David, The number of absorption refrigerators (ACR) number in the tens of thousands in just the RV market alone today as just one example. Virtually every RV you see on the road in the US has some form of a small ammonia based cooler/refrigerator in it. Sales are both in the new and the retrofit markets. ACR refrigerators have a more finite life and are subject to early failure from abuse and operations while not properly level. Art Krenzel
Date: Fri, 15 Aug 2014 09:50:23 -0700 From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Gasification] Gasification or Pyrolysis + Absorption Chiller for Fruit Friends, On 8/14/2014 2:54 PM, Big Daddy wrote: Gentlemen, I live in the tropics (Puerto Vallarta), and have a very keen desire to power a refrigeration system from gas… I always assumed it would be some sort of ammonia refrigeration system, or a super-big version of an RV fridge. Currently, I build charcoal retorts and charcoal gasifiers… Just haven’t had time to dive into the refrigeration sciences yet. Additionally, there may be a way to use “waste heat” from a retort vs. direct flame… I just don’t have the numbers yet, but am very interested in this thread. I am ignorant in a vast array of subjects, including the fine points of the physics of refrigeration. That gives a context for my saying that I have heard that absorption cycle refrigerators (ACR)-- that is, those which are passive, using only convection to pump fluids-- are far less efficient than technologies which rely on active pumping and/or compressors. ACRs are often quoted as having single digit efficiencies, and further that in general it is more efficient to generate electricity and use that to power a refrigerator; although of course YMMV. If this is the case, then whether the working fluid is ammonia/water or some other, and again speaking generally, one would probably use ACR where there is no electricity, or where there is an abundance of heat which would likely otherwise be wasted, etc. Or use a better ACR. Interestingly, Albert Einstein shares a number of patents directly and indirectly related to ACR technology with Leó Szilárd (another physicist, noted as a science fiction writer), and some say that their technologies offer better efficiencies. But the final fly in the soup is that few ACR refrigerators are still manufactured, and as such while a discussion of the technology may be of interest, few of us have the machine shop, the knowledge and the skill to translate any of that into reality. d. _______________________________________________ Gasification mailing list to Send a Message to the list, use the email address [email protected] to UNSUBSCRIBE or Change your List Settings use the web page http://lists.bioenergylists.org/mailman/listinfo/gasification_lists.bioenergylists.org for more Gasifiers, News and Information see our web site: http://gasifiers.bioenergylists.org/
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