Yes! Try an aerogel. According to NASA
(http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/tech/aerogel.html), an aerogel will give
you 39 times better insulation than an equivalent amount of
fiberglass, and it has a very low density, making it ideal for
shipping since weight is the most significant determinant of cost.
And aerogels are not just for gazillion dollar space research any
more! Oh, no, a company called Aspen Aerogels
(http://www.aerogel.com/products.htm)is manufacturing and selling
these in quantity for commercial use.
The only problem you might face is that aerogels are very soft, and
when they are compressed, they don't insulate as well. Fortunately
Aspen also makes custom solutions, so you can have them make a
state-of-the-art aerogel-insulated ice cream shipping container with a
hard shell.
If you find that Aspen's aerogels are still a little too costly for
your application, perhaps you could make the containers reusable, with
a deposit or something. I am assuming that you are serving the high
end of the ice cream mail-order market, so that should not be much of
a problem.
Alan Kali |
