The Einstein-Szilard Refrigerator

Abdul Basit Ahmad 1221ME02

The Eco Friendly Refrigerator.

Contents
What is a refrigerator? Einsteins role before 1930 Einstein Refrigeration Process Drawbacks in this process Changes made in this design Disadvantages of modern refrigeration process Advantages of Einsteins process.

What is Refrigeration?
Refrigeration is the process whereby, work is done to move heat from one location to another.
This work is traditionally mechanical but can also be done by other means such as magnetism. Refrigeration finds use both in homes and in industry.

Einstein Role Before 1930s:

Contributed to a variety of fields of physical inquiry, including, but not limited to, Brownian motion, photoelectric effect and relativity.
Considered to be one of the greatest scientists of all time.

First Eco-Friendly Refrigeration Process

Tragic Death of entire family in Berlin due to refrigerator fumes. Einstein got very concerned about refrigerators after that. Wanted to design a refrigerator that didnt need such toxic materials for its operation. Joined hands with Szilard, who had completed his research in thermodynamics, to construct a better design than mechanical compressors.

Einstein And Szilards Eco Friendly Refrigerator

Drawbacks of Einsteins Process

Device was less durable. Device was less efficient. Device was expensive.

Malcolm McCulloch
In 2008, Mcculloch, an Oxford University researcher, attempted to revive the Einstein refrigerator as a green replacement for electrical units. He felt that the Einstein-Szilard design was environmentally friendly and could prove especially useful in developing countries, where demand for energy and cooling appliances is rapidly increasing.

Changes Made to Einstein Refrigeration Process

The refrigerator requires a source with which to heat liquids and McCulloch felt that a solar energy system would be more green than the small gas burner that Einstein used. As a lack of efficiency was the reason that Einstein refrigerators were replaced by Freon compressors, McCulloch thought that by tweaking the design he can increase the efficiency by a large factor.

Delanos Improvement

Andy Delano, a researcher at Georgia Tech. has also worked at improving the design of the Einstein Refrigerator. Delanos version uses an electric resistance heater as the source of heat. He has sold his patent to AB Electrolux in Sweden, a company famous for its refrigeration solutions. Fig: Delano With his Prototype

Disadvantages of Modern Refrigeration Process.

Depletion of Ozone Layer

Emission of CFCs and HCFCs from modern refrigerators lead to wide range depletion of the Ozone layer as shown in the accompanying schematic.

Fig: Schematic Showing the Depletion of Ozone Layer.

Effects Due to Ozone Layer Depletion

Effect on human health.
Effect on Plants and animals. Effect on marine systems.

Fig: Environmental Effect of Ozone layer depletion.

Electrical Appliances
Among household appliances, refrigerators and air conditioners consume the maximum energy.

They amount to 50-70% of our total electrical consumption. Popular air conditioners have quantities of 1, 1.5 and 2 tons.

In this we mostly use 1.5 tons air conditioners.

Usage of Air Conditioners

Consumption of power by 1.5 ton ac: 1.5 ton consumes 1.45kW in 1 hour. In domestic usage, air conditioners are used intermittently in season. In corporate settings however, high capacity central air conditioning systems are used round the clock, all year.

Power Consumption
Domestic Usage Monthly power consumption of one air conditioner: 261 kWhr(7 hrs of daily usage). For generation of this much energy approx. 94 kgs. of coal needs to be burnt.

For 1 single a.c.

Commercial Usage
Monthly consumption is approx. 1044 kWh. For generation of this much energy, approx. 400 kg of coal has to be burnt. For one single a.c.!

Just Imagine!!!
Just imagine how much coal needs to be burnt just so that the current generation air conditioning and refrigeration systems can remain working all year. These quantities of coal burning have their own negative effect on the environment and is a great contributor to the greenhouse effect and climate change.

Advantages of Einstein Refrigeration Process

Uses heat energy, even waste heat energy. Load variations dont effect the performance. Can be operated at reduced evaporator pressure and temperature by increasing the steam pressure to the generator.