Refrigerator

By jstbosshard
  • 1000 BCE

    Chinese would cut and store ice.

    I found no more of an explanation of this online, but it is fairly self explanatory.
  • 500 BCE

    Egyptians made ice.

    The Egyptians would leave water outside in pottery over cold nights in order to get ice for cooling & refrigeration.

  • Ice Houses in England.

    Servants collected ice in the winter and put it into ice houses for use in the summer. The ice was sometimes sprinkled with salt and wrapped in flannel before being put into storage.

  • Micheal Faraday liquefied ammonia to cause cooling.

    In Faradays' research he found that when compressed, liquefied ammonia is able to evaporate it causes air cooling.

  • James Harrison developed the compressed ether machine.

    James Harrison was commissioned by a brewery to create a device that could cool beer. He used ether, a pleasant-smelling, colorless, volatile liquid that is highly flammable. It is used as an anesthetic and as a solvent or intermediate in industrial processes. In Harrisons' device ether was evaporated at a low temperature to cause cooling.

  • The First Absorption Refrigerator

    Edmond Carre developed the first absorption refrigerator, using water and sulfuric acid. This type of fridge relies on three processes; evaporation, absorption, regeneration.

  • Ferdinand Carre developed the first ammonia/water fridge.

    Ferdinand continued his brother Edmond Carres' work on the absorption process and in 1858 developed a machine that used water and ammonia for cooling.

  • Carl von Linde made a portable compressor fridge.

    After publishing a document on improved refrigeration techniques Linde created the first practical and portable refrigeration unit.

  • Henry Trost invented the ice box.

    With domestic household use in mind Trost created the ice box. This invention consisted of cold ice filled compartments surrounding a box where food was stored. Ice had to be replaced every so often because it would melt and drain out of its compartments.

  • Baltzar von Platen & Carl Munters developed an absorption process refrigerator.

    The design was based on the cooling principles discovered by French scientist, Edmond Carre, just changed to have a 3-fluid set up. Their absorption refrigerator required no moving parts and only a heat source to operate. The design was eventually picked up by AB Arctic and put into mass-production in 1923.

  • Crosley Radio Corporation developed the Shelvador refrigerator.

    The Shelvador was an innovation during it's time. This refrigerator presented shelves just inside the door for the first time in history, giving the Shelvador function and appeal.

  • Albert Henne creates the refrigerant R-134a.

    R-123a is the refrigerant used in many cooling appliances today. It is a potent greenhouse gas, also known as tetrafluoroethane.

  • Fridge with one part for freezing and one part for cooling is introduced.

    Dual compartment refrigerators were another huge innovation after the Shelvador.

  • Fridges are developed to have two separate doors for cooling and freezing.

    The dual compartment refrigerator was designed to have two separate opening doors rather than a singular one.

  • A Domestic Refrigerator can be found in 99.5% of American Households.