Explanation of how LP Gas can be used to run Refrigerators

[JFScheck]

This has been asked many times - even by myself at one time on a planet long, long time ago... Let me see if I can better explain...

A gas refrigerator uses ammonia as the coolant, and it uses water, ammonia and hydrogen gas to create a continuous cycle for the ammonia. The refrigerator 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 liquid ammonia
Evaporator - where liquid ammonia evaporates to create cold temperatures inside the refrigerator
Absorber - absorbs the ammonia gas in water

The cycle works like this:
Heat is applied to the generator. The heat comes from burning something like gas, propane or kerosene.
In the generator is a solution of ammonia and water. The heat raises the temperature of the solution to the boiling point of the ammonia.
The boiling solution flows to the separator. In the separator, the water separates from the ammonia gas.
The ammonia gas flows upward to the condenser. The condenser is composed of metal coils and fins that allow the ammonia gas to dissipate its heat and condense into a liquid.
The liquid ammonia makes its way to the evaporator, where it mixes with hydrogen gas and evaporates, producing cold temperatures inside the refrigerator.
The ammonia and hydrogen gases flow to the absorber. Here, the water that has collected in the separator is mixed with the ammonia and hydrogen gases.
The ammonia forms a solution with the water and releases the hydrogen gas, which flows back to the evaporator. The ammonia-and-water solution flows toward the generator to repeat the cycle.

And that's how it works...

[Rocketeer]

Thanks Professor

A while back I read Mosquito Coast - auth. Paul Theroux.
There is also a film version - well worth 2 hours of your time.

An inventor attempts to build utopia, partly through the civilizing influence of refridgeration.
He used large quantities of Ammonia to construct an industrial ice maker - with unfortunate results - However I always wondered about the physics of the whole process.

Thank you for explaining so Succinctly

[cortés]

Ha!
When I read this post that was the very first thing I thought of!
Harrison Ford in Mosquito Coast.

[Rocketeer]

It certainly was a cracking good film, I must dig it out to watch again.

Another favourite, and wholly unrelated to refridgeration is To kill a Mocking Bird - starring Gregory Peck if I remember correctly.

I suppose there could have been an early ice block refridgerator in the kitchen scenes

[cortés]

Another related one...there was a scene near the end
of the movie The Edge where Anthony Hopkin's
character was asking about turning fire into ice to distract
Alec Baldwin from despair.

Good film.

[Rocketeer]

Tony Hawks book / film - Around Ireland with a Fridge, if you watch that you'll see some of my old Dublin Haunts

[JFScheck]

All good stuff...

[66 Girl]

I've not seen "Mosquito Coast," but I love Harrison Ford. I'm going to check it out. I hope it's on Netflix, because I'm still paying for the service although I seldom use it.

[Rocketeer]

I've not seen "Mosquito Coast," but I love Harrison Ford. I'm going to check it out. I hope it's on Netflix, because I'm still paying for the service although I seldom use it.

Is Netflix any good? The service has only recently started here in England.....

I would love to have a film channel on TV. SKY is expensive at £70+ per month and we have to pay £140 TV license fee per year just to own a TV set. Grrr

[Roadie]

I am really not that into Netflix. I'll admit, I've never used their service, but it is kind of hard to have something sent to your mailbox when you move around. I think that they have changed somewhat, in that you can actually order the movies online. I don't really watch a lot of movies, though. When I want to see something, I can also order it cheaply on Amazon. They have a similar service which I enjoy, without having to pay a monthly fee.