Passive Evaporative Cooler for Malaria Testing in Developing Countries

A top-wicking cooler box was designed for this purpose and included an experimental and theoretical analysis of an evaporative cooling technique utilizing mounted water troughs and a single transfer surface. Construction and insulation material, cooling capabilities, and environmental sustainability were compared between two boxes with different dimensions. The smaller boxes were found to be more effective due to a smaller ratio of volume to surface area, which resulted in higher cooler system effectiveness than the larger boxes. Regardless of the roofing metal, it was found that the square dimensioned boxes were unsuitable to sufficiently cool numerous RDTs irrespective of their scaling. Future testing on rectangular boxes and additional evaporative cooling options warrant further investigation.