COLD STORAGE.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVI, 14 April 1926, Page 8

COLD STORAGE.

A REVOLUTIONARY INVENTION. ALL-BRITISH MANUFACTURE. Two students, while still at the University, have invented a,n apparatus which, it is claimed, is the only known contrivance which will continuously produce cold without the use of any mechanical parts, writes the London correspondent of th© “Wellington Post. Unlike many other inventors, they have had their remarkable invention taken up by a wealthy firm, which is about to place it upon the market. Diplomats, peers, members of the House of Commons, Dominion representatives, and other public men were invited recently to a luncheon at the Savoy Hotel to hear about the invention and to see it at work. Encased in an attractive cabinet, this latest of refrigerators is operated by the action of water, ammonia, and hydrogen, which, under the influence of heat, supply the motion that is usually provided in other refrigerators by an’ auxiliary motor. Connected with the ordinary electrical installation, a household cabinet can he run at a daily cost of 4d, and, in addition to preserving as much food as can he packed into ten cubic feet, will supply a valuable quantity of ice for household use. Employed with gas as the agent of heat, the daily cost is only Ujd ; hut the refrigerator can also he operated where neither gas nor electricity is available, and the humble paraffin lamp has alone to be relied upon. This refrigerator, which is constructed in a variety of sizes, and is said to he the nearest approach to perpetual motion in existence, is the invention of Messrs. Platen and Munters. Maior H. A. Wemher, D. 5.0., who presided at a luncheon, said the trade and the public authorities could look to the invention as a possible alternative to the use of preservatives, and to a great forward step in the preservation of food by cold" storage. The refrigerator was not a luxury, as it was within the means of many householders and all small village shops, provision stores, butchers’ shops, and dairies. Experiments were being' made with a special apparatus for cooling milk to a temnerature of 45 degress. The inventors. Mr. Platen and Mr. Munters. were en afeled. through the foresight of Dr. Wenner-Gren. to perfect an invention wfeereby heat generated cold. Many inventors were handicapped by the lack of financial and other assistance with which to carry out their ideas, hut the young men while still at the University not onlv made the disroverv hut were enabled to improve the original idea to its present efficiency. They were awarded the Polhem medal last vear by the Swedish Royal Academy of Technical Science. In order to sunplv the heat there must he electric current, gas. oil. or waste steam, and water was requird for cooling. It was honed to perfect an air-cooled model shortly, but the elements consumed were so infinitesimal that it had. little hearing on the cmestion of maintenance. Three kilowatt hours per dav and 210 gallons of water were all that was renuired for a household ice safe. A small quantity of ice could also he produced for beverages. So far as household installations were concerned in the T/ondon area, the Metropolitan Water Board assured them that there would he no extra charge for water supplied. FOOL-PROOF MACHINE.

He has personally experimented with 1.4 kilowatts per day, and had most satisfactory results. 'The ice-safe contained three shelves with different temperatures for different types of goods. A report of the National Physical Laboratory in December gave the efficiency of the machine at actually 10 per cent, more than was claimed. It was possible to get the temperature down to 10 degrees, but that was too low for average goods. The machine was fool-proof; there were no moving parts to get out of order, there was no noise or vibration, and, even if the heat was left switched on and without water, it could not hurst. There was no wear and tear, and the liquid gases lasted for many years. By turning a switch refrigeration could be ( continually maintained. It would he possible to sell the machine at about half the cost of those at present on the market, and for those who could not afford theinitial expense a hire-purchase system was being developed. This machine would in no wav'replace the compressor refrigerating apparatus, hut would in fact act as an adjunct to it. It would, however, he possible to manufacture a larger apparatus for special and retail commercial purposes than the refrigerator which was before them. The English people had not acquired the ice habit, hut the public would have to he educated to rely more and more on ice and cold storage, and he was sure they would agree that anything they could do to improve the cleanliness of food and the storage of food would he to the ultimate benefit of the health of the people.