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History Of Refrigeration

The Use of Ice for Refrigeration purposes can be traced back to prehistoric times.  Ice and Snow was often stored in areas that offered basic insulation to maintain low temperatures.

Cooling drinks came into vogue by 1600 in France.  Instead of cooling water at night, people rotated long-necked bottles in water in which saltpeter had been dissolved.  This solution could be used to produce very low temperatures and to make ice.  By the end of the 17th century, iced liquors and frozen juices were popular in French society.

Before 1800, food preservation used time-tested methods: salting, spicing, smoking, pickling and drying. There was little use for refrigeration since the foods it primarily preserved — fresh meat, fish, milk, fruits, and vegetables — did not play as important a role in diets as they do today. In fact, diets consisted mainly of bread and salted meats.

19th Century 

In the early 19th Century Ice became a form of business were It was sold for currency. Methods were improved to store ICE and ship it to warmer parts of the world.

By the Late 19th Century refrigeration became commercialised.  Ice storage and usage was still the main form of chilling.  This however came with its own problems such as contamination with unwanted substances.  The general hygiene of Ice usage became a problem.

Post 1900's 

At the turn of the 20th century the German engineer Carl Von Linde set up a large-scale process for the production of liquid air and eventually liquid oxygen for use in safe household refrigerators.

By 1900 ammonia-cycle commercial refrigeration was also introduced. By 1914 almost every location used artificial refrigeration.  Refrigerated Transport by rail became available which revolutionised the safe transport of food and drink across countries.

In the middle of the 20th century refrigerated transport also began to be used on trucks and trailers which also made large improvements to consumer choice and hygiene.

Safety Issues

Despite the inherent advantages, refrigeration had its problems.

Refrigerants like sulfur dioxide and methylchloride if leaked can cause ilness and death. Ammonia had an equally serious toxic effect if it escaped.

Frigidaire discovered a new class of synthetic refrigerants called halocarbons or CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons) in 1928. Freons are colorless, odorless, nonflammable, noncorrosive gases or liquids. Because Freon is non-toxic, it eliminated the danger posed by refrigerator leaks. In just a few years, compressor refrigerators using Freon became the standard for almost all-home kitchens.

Safe and more affordable refrigeration opened up new gateways in business for new types of food storage, packaging and presentation.

Though ice, brewing, and meatpacking industries were refrigeration’s major beneficiaries, many other industries found refrigeration a boon to their business.

In metalworking, for instance, mechanically produced cold helped temper cutlery and tools.  Iron production got a boost, as refrigeration removed moisture from the air delivered to blast furnaces, increasing production.  Textile mills used refrigeration in mercerizing, bleaching, and dyeing.  Oil refineries found it essential, as did the manufacturers of paper, drugs, soap, glue, shoe polish, perfume, celluloid, and photographic materials.

Fur and woolen goods storage could beat the moths by using refrigerated warehouses.  Refrigeration also helped nurseries and florists, especially to meet seasonal needs since cut flowers could last longer.  Moreover, there was the morbid application of preserving human bodies.  Hospitality businesses including hotels, restaurants, saloons, and soda fountains, proved to be big markets for ice.

Recent Refrigeration History

In 1973, Prof. James Lovelock reported finding trace amounts of refrigerant gases in the atmosphere. In 1974, Sherwood Rowland and Mario Molina predicted that chlorofluorocarbon  (CFC's) refrigerant gases would reach the high stratosphere and there damage the protective mantle of the oxygen allotrope, ozone.  In 1985 the "ozone hole" over the Antarctic had been discovered and by 1990 Rowland and Molina's prediction was proved correct. 

As a result of the potential ozone layer damage. new technologies in refrigerants have been developed.  The most popular are known as hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), with an even lower global warming potential, and no known effects at all on the ozone layer. 

Currently CFC's are being phased out and new refrigeration plants and appliances are being made with safer new generation refrigerants.