1 Flameless Ration Heater
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A flameless ration heater (FRH), colloquially an MRE heater, is a form of self-heating meals packaging included in U.S. The heater is a plastic bag crammed with magnesium and iron powders and desk salt. When a meal pouch is placed within the bag and water is added, an exothermic reaction occurs which rapidly boils the water to heat the food. Before the development of the FRH, service members heated their meals by boiling the meals pouches in a canteen cup heated over a lit Sterno gel or compact room heater portable stove. 5 This was slow, particularly in chilly weather, and was made tougher in windy or wet conditions. It additionally produced a visible flame that was undesirable at night. 2 Sometimes they heated the pouches by putting them on a hot automobile’s engine block or exhaust manifold. Because of those problems, service members continuously ate their meals chilly both on account of a lack of a heating source, a lack of time, or both.


The analysis and growth right into a flameless ration alpha heater portable 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 extra price efficient, so the University of Cincinnati was contracted to develop it into a prototype MRE alpha heater discount, which was referred to as the Dismounted Ration Heating Device (DRHD). The inventors later included below the name Zesto-Therm Inc. and patented the meal heating product (now known as the ZT Energy Pad), and started promoting it for civilian use. In 1986 the U.S. Army evaluated the ZT Energy Pad and located that it didn’t all the time heat the food adequately and compact room heater left a messy residue on the skin of the meals pouches. A focus group of 26 troopers was surveyed to check heating an MRE with a Zesto-Therm pad in comparison with the canteen cup technique heated with a trioxane gasoline bar.


100% most well-liked the flameless ration heater: it was compact room heater, disposable, and didn’t require equipment to hold and clean. 4 However, it was about twice as costly as a trioxane gas bar. Although, it was found that in cold climates, two or even three trioxane bars could be wanted to adequately heat the meal, compact room heater making the FRH cheaper general. Other prototypes had been developed, such because the Mounted Ration Heating Device (MRHD), an electrical gadget that could possibly be powered from a car’s energy provide and used to heat as much as 4 rations at once. The MRHD was generally most popular over the Zesto-Therm pads, however not all autos had the proper connections to power the gadget, and having a single system meant service members needed to take turns utilizing it. A package needed to be developed to safely cook the meals in whereas the chemical response was activated. Zesto-Therm already had a line of insulated cooking pouches on the market, however they were found to be too expensive and impractical to be issued with every MRE.


A high-density polyethylene bag was developed that was food protected, compact room heater would protect the chemical from unintended activation when stored, might withstand the temperatures required throughout cooking, and was transparent so the service member might 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 quickly completed. In May 1990, the FRH was accepted for bulk difficulty. 34 A process that normally takes 4 to six years to award contracts was as a substitute completed in one year so the FRH may very well be utilized in Operation Desert Storm. 38 51 million FRHs have been purchased for $25 million, and compact room heater approximately 4.5 million FRHs have been shipped to Southwest Asia for the Gulf War. 35 Beginning in 1993, one FRH was packaged with every MRE. The flameless ration heater is issued in a plastic bag with instructions printed on it. Contained in 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, using the line printed on the bag as a marker. The chemical response begins immediately, and takes about 12 to quarter-hour to heat a meals pouch to about 60 °C (140 °F). It is recommended to position the bag throughout the cardboard carton the MRE is issued with to forestall damage, 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 known as an oxidation-reduction reaction. This reaction is analogous to iron being rusted by oxygen, and proceeds at about the same gradual rate, which is simply too sluggish to generate usable heat. To accelerate the response, metallic iron particles and table salt (NaCl) are blended with the magnesium particles. Iron and magnesium metals, when suspended in an electrolyte, type a galvanic cell that may generate electricity.