Constructing a thermal referigerator for home use.

Dear Chandu,

You need some batteries, and a Stirling engine to run from your steam (pressure cooker). Solartron, has low draw machines like refrigerators. (Iceboxes) Just an Engineer in Australia may be able to help.

The referigerator I want to make does not require electricity. It uses heat and to vaporise liquid ammonia which then brings about cooling by means of a condenser. When I was a small kid in the late 1940,s we had an elecrolux which operated on heat produced by a kersene heater at the bottom.

Can you give me more information about the Australian Engineer so that I can contact him. Thaks

Those Electrolux refrigerators worked on what is known as a absorption refregeration cycle. The principle is well known, but I don't know if you can build it yourself. Though it has the advantage of having no moving parts it is not efficient. Of course with solar energy that may not be an issue. I am very interested in what you are doing, and would like to visit you at Mysore if possible. I am at Trivandrum, Kerala.

You are most welcome. If you send me your email I can send you more information on what I am doing and why on harnessing solar energy . My email is ckusbd@gmail.com

You can experiment with the available electro lux refrigerator which works on Vapour Absorption principle by replacing electrical heater provided with either hot water or steam you can have a look at the electro lux refrigerator at most of the five star hotel rooms to keep a bottle of water and soft drinks chilled good luck

crm

Thank you for the tip and suggestion. Will follow it up.

How about some pictures of the solar cooker please?

Sure with pleasure. Let me have your email. Mine is ckusbd@gmail.com.

Please place the pictures in the blog, if you do not know how to do this then send me them via email and I will do it for you. Its very easy, you need to have the pictures in .jpg form in a folder on your PC, then you click on the camera in the tool bar above and tell it where each picture is separately.

If you are unable to do this for any reason, the just send me an email first via CR4 email service and then I will send my private email address separately to you personally, please do not publish in any way!!

Simple and it works!

I guess for longer cooking periods you turn it to face the sun from time to time too....

Thanks for the picture.

I have developed a tracker with a small car wiper motor which follows the sun with a timer in the circuit. This overcomes constant manual ajustments which in the tropics is quite a sweaty job.

Pretty good. You may have something you can in India there....I am sure many people would like to not have to buy bottled gas all the time....or search for something to burn....

Hi,

There are many refrigerators that operate on heat energy, do not build by yourself.

Most have a household gas-bottle and a burner as heat generator and this you can replace by some solar concentrator - should be only a small problem for you.

And: as A.G. asked for: please fotos and drawing of your cooke!

RHABE

Sure. Please send me your email id. Mine is ckusbd@gmail.com

Most RVs and Motor homes have a refrig that works off the propane tank. You could start there and replace the flame with your solar cooker.

India does not manufacture frig working on gas and the imported ones are very expensive. Here it is more economical to fabricate one.

Sree Krishnamurthi, you have got me thinking about this problem for some time now. Why not have a go at developing a solar refrigerator for India? The DST might be persuaded to fund the project. I would love to try.

I am with you. How about a plan? Any ideas and suggestion?

Dear crm. Looking forward to your information. Thank you. My email id: ckusbd@gmail.com

Dear crm

my e.mail : lebanonmushroom@hotmail.com

H. KASHANI

The adsorption refrigerator mentioned above works on a precise mixture of water, ammonia and hydrogen. They have no moving parts and last a long time. They consist of a generator (where the heat is applied), a condenser (where the energy is rejected), a evaporator (where energy from the product is picked up), and an absorber where the mixture comes back together. As long as you can boil water this system will work for you. The technology for this is fairly old and there should be more information out there somewhere. A redesign will probably be required as the generators used in the small refrigerator's require an intense heat source; such as a gas flame or electric element. There are thousands of this applications world wide. Where I am at the University of Toronto (Mississauga Campus), we are using waste heat from four gas turbine generators to operate a 250 Ton adsorption chiller for air Conditioning.

Good luck on your thinking outside of the box.

I think the word "250 Ton adsorption chiller " is an error and should be "250 Ton vapour absorption chiller ".

- S. Saran

Dear ICARUS

MY QUESTIONIS : CAN WE USE HEAT OR HOT WATER OR STEAM TO COOL WATER DOWN TO 5 DEGREE CETIGRADE ? for industrial purpose only .

HASAN KASHANI

E.MAIL : lebanonmushroom@hotmail.com

Yes we can easily do so.

Dear CHABDU

I AM STILL LOOKING FOR SUCH SYSTEM AND MACHINERIES RQUIRED , I THINK THE BEST PLACE TO FIND SUCH SYSTEM IS iNDIA , I WILL SEE IF I ACN GET ANY SUPPLIER OF THE SYSTEM ALL .

H. kashani

in India M/s Thermex india is the manufacturer based in Pune Maharashtra near Mumbi.and Brod chillers USA is another manafacturer i know and has used the machine.How ever if you have lot of waste heat its worth going for these chillers even though these chillers doesn't use electrical power you need to provide some amount of electrical energy to operate auxiliary equipment and needs lot of maintenance as the metallurgy used is cheaper and corrosion of internal parts is expensive in terms of downtime.Only trane USA manufactures the entire machine with Titanium and cost of chiller makes it unusable you need to be careful while choosing the VAM chillers.

crm

Dear crm

we dont have waste heat , but we have dry straw , and some used oils , so these can be used as fuel to produce hot water and or steam , and electricity cost in here is very high , particulary when the consumption is for industrial plant , so i believe it worth it provided that the cost of the system producing cold water " chiller " and electric power, as whole is reasonable .

please advice

for further details please contact .

One of the earliest refrigerators to be manufactured was the famous "Electrolux" refrigerator , also nicknamed as the ' flame which freezes". Our family had one imported from U.K. in the 1950s. It had a kerosene tank with a wick which burnt continuously creating cold. Its principle of operation was based on the partial vapour pressure of H2 and NH3.In my college days (1964) I was knowing the theory thoroughly.But now, I am not able to explain it in detail.However, this is well described in the book on Heat Engines , then published by the ELBS(english language book society).

Another type of refrigerators which are now widely used in industry is the vapour absorption chillers , which use thermal heat (waste heat)to produce cold. Hitachi chillers in industry are very common.

I hope, from these leads, you may be able to make a working prototype refrigerator utilising the solar energy as the source of heat energy input to create cold.

- S. Saran

industry work on this principle , and use wast heat effectively for refrigeration.

Thank you for the inputs and information. Will act and follow up on your suggestion of vapour absorption chillers.

Dear Mr SARAN 369

I WOULD LIKE TO HAVE YOUR ADVICE IF POSSIBLE REGARDING CREATING COOLING FROM HEAT . WHAT I NEED ACTUALY IS TO COOL DOWN WATER ( 8 CUBIC METER ISOLATED TANK ) TO 4 - 6 DEGREE CENTIGRADE all aroud the year , FOR INDUSTRIAL PURPOSE . PLEASE ADVICE .

M. R. I. / LEBANON

Hasan kashani

e.mail : lebanonmushroom@hotmail.com

Technically it is quite easy and simple to do so for your requirement.

Dear chandu

but practically can we get supplier for such machines ? so at moment looking for suppliers in particular in india .

H. kashani

There are a number of manufacturers for industrial requirements in India.Once your requirements both technically and financially are worked out the appropriate manufacturer can be selected to fit your needs. If you need further assistance or information please contact me on this email id: ckusbd@gmail.com

There are a number of manufacturers in India who can supply the equipment for your need.But more information is required from your side to short list the manufacturers who will be suitable for you. Is it required for an industry or an individual ?. What will be the source of heat to be generated to use for cooling process like oil, electricity, solar etc. What is to be cooled and the quantity? Storage facilities of the cooled material? Appropriate Investment budget to be taken into consideration. Against these information a suitable supplier can be short listed for negotiation and finalisation. Let me know if you need more information or suggestion to help you in taking a decision for Indian equipment of high quality standards. Please contact me on this email id: ckusbd@gmail.com

Dear Mr Hasan Kashani,

The refrigeration system has to be designed taking into account the kind , quantity and source of heat. Please contact any supplier of vapour absorption chillers in your country or HITACHI, Japan.

Please let me know after you have successfully installed one!

- S. Saran

Dear saran 369

in reply to your question

the quantity and kind of heat . : the heat is heat , we can produce hot water , steam of any pressure , so we cool water and run the turbine . it is not for home cooling or home refregeration , it is for industrial purpose

Hasan kashani

If indeed Heat could be used to cool the home, could not the same idea apply to moving vehicles - Cars, et.al.? Could Water as coolant for Internal Combustion Engines likewise be used to cool the inside of Cars, et.al?

Answer is NO VAM chillers cant be used for mobile application considering the size and weight of VAM chillers.

crm

Dear James.

Got the link. Both the ice maker and my parabola can easily be coupled. This is a very useful information.Thank you.

Chandu

Thank you for the interesting and informative information . Could you let me know the title,author and publisher of the book on sterling engine as I would like to have a copy of it. I am also working on sterling engines for some application for rural Indian requirements for storing vaccines. Krishnamurthi

"How I Built a 5 Hp Stirling Engine" by L. Merrick Lockwood

Published by American Stirling in their Engines and Energy Series, copyright 2007

ISBN:0-97139181-1-5

And can be purchased direct online at:
http://www.stirlingengine.com/ecommerce/product.tcl?usca_p=t&product_id=84
US$39.95 retail. Phone:(USA)760-742-2727 Fax:(USA)858-777-3459
email: brent@stirlingengine.com for additional information.

This is where I purchased mine recently. Paperback. I could not find it on Amazon.com

No affiliation other than happy customer. -- This book is a 'technical story' of the design, problems and development of this engine. The drawings in the book are NOT the last ones done, but apparently the last ones available to the author. The 'story' is the first 2/3 of the book, and the last third are drawings of parts and the assembled mechanism. Do not expect the drawings to be enough to 'just build it', but with some work and understanding it is quite doable.

The engine suggested is a gamma type (displacer and power piston in the same piston sleeve. The initial design was not a Rhombic drive, but the author suggests this as a 'good thing', where the simplification of some things overcomes the additonal mechanical complexity.

Please let us know if you construct one! (or more!)

This engine (or a similar 'cousin') was marketed as the ST-5 in the USA with some minor success, but is no longer available.

IMHO, the market several years ago may not have supported this product, but the market today might. Especially if it could be built from more off the shelf components and reduced/minimal custom component construction.