Ancient refrigeration

[bigwakes]

Cool video on cheap powerless refrigeration.

[LagerHead]

That is definitely some cool stuff. Thanks for posting.

[UncleJak]

Definitely one of the "coolest" things I've ever seen. I have always used the moving creek water refrigerator, but this is a little more portable. This is going on my ever growing survival gadgets list! Thanks for sharing!

[bigwakes]

I'm gonna try it tonight with my five year old. If I can get it setup I'll let you know how it goes.

[Guest BenderBendingRodriguez]

Very neat idea. I wonder if it works better if you have more sand between the different pots...

[Caster]

Sometimes it's really amazing: Simple Physics.

This is very good and should be added to everyone's SHTF journal.

[Sandman]

I'm gonna try it tonight with my five year old. If I can get it setup I'll let you know how it goes.

Let us know! It says in the comments that it doesn't work well in humid environments. I'm anxious to see what happens here.

[MacGyver]

The drier and hotter the better. When I was in Saudi Arabia, you could get hypothermia getting out of the swimming pool, even though it was at least 110F outside. The evaporative cooling took place that quickly.

I've always wanted to try this on a large scale. Think of a root cellar sized room with two porous walls.

[Guest BungieCord]

Doesn't work well compared to what, no cooling at all?

When the Moguls ruled India (same era as the Taj Mahal), they built their palaces to use this same principle. They circulated water through hollow spaces in the walls to cool the rooms a bit.

But you don't need electricity to make ice, just ammonia and sunshine.

[Sandman]

Doesn't work well compared to what, no cooling at all?

When the Moguls ruled India (same era as the Taj Mahal), they built their palaces to use this same principle. They circulated water through hollow spaces in the walls to cool the rooms a bit.

But you don't need electricity to make ice, just ammonia and sunshine.

Compared to the desert where this video was made.

[bigwakes]

I was busy today so just got it put together around 9pm. It sitting in the kitchen with a steady 72 degrees. I'll set it outside tomorrow and see what happens.

[UncleJak]

My wife just got a bunch of clay pots, time to find some sand and give this a try!

[daddyo]

I am going to amaze my friends and family with over the coming weekend.

[bigwakes]

I tried to amaze my wife, but it was a huge fail. I could not get it to work at all. I'll do some research to figure out what needs to change.

[Smith]

This works ... if you're in Arizona. There is a reason we don't use swamp coolers except in arid regions

[Makiaveli]

This works ... if you're in Arizona. There is a reason we don't use swamp coolers except in arid regions

So basically this is of limited use here in TN?

Still would be interested if anyone comes up with any mods that help it along...

[Guest BenderBendingRodriguez]

For it to work properly it needs to be (1) hot enough and (2) not too humid so you can get good evaporation. There are some months in TN where we have weather like that.

[Smith]

So basically this is of limited use here in TN?

Still would be interested if anyone comes up with any mods that help it along...

Yes. It can still work at certain times and is really cool when the enviromental factors are right. It works by evaporation cooling the air. If it is too humid then the moisture can't evaporate fast enough to cool the air.

[Makiaveli]

Yes. It can still work at certain times and is really cool when the enviromental factors are right. It works by evaporation cooling the air. If it is too humid then the moisture can't evaporate fast enough to cool the air.

Yea that's what I meant by "limited use". I've been wondering if size would make a difference in this...ie kiddie pools instead of clay pots. I can spell physics, but that's about as deep as I get

[Capbyrd]

Nice. Reminds me of a scene in Jericho where they make ice with fertilizer, water and bowls.

How to Make Ice Using Fertilizer - Associated Content from Yahoo! - associatedcontent.com

If you have ever watched the show Jericho, there was an episode where they made ice for people who had the flu to help break the fever. In the show they mentioned the ingredients and showed how to make ice using water and fertilizer on the farm where the episode was shot.

The Scientific Method for Making Ice with Fertilizer

The scientific method for making ice with fertilizer is NH4NO3 (s) + H2O (I) + energy NH4NO3 (aq).

To me that is Greek since I didn't take any chemistry classes in school since that aspect of science didn't interest me. After reading the scientific method for making ice, it sure makes me wish I did.

The Simple Method for Making Ice with Fertilizer

As I mentioned above the scientific method for making ice with fertilizer is Greek to me. However, I did find a couple of websites that told how to make ice using fertilizer in an understandable enough form for me to understand.

The method on the websites I found basically said a person would need equal amounts of Ammonium nitrate and water to make ice without the use of a freezer or ice maker. Since an ice maker uses freon and water to make ice, that concept may work if you can find a way to circulate the freon around a metal object to make the ice without the use of electricity.

In order to make ice with this method, the following items are needed:

Ammonium Nitrate

A Bucket or Large Pot

A Smaller Metal Bowl

Water

Measuring Containers - At least two of these.

Mixing the coolant for making the ice:

Mix equal parts of ammonium nitrate and water in the bucket. Fill the bucket 3/4 of the way full with the mixture. Place a smaller metal bowl on top of the rim of the bucket or large pot. Fill the smaller metal bowl half full of water. It will take several hours for the water to freeze into ice.

[Ramjo]

That's really cool. (no pun intended!)