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Ammonia cycle refrigerators like the classic Frigidaire of the 1930s operated on a small flame from natural gas, propane, or kerosene. See http://en.wikipedia.
by drallison 15y ago
Ammonia cycle refrigerators like the classic Frigidaire of the 1930s operated on a small flame from natural gas, propane, or kerosene. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammonia_Refrigeration http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammonia_Refrigeration for an overview of this and other similar processes. Ammonia is toxic at the levels used for refrigerators and was phased out in home refrigeration units for safety reasons.
- kragen 15y agoYou can still buy ammonia-absorption refrigerators today. A quick Google search finds http://www.warehouseappliance.com/propane_gas_refrigerators.htm#danby http://www.warehouseappliance.com/propane_gas_refrigerators..... I had one in my Vanagon in 2006. It's certainly true that they're more dangerous than compressor refrigerators. Presumably you could easily operate a refrigerator like this with a solar concentrator instead of a flame providing the heat. A thermoacoustic cooler like the one in the SCORE project http://www.score.uk.com/research/default.aspx http://www.score.uk.com/research/default.aspx could also refrigerate using only a heat source, without a source of electricity. (The SCORE stove also produces electricity.) I don't know what the state of the art in this technology is right now.