styrofoam and ceramic cups? 

MENG 6410 Bioheat and Mass Transfer 2

Given and Find
Given:

Find:
• How much will the temperature of the coffee be reduced in coming to thermal equilibrium with the cups?
• What is the ratio of the change in coffee temperature when poured into Styrofoam and ceramic cups?

MENG 6410 Bioheat and Mass Transfer 3

FBD Ambient Air Temp 25° C

Height for both =  90mm

Diameter =  70mm Diameter =  70mm

Ceramic Wall
Styrofoam Wall
thickness 7.1 mm
thickness 2.0 mm
Kc = 1.3 W/m•K
Ks = 0.026 W/m•K
ρc = 2083 kg/m3
Coffee Temp 85° C Coffee Temp 85° C ρs = 70 kg/m3
Cpc = 835 J/kg•K
V = 250ml V = 250ml Cps = 1045 J/kg•K

MENG 6410 Bioheat and Mass Transfer 4

Mass of Cups and Coffee
Coffee:

𝑚
ρ=
𝑣
https://www.turito.com/learn/math/volume-of-cylinder

ρ= Density (kg/m3)
m = mass (kg) Styrofoam:
v = volume (m3)

Ceramic:

MENG 6410 Bioheat and Mass Transfer 5

The Q’s
Styrofoam cup: Ceramic cup:

MENG 6410 Bioheat and Mass Transfer 6

Discussion
• Conductivity was not a necessary parameter to solve this problem
• Given as a distraction
• Due to Styrofoam’s high specific heat and low density, the temperature
of the coffee in the Styrofoam cup hardly decreased
• The ceramic cup was more capable of absorbing the heat of the coffee
compared to the Styrofoam
• If you want your coffee to stay piping hot, use a Styrofoam cup!

MENG 6410 Bioheat and Mass Transfer 7