Solar Ice Maker: No Moving Parts, No Electricity

14 by Doug Gunzelmann on September 17, 2008

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.

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

http://dir.blogflux.com/tracker.php?id=175696&601962187=601962187 web design company

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

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

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
Maikahl

Interesting that everyone can see to obvious uses such as for remote locations, 3rd world countries…blah blah blah….Personally I have some far higher personal aims with such a device. Such as replacing/ supplementing current home refrigeration and cooling- if not replacing it all together…both being the more demanding electic needs of a household. I have already gotten my gas bill down into the 15 to 20 dollar range adding a simple homemade solar water heater out of spare parts, the only part that wasnt already in my workshop was a combiner valve to keep myself from being burned by too hot of water it generates. I thought that the attic space in my home would be perfect to use as the heating source for making ice, since even on a not so hot day, an attic will easily reach the temp needed for the process. Want to reduce fuel demand in the nation by massive amounts…rather than invest millions in gov. programs to figure out what to do…why not make it mandatory that all water heaters be converted to solar water heaters when they need to be replaced..why do the solutions to so many problems need government and corporate oversight and investment????Is it because there is no true interest in doing anything about it???

Keith Pinster

before I could put my solar water heating system up on my house, I lost my job and ended up having to move into an apartment. but I still have all the parts for my solar furnace and most of the parts for a solar water heating system. As soon as I get another house, I will put those into place.

But consider something else: how about solar water heating for apartment buildings? As an apartment owner, I know one consideration is keeping your costs as low as possible, but why not incorporate solar water heating systems and then raise the rent slightly? Seems to me like they would be able to easily and quickly recover the cost of installation and then the extra rent would be nothing but profit.

I guess there just isn’t enough “forward thinking” in this country.

http://www.cerd.dj Mr Said Ismael

Dear Manager;
Having found your address in the internet, I have decided to write you this email. In fact, we are currently developing the fishing sector and we are interested in your solar powered equipment. We need a reliable supplier that can offer quality price competitive for a complete hybrid solar/wind powered system for ice flakers. This ice will used for fish conservation by village communities plus brackish water desalination system connected together. The capacity of the hybrid system we are targeting is 20 KW. The system must include an insulated or tropicalized ice conserving box. Likewise the mean measured direct solar radiation of the site is 23.4 MJ/M2. day with a wind speed of more than 5 m/s.
I would very much like if you could provide me with a quotation regarding such a system. I look forward in making business with you. Thank you in advance.

Best regards
Mr Said Ismael Awaleh
Director of the Institute of Earth Science
Djibouti
Republic of Djibouti (North East Africa)
jim

Are you saying, a working gas is not part of this process or if one circulates that not a moving part? If so, then I say the writer used no working parts to write this.

Keith Pinster

The term “moving parts” implies mechanical working parts. A moving gas or liquid is not considered a “moving part” that can physically break. Nor is electricity considered a “moving part” when it goes through a circuit board.

What they are saying is that there is no engine to compress the gas, it is done solely using thermodynamics and values.

To be honest, I’m not quite sure why you are quibbling about terminology. Do you think this is useless because you disagree with what the term “moving parts” means?

The bigger picture here is that the system doesn’t require any external, man-made energy source, which is the most important aspect of the system. And there are no machine parts to break down. Just simple hoses and values that are cheap and easy to replace, as opposed to high-cost, hard to obtain machinery parts.

http://www.solarpanelsuk.org.uk solar panels uk

I’ll visit once more for the next different interesting topic..
Saurabh

Hello,
Great job done I really appreciate your work and congratulate you for your success. I am also interested in doing this solar ice maker. So can you please help me in doing so.
Regards,
Saurabh
Jim

Are their any designs available for the DYI folks to follow in building one of these for ourselves?
Robert

is this brilliant idea allready commercialized? Wher can i buy such equipement or are ther assemblingplans available?