Who invented the refrigerator?

The idea of ​​using low temperature environments to prevent food forms, has existed for centuries. The creation of a well -known domestic appliance has resulted from a number of innovations of chemists, engineers and inventors after the 18th and 19th centuries. American inventors Oliver Evans, Jacob Perkins and John Gorrie are attributed to the development of the earliest versions of the modern refrigerator at the beginning of the 18th century. Later in this century, the work of German engineer Carl von Linden made it possible to effectively store a chemical refrigerant and paved the way for the mass production of refrigerators.

Early efforts to protect food

Human cultures have long known that low temperatures can protect valuable foods from bacteria and other factors that can make them inedible. Preservative methods such as salting and drying were also effective, but they were not suitable for all types of food. Before mechanical cooling was widely available, many cultures used well -insulated buildings called IceHouseses for PotR storageAvin and used winter ice and snow as a natural coolant. These structures come from the second millennium BC in Europe and Asia, and the names of the engineers who suggested them were lost in history.

first refrigerators

IceHouseses have been used well into modern times, especially in rural areas where electricity and appliances were expensive or unavailable. At the beginning of the 18th century, American engineer Thomas Moore created a home version of the iceberg, a portable isolated chamber cooled with ice block. Moore created the term "refrigerator" to describe his invention, although it became more often known as "jurebox". Iceboxes had the same general shape and function as modern refrigerators and some people still use this name. In many areas, a local delivery person, colloqually known as "Iceman" in the US, bring WD to the neighborhood or truck fresh ice blocks.

at the age of 50The 20th century Scottish physicist William Cullen found that some chemical reactions would withdraw heat from a certain area and create a cold pocket. Cullen, not interested in the practical application of his discovery, did not realize that he found the basis for modern cooling. At about the same time that Thomas Moore invented an Icebox, Oliver Evans designed, but did not build a machine that took advantage of the Cullen chemical process. Until 1834, scientists Jacob Perkins built and patented the first functioning refrigerator. Perkins, the main character in American engineering, also played heating and cooling systems for home and sometimes called the father of cooling.

Ten years later, American doctor John Gorrie was looking for a constant source of ice to reduce the body temperature of patients suffering from yellow fever. The methods of supplying ice were common at that time, so it worked from the original Evans design, built a cooling unit that was more practical and efficient than the one created by Perkins. It was a model for a modern refrigerator. The result is thatEvans, Perkins and Gorrie can now share an essential device for this.

Cooling process

Mechanical cooling systems depend on chemicals called refrigerant. As the refrigerant moves through the device, it is compressed, which increases its temperature. That heat is released from the rear of the refrigerator; When the heat is scattered, the refrigerant condenses, but remains on this high pressure. The refrigerant then moves through the expansion valve, where the pressure drops and turns back to the gas. When it changes from liquid to gas, its temperature drops and cools the air. Fans and engines orbit this chilled air in the isolated area.

The first refrigerators used liquid refrigeres like Ether, but in 1876, Carl von Linden discovered an improved liquefied gas method. As a result, the mass production of cooling devices was practical and prepared a way for their expanded sale and use in the 20th century.

However, there were still serious problems with the proposal. Early cooling units used a highlightOce toxic gases such as ammonia, sulfur dioxide and methyl chloride. The chambers containing these gases sometimes escaped, resulting in several deadly domestic accidents at the beginning of the 20th century. The equipment manufacturers realized that a safer cooling element was needed, leading to the discovery of synthetic refrigerant called chlorofluorocarbones (CFC). Together as Freon®, a standard refrigerant worldwide became the decades that followed.

Freon®, however, was not a perfect solution. In the age of 70, scientists found that CFC contributed to the exhaustion of the natural ozone layer of the Earth. Ozone exhaustion, which increases the harmful health of Effects of Solar Radiation, was soon seen as a great environmental crisis. World governments have banned the use of CFC at the age of 80, although it would be decades than all the facilities that employ them would be out of service. Modern refrigerators use safer alternative refrigeres and their highly efficient machinery requires less chemicalicalia than used by older units.