A flameless ration heater (FRH), colloquially an MRE heater, is a type of self-heating meals packaging included in U.S. The heater is a plastic bag filled with magnesium and iron powders and table salt. When a meal pouch is positioned in the bag and water is added, an exothermic response happens which quickly boils the water to heat the food. Before the event of the FRH, service members heated their meals by boiling the meals pouches in a canteen cup heated over a lit Sterno gel or portable stove. 5 This was sluggish, especially in chilly weather, and was made tougher in windy or wet circumstances. It also produced a visible flame that was undesirable at night time. 2 Sometimes they heated the pouches by putting them on a sizzling vehicle's engine block or Alpha Heater product page exhaust manifold. Because of these issues, service members often ate their meals chilly both attributable to a lack of a heating source, a scarcity of time, or both.

The analysis and growth into a flameless ration heater started in 1973 by the U.S. Army Natick Research, Development, and Engineering Center in Natick, Massachusetts. A patented water-activated magnesium-carbon chemical heating product was investigated. In 1980, Natick discovered that the U.S. Navy had developed a magnesium-iron alloy powder for buoyancy units and heated diving vests. This was more value efficient, so the University of Cincinnati was contracted to develop it right into a prototype MRE heater, which was referred to as the Dismounted Ration Heating Device (DRHD). The inventors later included under the title Zesto-Therm Inc. and patented the meal heating product (now known as the ZT Energy Pad), and started selling it for civilian use. In 1986 the U.S. Army evaluated the ZT Energy Pad and located that it did not all the time heat the food adequately and left a messy residue on the skin of the food pouches. A focus group of 26 soldiers was surveyed to compare heating an MRE with a Zesto-Therm pad in comparison with the canteen cup methodology heated with a trioxane gasoline bar.

100% preferred the flameless ration Alpha Heater product page: it was compact, disposable, and didn't require gear to hold and clean. 4 However, it was about twice as expensive as a trioxane gas bar. Although, it was discovered that in cold climates, two or even three trioxane bars would be wanted to adequately heat the meal, making the FRH cheaper overall. Other prototypes had been developed, such because the Mounted Ration Heating Device (MRHD), an electrical gadget that may very well be powered from a automobile's power supply and used to heat as much as 4 rations at once. The MRHD was typically most popular over the Zesto-Therm pads, but not all autos had the correct connections to power the gadget, Alpha Heater product page and having a single machine meant service members wanted to take turns utilizing it. A bundle wanted to be developed to safely cook the food in while the chemical response was activated. Zesto-Therm already had a line of insulated cooking pouches in the marketplace, however they have been discovered to be too expensive and impractical to be issued with every MRE.

A excessive-density polyethylene bag was developed that was food secure, would protect the chemical from accidental activation when saved, may withstand the temperatures required throughout cooking, and was clear so the service member may easily measure a quantity of water by filling it to a line printed on the bag. Once the design was finalized, the acquisition course of was shortly completed. In May 1990, the FRH was accredited for bulk issue. 34 A course of that usually takes 4 to six years to award contracts was as a substitute completed in one 12 months so the FRH could possibly be used in Operation Desert Storm. 38 51 million FRHs have been purchased for $25 million, alpha heater discount and roughly 4.5 million FRHs had been shipped to Southwest Asia for the Gulf War. 35 Beginning in 1993, one FRH was packaged with each MRE. The flameless ration heater is issued in a plastic bag with instructions printed on it. Inside the bag is a small amount of metallic powders, which does the precise heating.

To heat a meal, the bag is first torn open, and a sealed food pouch is positioned inside. About 1 US fluid ounce (30 mL) of water is then added to the bag, utilizing the road printed on the bag as a marker. The chemical reaction begins immediately, and takes about 12 to quarter-hour to heat a food pouch to about 60 °C (140 °F). It's endorsed to place the bag within the cardboard carton the MRE is issued with to prevent injury, and to prop it upright so the water does not leak out and prematurely cease the response. Ration heaters generate heat in an electron-transfer process referred to as an oxidation-discount reaction. This response is analogous to iron being rusted by oxygen, and proceeds at about the same sluggish fee, which is too slow to generate usable heat. To accelerate the reaction, metallic iron particles and desk salt (NaCl) are mixed with the magnesium particles. Iron and magnesium metals, when suspended in an electrolyte, kind a galvanic cell that can generate electricity.

Edit

Pub: 01 Oct 2025 04:04 UTC

Views: 13