Pommie

We don't use Ammonium Chloride.

We use either,
Liquid Ammonia and Water in a Hydrogen atmosphere.
or,
Lithium Bromide and water.
or,
Lithium Chloride and water.

The nice thing about Lithium (Br or Cl) is that you can use the sun to concentrate the solution and store the concentrate as long as you wish, effectively giving you cooling on demand.

Mike.

bryan1

Hiya Mike (Pommie),
When you say 'we' do you mean your involved? As I'm very interested in developing my own RE based aircon but the first sticking point is to legally get Ammonia I need to get a licience first and be a registered business to be able to get it. The business part isn't a problem just the red tape is. Now is Br of CL readily available here in Oz and does the same rule apply?.
Anyway I've talked on irc to 3 guys who made the solar ice maker and they all said it worked perfect and they average around 20-30 pounds of ice a day.

Nigle's quote of 'it's just not viable' is a typical response from a city slicker who only needs to turn a knob on their aircon for cooling. For us R.E mob life aint that simple for example: my 3kw pure sinewave inverter with a 9kw surge wont start the aircon in my shed.

Cheers Bryan

Our main fridge in our house is an absorbant ammonia one and even when it's 43C in the shade the fridge itself is still sitting on 2C. The only drawback is it's only a 290 litre fridge and that was the biggest available 4 years ago when we got it. I did a trial last year on it by turning off the gas pilot light and throwing a 100 watt globe in there and yes the fridge still worked . But the gas consumption is measly so I switched it back over.

__________________
" The only way to avoid human error is to avoid the use of humans"

Pommie

Hi Bryan,

I used the term 'we' as I was answering the previous posters question "why do we use amonia chloride solution ?"

I am not involved but have had the intention to get involved for a few years, just never got around to it. As far as obtaining Br and Cl (both nasty substances), I think you will have a problem. The good news is you don't need them, you need Lithium Chloride or Lithium Bromide (both harmless powders). On a non industrial scale, Lithium Chloride can be made from Lithium Carbonate (Pottery supplier) and hydrochloric acid. For larger amounts a chemical supply company should be able to supply either with no restrictions. The main drawback is that both are lithium salts and are therefore corrosive.

Mike.

bryan1

Hi Mike,
First thanks for the quick reply and second thanks for the infomation on the lithum cloride . As far as a corrosive enviroment goes I'll be making my proto system out of S.S. anyway. Just means when I do decide to get to the making stage I won't be dandying about a the rental on a bottle of argon aint cheap and when you tig weld S.S you need to purge the line so I'll be in for a 'G' sized bottle when I do it.

Cheers Bryan

__________________
" The only way to avoid human error is to avoid the use of humans"

rjvh

make sure your valves are also SS
also your pipe should be thick enough to withstand pressures up to 12 bar (175 PSI)

Pommie

Unlike Ammonia, a Lithium systems runs in a vacuum.

Mike.

rjvh

and how much is your underpressure??
vacuum is just negative pressure

Nigel Goodwin

Two points - first I live in the country, and always have done, second, air-con is extremely rare in the UK - I certainly don't have it, and probably don't know more than one or two people who do?.

If you would prefer me to be more accurate, it's not 'financially' viable - if you live in the middle of nowhere financial viability isn't a concern - just something that works is.

__________________
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rjvh

england what about a sollar water heater for your hot water supply
the problem with england is the same as holland (where i am orriginaly from) lack of sun hours

Pommie

You should never ever exceed 1 bar of vacuum or the whole universe will be sucked in.

Mike.
P.S. what is negative pressure?

crashsite

You make some good points. I suppose that once you make the ice you could use it to cool the house the next day but, you are right. The amonia system doesn't work in "real time".

Pommie

Ammonia systems do work in real time. Check out any gas powered fridge, they use a small gas flame to run the refrigerator.

Mike.

crashsite

Using ammonia as the working fluid in a refrigerator does work in real time but, the ammonia chloride system (that was referenced and was described in a link from an earlier post) cycles, with the cooling being done in off-sunlit hours. Sorry, I probably didn't put in enough, or the right, parts of the quote to clarify.

rjvh

negative pressure is suction

and for the ice storage it can cool your house but do it properly you have to think about it with the building design of your house
water walls or piping with water circulation is a good option but a head ache in an exsisting house

Pommie

There is no Ammonia Chloride system.
All systems cycle.
All systems can be made to work in real time. They just get a bit more complex.

Mike.