COLD STORAGE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19762, 13 April 1926, Page 13

COLD STORAGE.

A REVOLUTIONARY INVENTION. COLD GENERATED FROM HEAT. ALL-BRITISH MANUFACTURE. {Fjiom Ocb Own Correspondent.) LONDON. February 26. Two stulents while still at the Univer* sity have invented an apparatus which, it is claimel. is the only known contrivance which will continuously produce cold without the use of any mechanical parts. Unlike many other inventors, they have had their remarkable invention taken up by a wealthy f.rm, 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 this week 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 :n other refrigerators by an auxiliary motor. Connected with the ordinary electrical installation, a household cabinet can be run at a daily cost of 4d, and, in addition to preserving as much food as can be packed into 10 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 IJ3; but the refrigerator can also be 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 be the nearest approach to perpetual motion in existence, is the invention of Messrs Platon and Hunters. Major Id. A. Wernher, 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 temperature of 45deg. The inventors, Mr Platen and Mr Munters, were enabled, through the foresight of Dr Wenner-Gren, to perfect an invention whereby heat generated cold. Many inventors were handicapped by the lao fcof financial and other assistance with which to carry out their ideas, but the young men while still at the university not only made the discovery, but were aWe to improve the original idea to its present efficiency. They were awarded the Polhem medal last year by the Swedish Royal Academy of Technical Science. In order to supply the heat there must be eleotno current, gas, oil, or waste steam, and water was required for cooling. It was hoped to perfect an air-cooled-model shortly, but the elements consumed were so infinitesimal that it had little bearing on the question of maintenance. Three kilowatt hours per day and 120 gallons of water were all that was required for a household ice safe. A small quantity of ice could be produced for beverages. So far as household installations were concerned in the London area, the Metropolitan Water Board assured them that there would be‘no extra charge for water _ ... He had personally experimented with one and a-Lalf kilowatts per day, and had most satisfactory results. The ice-safe contained three shelves with different temperatures for different tynes of goods. A report of the National Phys!cal_ Laboratory in December gives the efficiency of the machine at actually 10 per cent, more than was claimed. It was possible to cet 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 nmse or vibration, and, even if the heat was left switched on and without water, it could not burst. There was no wear and tear, and the liquid gases lasted for many years. By turning a switch refrigeration could he continually maintained. It would be possible to sell the machine at about half the cost of those at present on the market, and for those who could not afford the initial expense a hire-purchase system was being developed. This machine would in no way replace the compressor refrigerating apparatus, but would in fact act as an adjunct to it. It would, however, be possible to manufacture a larger apparatus for special and retail commercial purnoses than the refrigerator which was before them. Tne Engli=b people bad not acquired the ice habit., but the public would have to be educated ro rely more and more on ice and cold storage.' and he was sure they would agree “hat anything they could do to improve the cleanliness of food and the storage of food would be to the ultimate benefit of tbn health of the people. These new machines will_ be manufactured at Luton bv the firm owning the patents,