Found a good "Non-Electric Refrigeration" link? Let Us Know!

Okay, some of these ARE electric - but SOLAR electric.

Cooling Passive Passive cooling techniques can be applied to residences and other buildings and to storage areas for food, liquids, and other materials that may be damaged by overheating. Passive cooling obviously is of most value in hot climates, particularly where conventional active cooling equipment is unavailable or unaffordable.

Refrigeration For The Electrically Challenged (At Last, A Do-It-Yourself Absorption Refrigerator) Except now they want $15 for the plans. Ah well...maybe you can figure it out for yourself here. There's a WEALTH of links and explanatory graphics on this sub-link.

Presentation of Some Adsorption Units Developed for Solar Refrigeration Just a page of pictures with limited text, but some good links at the bottom.

Experimental Evaluation Of Barium Chloride-Ammonia In An Absorption Solar Refrigeration Prototype. [PDF] An experimental intermittent absorption refrigeration system was built at the Energy Research Centre of the National University of Mexico to probe different absorbents. The barium chloride absorbent using ammonia as refrigerant was tested. This paper describes the equipment components and the results of the experimental work.

Keeping Cool With Solar-Powered Refrigeration In the midst of developing battery-free, solar-powered refrigeration and air conditioning systems for habitats in space, David Bergeron, the team leader for NASA’s Advanced Refrigerator Technology Team at Johnson Space Center, acknowledged the need for a comparable solar refrigerator that could operate in conjunction with the simple lighting systems already in place on Earth.

Small Power Systems has developed a non-electric solar refrigerator-freezer. The refrigerator uses an aqua-ammonia absorption system similar to that used in propane refrigerators. The refrigerator consists of two separate units; the solar collector-generator and the refrigerator box.

Brazilian Journal of Chemical Engineering This work presents the principles of operation of a solar refrigerator with the following basic components: a reactor, a set of evacuated tube solar collectors, a condenser, a heat exchanger, and an evaporator. During the heating phase, solar radiation is collected and transferred to the reactor for desorption by a vapor thermal siphon loop. During the cooling phase, heat from the reactor is released to the ambient by a second water vapor loop. Ambient data collected daily during a period of 18 years were divided into hourly values and used to simulate the temperatures of the reactor, which uses salt impregnated with graphite and ammonia, during the adsorption / desorption processes. The results show that the refrigerator operates well in Fortaleza and that better results are expected for the countryside of the state of Ceara. It is concluded that only a high efficiency collector set can be used in the system.

Heat Storage - GSA Resources, Inc.  GSA zeolites are naturally occurring minerals. Their high heat of adsorption and ability to hydrate and dehydrate while maintaining structural stability have been found to be useful in various heat storage and solar refrigeration systems. This hygroscopic property coupled with rapid, intense exothermic reaction when taken from a dehydrated to a hydrated form (heat of adsorption), makes natural zeolites effective in the storage of solar and waste heat energy.

REFRIGERATION FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES [PDF] The heat source for sorption units of the kind shown in Figure 3 can be the sun. In a simple version the heating phase ends at sunset, and the refrigeration phase occurs during the night. If the sun fails to shine for a few days, the ice made on previous days acts as a store of cold, keeping the cold box at a low temperature while it gradually melts. It is expected that a unit producing 100 kg of ice per day can be produced for £4,000 (including the cost of highly efficient solar thermal panels), giving an ice cost of £0.03 per kg.

Solar Refrigeration [PDF] Discusses several techniques.

Path to Freedom Journal  We are still enjoying "fresh" tomatoes & peppers from the garden in December! In the kitchen there's an old time vegetable cooler which was a useful commodity to homes in 1917 in the pre-fridge" era. The cooler was the "cooler" of its day. It outwardly appears to be an ordinary kitchen cabinet but the shelves inside are made of wire mesh. At the bottom, there is a vent opening into the cellar and at the top, an opening to the attic. See also: nonelectric method of refrigeration

Cooling & A/C Cooling systems powered by mechanical compressors are not the most efficient way of staying cool, evaporative and absorption cooling systems make more sense, in some circumstances.

The Spring house  Spring houses were small, enclosed one room buildings used before the days of refrigeration to keep food cool. Under the best of circumstances it was built over a spring where the water was coldest as it bubbled up to the surface. Otherwise a small stream was diverted from a nearby creek which ran through the building. The cool water running though the spring house kept the interior of the enclosed building cool.

Ice Box Memories Iceboxes date back to the 1830s. Most iceboxes were insulated with mineral wool, charcoal, cork or flax straw fiber. The inside of the icebox was usually lined with galvanized metal, zinc, slate, porcelain, or wood. The outside was finished in oak, pine, ash or metal. The average home icebox would hold a 25 or 50 pound block of ice. The price of a 25-pound block of ice was about 15 cents in the early 1900s. The ice block would last from one to two days during the hot summer months. A small drain built into the icebox would direct the melted ice water into a pan underneath the icebox. The pan HAD to be emptied frequently to avoid getting water all over the kitchen floor.

Please Read The Website Disclaimer!
Copyright 1986-2012, The Survival & Self-Reliance Studies Institute (SSRsi), All Rights Reserved
Site conceptualized, designed, created & maintained by MEG Raven
Snail Mail: SSRsi, PO Box 2572 Dillon, CO. 80435-2572