Berkeley CSUA MOTD:Entry 38721
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2005/7/20 [Science/Electric, Science/GlobalWarming] UID:38721 Activity:nil
7/20    I lived at this cabin last week where everything's powered by a
        portable generator. The owner said the biggest hog is the
        refrigerator, which got me to wonder... most of the power consumption
        from an AC or refrigerator is from the compressor right? It seems to
        me that it is a lot of waste to have to generate electricity first
        (+50% energy lost?) then use that electricity to crank the compressor
        (another +50% energy lost?). Is it possible to create a frig where
        the compressor is cranked directly by small engines like the ones
        used in portable generators?
        \_ Ice is civilization!!!!
        \_ Of course.  That's how very early refrigerators worked.  It's
           just that most people don't like to have internal combustion
           engines in their homes.
           \_ Maybe not in their homes, but in places like the wilderness
              where power is more precious and fresh air is easily and
              readily to be polluted, it would seem to make sense to place
              an engine powered refrigerator.
              \_ Ok, sure.  All I meant was, yes they exist.  Down below
                 is a link to how they work.  Google for "propane
                 refrigerator" if you want to buy one.
        \_ There are natural gas powered refrigerator.  Kinda
           anti-intuitive.  NG is used as a power source to turn
           the compressor.
           \_ http://home.howstuffworks.com/refrigerator5.htm
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home.howstuffworks.com/refrigerator5.htm
Also, they use heat, in the form of burning propane, to produce the cold inside the refrigera tor. A gas refrigerator uses ammonia as the coolant, and it uses water, ammoni a and hydrogen gas to create a continuous cycle for the ammonia. The ref rigerator has five main parts: * Generator - generates ammonia gas * Separator - separates ammonia gas from water * Condenser - where hot ammonia gas is cooled and condensed to create l iquid ammonia * Evaporator - where liquid ammonia evaporates to create cold temperatu res inside the refrigerator * Absorber - absorbs the ammonia gas in water The cycle works like this: 1 Heat is applied to the generator. The heat comes from burning somethi ng like gas, propane or kerosene. The heat raises the temperature of the solution to the boiling point of the ammonia. In the separator, the wa ter separates from the ammonia gas. The condenser is compo sed of metal coils and fins that allow the ammonia gas to dissipate its heat and condense into a liquid. Here, the water that has collected in the separator is mixed with the ammonia and hydrogen gases. The ammonia-and-water solution flows toward the generator to repeat the cycle.