Solar Ice Maker: No Moving Parts, No Electricity

Posted on September 17, 2008 by Doug Gunzelmann in Concept+Design

Intended for disaster relief situations, refugee camps, and developing nations the bright minds at San Jose State University have created an ice making machine that uses the heat from sunlight to power a chemical reaction. What happens is the tubing (or heat exchanger) is filled with a liquid refrigerant material. The convex reflective panel focuses light and heat energy from the sun onto the piping which vaporizes the refrigerant. So far, no ice. When the sun goes down however the vapor goes through massive heat loss due to pressure differences and roughly 14 pounds of ice are produced depending on the design.

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The refrigerant rapidly cools once it hits 104 degrees Fahrenheit, due to its unique properties making, it perfect for typical temperature ranges in warm climates. The system is completely closed, there are no moving parts to wear out, and overall little maintenance should be required so long as the piping doesn’t crack or leak. The implications for this device are astounding. It can produce ice off the grid, can completely sustain itself, and offers a form of food storage through the production of often hard to find ice in places that need it most.

via San Jose State University

Tags:

ice, maker, solar

6 Responses to “ Solar Ice Maker: No Moving Parts, No Electricity ”

web design company

18. Sep, 2008

Brilliant idea. I can see this being useful, for example, in hospitals or clinics that need ice, but don t have electricity. Nice job, scientists!

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Critik

23. Sep, 2008

And if they build a few hundred million of them they can reverse global warming!

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Ali

01. Jul, 2009

I would to have a solar ice making machine at our ruefegee camps in Kenya, any oene who can help how to get an effecteive and convienent macehine please do it and send ethe detals.

Thanks

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Máquina de hacer hielo solar

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[...] Fuentes| Fayerwayer y Greenupgrader [...]

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Solar Power advances for Sept. 2008 « Askthefm’s Weblog

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Solar Power advances for Sept. 2008 | Solar Feeds Blog

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[...] The whole article can be found on greenupgrader.com (http://greenupgrader.com/3680/solar-ice-maker-no-moving-parts-no-electricity/) [...]

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