Einstein Refrigerator

[chrisser]

If interested in more detail (there isn't much out there), check wikipedia.

Summary: Einstein and a graduate student were so moved by the death of a family in Berlin from a malfunctioning seal on an early refrigerator that they spent 7 years or so researching alternative refrigeration technology.

The "Einstein refigerator" uses a combination of ammonia, water, and butane, and works similarly to the ammonia/hydrogen systems used in RVs and other small refrigerators.

Has no moving parts, is completely sealed, and runs silently. Essentially, you heat one end, and get cold on the other. I don't believe it is quite as efficient as the RV-type, but no one ever spent much time perfecting them either. About the time Einstein and his partner finished up, Freon was invented.

I've been wondering if this couldn't be scaled up as a heat-powered home air conditioner?

[johnjmw]

I've been looking at a fer different systems like that thinking the same thing. Use a solar hot air system during the summer to heat the solution (out side the house) then run the insulated line inside and coil it in front of a fan. You could use it to dehumidify and cool a home if sized right. How big would it have to be? Would it also work for a small walk in freezer/fridge?
There were designs online at Home Power for a system. It used the solar trough to heat the solution I thought it was Ammonia and Sodium chloride or something simple and none toxic like that.
Anyone try this type of cooling system even for a refrigerator?
John

[chrisser]

Anyone try this type of cooling system even for a refrigerator?


John,

Far as I could find on the web, only one guy actually built this specific type as a masters/doctorate project. He said it made ice as soon as he put the chemicals in, but after tweaking, he had it running at normal fridge temps.

The ammonia/hydrogen absorbtion fridge design is used in small RV refrigerators though, and I don't think its conceptually all that different, and that is pretty proven.

I hadn't thought of a walk-in refrigerator, but boy would that be great. I'm not sure what the ramifications of sizing something up would be. It would be amazing to use one of these cycles for air conditioning in conjunction with earth tubes. Something attractive about harnessing the heat that would otherwise make the house unbearable into making it comfortable.

[edward_4576]

here's a link to a PDF file of the actual patent, it also has a diagram...

http://www.pat2pdf.org/patents/pat1781541.pdf

[Drawbar]

No hockey fans on here huh?

The first ice skating rinks were first chilled using ammonia derived coolers. You could easily scale it up. Its been done for 100 years and on a massive scale. I don't know much about them though, just that ammonia was used until the modern refrigerants were found.

Try searching early ice arenas and you may find what you are looking for.

[DavidOH]

I've been looking for a similar device.
A Solar powered refrigerator.
It's over a hundred years old and had a reflector to put sunshine on the Hot end.

This is the closest device I could ever find:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icy_Ball

[tomato204]

The Crosley Icy Ball (above) uses only water and ammonia, so it's even simpler.

[johnjmw]

Excellent links! the one I found on Home Power was a batch type also which would freeze a block of ice, sorry I cannot remember the volume at all. Used a solar parabolic trough to heat the fluid during the day and then froze the water over night. Mmm I'll try to look to see if I still have the print out of it and give you guys the details. They had designed it for use in a third world country to keep medical supplies cold.

John

[crafty2002]

You have really got me to wondering here.
I know a guy I can buy 4' x 8' sheets of 4" thick rigid foam insulation with 3/4" OSB board glued to it from, for 10 bucks a sheet. I used it to roof an office for the man about 10 years ago and they shipped about 75 sheets more than was ordered and we ordered about 25 sheets to many because he was going to do another job we never got to. So he has about 100 sheets still stacked up where I left them in a warehouse. He ended up keeping the extra that was shipped for free.
I had thought about trying to build a windmill to power a walk in freezer and a few other things and use several chest freezer compressors to cool it.
But this seems like a much better idea.
I believe WTSHTF it is going to be a lot worse than 99.9% *of the people thinks it will be.
Freezing meat and even vegies are going to be hard to do unless someone learns how to do it off grid.
This seems like a great idea in look into.
A huge walk in freezer like this would make a great barter tool if electricity as we know it today comes to a halt, and I truely look for that to happen in the next few years. I pray I am wrong, but I don't think so. I think the writeing is already on the wall.
Our on government is killing people every day and getting away with it.
9/11 came from them and if you care to watch the 9/11 coincedences thread in the conspearicy threads here, you can get the facts there.
It's coming down. Just a matter of time.
But to get back to the main thing here, a walk-in freezer powered by the sun would make a lot of friends. People that would stand gaurd on their shifts, to protect the meat or vegies they have in the walk-in.
Even a dug out cooler with this set up would be great.
If anyone knows of any books or sites that has more info on this, Please post it.
* *

[johnjmw]

Ok, I emailed Home Power to locate the article and found out it was issue 53. The liquid is Ammonia. The PDF is "icemaker53-20.pdf" I checked it out and it is the same article. The pressure of the ammonia get to over 200psi according to the article. the article also stated that as of the writing in 1996 it was only a test model.

Mmm is this the same type system the Kerosene refrigerators use also? The Propane or Kerosene is burned to keep the the cycle going. Why could not the system be modified to use solar for batch system?
A solar "hot box" (read solar oven) with a coil inside feeding a system for a daily freeze in a super insulated box?

Sustainable and no moving parts?? Ohh yea.
File this one and play with the idea when I have more time and a place to work safely with this.
John

[chrisser]

This site describes some plans for a simple ammonia absorbtion ice maker

http://lionheart.net/fridge/descript.htm

Similar idea to an icy ball.