A3

Nicholas DeCurtis

Art & Technology

Professor Roundtree

9 October, 2018

The History of the Refrigerator

Perhaps one of the most overlooked and underappreciated technologies of the 21st century is the modern refrigerator. Found in just about every home nationwide, the technology of the modern refrigerator has come a long way since its inception. Various methods of refrigeration have existed for thousands of years and trace back to the earliest human civilizations. The improvements, modifications, and evolutions of refrigeration technology have significantly changed the way people live and eat. From the first primitive “ice-houses” to today’s cooling machines armed with internet connection and LCD screens, it is abundantly clear how far this technology has come and time will tell how it can and will develop in the future.

The importance of refrigeration is in its ability to slow bacterial growth that spoils foods of all sorts. Bacteria exists everywhere and flourishes in temperatures from forty to one-hundred and forty degrees, and it can devastate both the quality of food as well as human health if consumed. While early humans had little knowledge if any about the technicalities of bacterial growth, they recognized that their game would stay fresher in colder conditions. Therefore, the earliest hunters would seek cool dark caves to store their game for when food was unavailable. This was the most ineffective method of refrigeration as moisture and air exposure would still allow bacteria to fester. Around 500 B.C, early civilizations of the Greeks, Hebrews, and Romans began to build what were known as “ice houses”. They would cut pieces of ice from nearby lakes and rivers and store them in crudely built huts to keep food cold. While this was better than just throwing the food into a cave, it was not very efficient as ice could only be harvested during certain points of the year. Similar methods were utilized throughout the world and the principle was improved upon with the largely popularized “ice boxes” present in many European countries. Ice would be harvested and salted, then wrapped in an insulating material and stored for delivery. People crafted or bought boxes constructed of wood and lined with tin then filled them with ice for personal home refrigeration. Then in the mid-1700s, Scottish scientist William Cullen proposed the use of chemical reaction to produce cold conditions known as “evaporative cooling”. While he never put this theory to practice, it inspired many inventors and scientists to work on the idea throughout the following years.

The 1800s saw the most development of this type of refrigeration technology with many scientists giving their attempts at applying the idea of evaporative cooling. In 1835, inventors Oliver Evans and Jacob Perkins patented their vapor-compression cycle technology that used liquid ammonia to create a cool contained environment. Perkins has been considered by some to be the “father of the refrigerator” for this feat. Another notable design was that of American doctor John Gorrie who used his own method of artificially creating ice to cool down patients with yellow fever in 1842. In 1876 German engineer Carl von Linde patented a process of liquefying gas which led to his invention of a compressed ammonia refrigerator. Each of these contributions pushed forward refrigeration technology and the 1900s saw even more development.

As urbanization occurred and nations moved rapidly towards an industry-based society, the necessity of refrigeration only grew. Food had to travel longer distances before it reached stores and households, so many new efforts at developing refrigeration technology ensued. The early 1900s saw the first creations of electrically run refrigerators. By the 1920s about 90% of American households had a refrigerator as they were considered essential. In 1927, General Electric introduced the “Monitor-Top” which was mass-produced and used sulphur dioxide or methyl formate as refrigerants. Meatpacking plants and breweries were the first of many industries to adapt refrigeration technology to a larger scale as consumer needs grew. The next six or seven decades consisted of scientists and engineers searching for methods that utilized less toxic refrigerants and more efficient processes of cooling. As focus shifted towards being environmentally conscious, more effort was put into researching different types of refrigerants and processes. This shift led away from the use of chlorofluorocarbons to hydrofluorocarbons seen in mostly all modern refrigerators. While this made refrigerators less damaging to the environment, there are many possibilities for where the technology can go.

Today we have “smart” refrigerators equipped with touch-screen monitors that can be adjusted wirelessly through an app. This shows how far this technology has come and one can only guess what is in store for the future. Further research into the process of cooling will hopefully lead to more sustainable and less damaging emissions. Perhaps there will be additional development in the software of smart refrigerators that will enable them to recognize when groceries are low and place an order. Implementation of larger screens and streaming would evolve refrigerators from a basic home appliance to a source of entertainment. It is interesting to reflect on how far refrigeration technology has come since the earliest days of nomadic tribes to today’s booming civilizations.  

 

Works Cited

Ross, Rachel. “Who Invented the Refrigerator?” LiveScience, Purch, 8 Feb. 2017,      www.livescience.com/57797-refrigerator-history.html.

“The History of the Refrigerator - Sandvik Materials Technology.” - Sandvik Materials Technology, www.materials.sandvik/en-us/campaigns/fridge-of-the-future/the-history-of-the-refrigerator/.