introduction to industrial arts 2 history of refrigeration and air conditioning week 8 EARIST home economics 2nd year

1. HISTORY OF
REFRIGERATION AND
AIR-CONDITIONING
PREPARED BY:
RAYMARC BRIAN R. EBUENGA
NHERIVHEL R. CALABASA
DIANNE R. FLORES

2. ANCIENT COOLING
TECHNOLOGIES

3. ANCIENT COOLING TECHNOLOGIES
Humans have depended
on cooling for a long
time. However, people
who lived in hot
climates didn’t have
natural ice at their
disposal. They had to
get creative to stay
comfortable.

4. You could say that the ancient
Egyptians invented the first window
unit.
They didn’t have electricity or the boxy
units we use today, though. Instead,
they would hang wet reeds on their
windows.
The water on the reeds would absorb
heat from the warm wind, and cool air
would enter the building.
ANCIENT COOLING TECHNOLOGIES

5. We’ve also used refrigeration much longer than
you probably expected.
The people of ancient Persia and India used to
make their own ice.
They did it by merely leaving trays of boiled water
out at night.
Heat leaves the earth through the atmosphere,
especially at night when the sun can’t add more
heat. (That’s why you may have frost on your roof
or car even though it’s not freezing outside.)
The water would freeze due to heat loss.
ANCIENT COOLING TECHNOLOGIES

6. EARLY NOTABLE
DEVELOPMENTS

7. EARLY NOTABLE
DEVELOPMENTS
Benjamin Franklin may be
best known as an inventor
and one of the Founding
Fathers. However, he
conducted an experiment
that paved the way for
refrigerant development.

8. In 1758, he discovered that alcohol evaporation
led to cooling.
In his words, evaporating alcohol could bring
about “the possibility of freezing a man to death
on a warm summer’s day.”
That discovery did not immediately lead to
inventions, but it came back later.
About 170 years later, it led to the development
of Freon in 1928.
EARLY NOTABLE DEVELOPMENTS

9. Renowned scientists such as William Cullen, Robert Faraday,
and Jacob Perkins also contributed to the development of
refrigeration and air conditioning. Perkins patented the first
vapor-compression refrigeration cycle in 1835. That is what we
use in most refrigerators and A/C units today, but Perkins’s
patent never got very far.

10. THE
FLORIDIAN
ICE MACHINE
The Florida Panhandle was home
to one of the most prominent
figures in refrigeration history.
At the time, he was just a humble
physician who tried to cure
tropical diseases.

11. JOHN GORRIE
John Gorrie moved to Apalachicola
because malaria and yellow fever
ran rampant there. In Gorrie’s time,
those diseases were thought to be
caused by swampy climates’ hot
and humid air. That was actually
how malaria earned its name, Italian
for “bad air.” (We now know that
mosquitoes carry the disease.)

12. JOHN GORRIE
Gorrie believed that cooler
temperatures would help his
patients.
His first idea was to suspend ice
buckets from the ceiling.
The cold, dense vapor molecules
would drift down and provide some
relief for the patients’ fevers.

13. JOHN GORRIE
However, Gorrie later developed a
cooling technology of his own. He
did not invent compression
refrigeration as we know it, but he
invented the ice machine.
His machine used brine (salty
water) to freeze water in metal
trays.
Those ice blocks would then
accumulate in a wooden box.

14. GORRIE’S
ICE MACHINE
Gorrie’s ice machine was popular
locally. After seeing the success,
he received a patent for his
invention in 1851. Sadly, a series of
unfortunate events followed,
including the death of his main
investor. Other investors backed
out, possibly due to a smear
campaign against Gorrie’s
machine.
Gorrie died in 1855,
humiliated, bankrupt, and
alone. If this story has a
saving grace at all, it’s
that Gorrie was later
recognized for his
contributions to science
and technology. Today,
he has a monument
located in the National
Statuary Hall Collection.
He is one of Florida’s two
statues.

15. COOLING
THERAPY AND A
NATIONAL
TRAGEDY

16. PRESIDENT JAMES
A. GARFIELD. For people who live in warmer
climates, refrigeration can seem
like a life-or-death matter. Of
course, we only believe it in a
figurative or exaggerated sense.
However, comfort cooling was
literally a life-or-death matter
for President James A. Garfield.

17. PRESIDENT JAMES A. GARFIELD.
Garfield took office nearly 30 years
after Gorrie’s time. We did not have
air conditioning or refrigeration in
the Oval Office at the time.
Unfortunately, tragedy struck and
forced presidential staff to throw
together a cooling apparatus.

18. Four months into his first term, Garfield
was shot and seriously injured at a train
station.
When he arrived at the White House, naval
engineers quickly rigged a cooling system
to promote healing.
It was quite simple, consisting of a fan that
blew over fabric moistened with blocks of
ice and ice water.
PRESIDENT JAMES A. GARFIELD.

19. Medical personnel believed that cooler
temperatures would stop infections.
They were on to something, but it wasn’t
enough to save Garfield.
Despite their efforts, Garfield died 79 days
later.
PRESIDENT JAMES A. GARFIELD.

20. CARRIER, FATHER
OF THE AIR
CONDITIONER

21. Refrigeration technology
exploded with innovation in the
twentieth century. That was
when refrigeration became a
money-making endeavor, not
just an area of scientific
research. (You could perhaps
compare it to space travel
today.) We mostly have one man
and a dedicated team to thank.

22. WILLIS
CARRIER

23. In 1902, a young man named Willis Carrier
constructed an “air conditioner.”
However, he used cold groundwater, not
compression.
He left the company he worked for and
formed the Carrier Engineering
Corporation with a few other young
engineers. That team continued
developing HVAC and refrigeration
technologies under that name.
WILLIS CARRIER

24. (A descendant of that original company
continues to exist today. You may even
have a Carrier A/C system in your home.)
The Carrier team developed an A/C
system that could cool down an entire
theater in the summer.
WILLIS CARRIER

25. That was the real turning point of A/C and
refrigeration technology.
People saw (and felt) how well Carrier’s
unit worked.
Building owners or operators advertised
the coolness of their buildings in the
summer, and the luxury of A/C was
something that almost everyone could
feel.
WILLIS CARRIER

26. With technology, there is no going back to
previous points in history.
Once we integrate technology into our
lives, the only way is forward.
That was truly the case for Carrier’s
invention.
Accessibility and availability became the
next focus of the budding A/C and
refrigeration industries.
WILLIS CARRIER

27. MODERN A/C AND
REFRIGERATION

28. By the 1950s, air conditioning and
refrigeration were staples in American life.
Refrigeration spurred major changes in
the way we preserved food and cooled
spaces.
Air conditioning even played a role in
creating “galactic cities” in hotter
climates, such as Houston, Las Vegas, and
Los Angeles.
MODERN A/C AND REFRIGERATION

29. Today, we use refrigeration and air
conditioning for a lot more than domestic
cooling.
They have contributed to advancements
in computer science, space exploration,
and vaccine distribution.
The same technology that kept your beer
cold in quarantine was used to preserve
the vaccines that have brought the
pandemic closer to its end.
MODERN A/C AND REFRIGERATION

30. However, climatologists have correlated
the use of certain refrigerants with
climate change.
As a result, modern refrigeration
companies have begun researching solid-
state and magnetic-based technologies to
reduce environmental impact.
Overall, these systems harken back to the
more “open” systems pioneered by Gorrie
and Carrier.
MODERN A/C AND REFRIGERATION

31. As you can see, refrigeration has evolved
a lot since ancient times.
It started as a means of relief from the hot
sun in the time of the ancients.
Then, inventors discovered scientific
principles and developed prototype
technologies.
Entrepreneurs then marketed comfort
cooling to society. Now, we can’t imagine
life without refrigeration.
MODERN A/C AND REFRIGERATION

32. The history of refrigeration is rich, and the
future remains bright.
Modern experts encourage us to look back
to look forward.
So, we will always keep the discoveries of
Ben Franklin, John Gorrie, and Willis
Carrier close to our hearts.
MODERN A/C AND REFRIGERATION

33. HISTORY TIMELINE OF
REFRIGERATION AND
AIR CONDITIONING

34. YEAR EVENT
1755
AT THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH, WILLIAM CULLEN GIVES FIRST PUBLIC
DEMONSTRATION OF ARTIFICIAL REFRIGERATION BY BOILING DIETHYL
ETHER, PROVING THE FOUNDATIONAL PRINCIPLE THAT EVAPORATION HAS
A COOLING EFFECT.
1758
BEN FRANKLIN AND JOHN HADLEY DEMONSTRATE THAT EVAPORATING
ALCOHOL CAN FREEZE WATER.
1805
OLIVER EVANS HYPOTHESIZES THAT A CLOSED VAPOR COMPRESS SYSTEM
CONJOINED WITH ETHER WOULD PRODUCE ICE, AN INSIGHT THAT LED TO
JACOB PERKINS' INNOVATIONS DECADES LATER.
HISTORY OF REFRIGERATION
& A/C TIMELINE

35. YEAR EVENT
1820
MICHAEL FARADAY USES LIQUIFIED AMMONIA TO CREATE A COOLING
EFFECT.
1835
JACOB PEKINS, THE "FATHER OF THE REFRIGERATOR" AND EARLY
COLLABORATED WITH EVANS, PATENTS A VAPOR-COMPRESSION CYCLE
USING LIQUID AMMONIA.
1842
JOHN GORRIE INVENTS "ICE MACHINE" TO COOL DOWN PATIENTS AND
LOWER RISK OF INFECTION. GORRIE IS ISSUED THE FIRST US PATENT FOR
COMPRESSION REFRIGERATION.
HISTORY OF REFRIGERATION
& A/C TIMELINE

36. YEAR EVENT
1851
DUNEDIN SUCCESSFULLY TRANSPORTS REFRIGERATED MEAT FROM NEW
ZEALAND TO ENGLAND.
1855
AUSTRALIAN JAMES HARRISON, THE "STEPFATHER OF REFRIGERATION",
SECURES VICTORIA PATENT 25 FOR FIRST CLOSED COMPRESSION
REFRIGERATION SYSTEM.
1873
FIRST REFRIGERATOR INSTALLED AT A BROOKLYN BREWERY. AS EARLY
ADOPTERS OF REFRIGERATORS, BREWERIES CAME TO BE KNOWN AS "ICE
HOUSES".
HISTORY OF REFRIGERATION
& A/C TIMELINE

37. YEAR EVENT
1881
PRESIDENT GARFIELD ASSASSINATED ENGINEERS SURROUND THE BODY
WITH BLOCKS OF ICE AND FANS TO PREVENT SPREAD OF INFECTION. HE
STILL DIES 79 DAYS LATER.
1899
AMERICAN INVENTOR ALBERT MARSHALL PATENTS FIRST MECHANICAL
REFRIGERATOR.
1902
WILLIS CARRIER INVENTS FIRST MODERN AIR CONDITIONER FOR BUFFALO
FORGE.
HISTORY OF REFRIGERATION
& A/C TIMELINE

38. YEAR EVENT
1911 FIRST HOUSEHOLD REFRIGERATOR HITS THE MARKET.
1927
THE GE "MONITOR TOP" REFRIGERATOR IS THE FIRST HUGE COMMERCIAL
SUCCESS.
1928
CHLOROFLUOROCARBONS (CFCs), OF WHICH FREON IS THE MOST POPULAR
BRAND NAME, DEVELOPED. IN RECENT YEARS, THEIR USE HAS BEEN
REDUCED DUE TO ODP.
HISTORY OF REFRIGERATION
& A/C TIMELINE

39. YEAR EVENT
1930
ALBERT EINSTEIN PATENTS AN ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY
REFRIGERATOR, ANTICIPATING SOLID
1950
THE GE "MONITOR TOP" REFRIGERATOR IS THE FIRST HUGE COMMERCIAL
SUCCESS.
1990
COMPUTER ROOM AIR CONDITIONING UNITS (CRACs) DEVELOPED TO
HANDLE "TOXIC HEAT" EMITTED BY SERVERS IN DATA CENTERS.
HISTORY OF REFRIGERATION
& A/C TIMELINE

40. YEAR EVENT
2020
POPULAR REFRIGERANT HCFC R22 PHASED OUT FOR IMPORT OR NEW
PRODUCTION IN THE US
TODAY
NOVEMBER, 2020. LOW TEMPERATURE REFRIGERATION USED IN
HOSPITALS AND MEDICAL RESEARCH PROTOCOLS ASSIST IN THE
DEVELOPMENT OF THE COVID-19 VACCINE.
HISTORY OF REFRIGERATION
& A/C TIMELINE

41. REFERENCE
Gutowski, E. (2023). The
History of Refrigeration.
Kalos Service. Retrieved
from
https://www.kalosflorid
a.com/air-
conditioning/the-
history-of-refrigeration/

42. THANK YOU FOR
LISTENING