AMMONIA REFRIGERATION

A 220 TR (tons refrigeration) De La Vergne ammonia compressor of 1890 with very

large atmospheric condenser coils at high level

(“Refrigeration and Air Conditioning,” Richard C Jordan & Gayle B Priester, 1956:

CIBSE Heritage Group Collection)

One TR (ton) is a measure of refrigerating capacity derived from changing the state of

one US ton (2000 pounds) of ice to water where the latent heat of fusion is 144 Btu/lb

which equates to 12000 Btu/h or 3.5 kW

Advertisement of 1921 featuring ammonia refrigeration for a

South African Cold Store

Advertisement of 1921

Advertisement of 1921

Advertisement of 1921

Section through a double-acting ammonia compressor on the De La Vergne system

fitted with Louis Block’s patent arrangement of valves which injected oil into the

cylinder at each stroke for lubrication, cooling and filling up clearances

(“Refrigerating and Ice-Making Machinery,” A J Wallis-Tayler, 1902:

CIBSE Heritage Group Collection)

Two views of De La Vergne ammonia compression systems (Wallis-Tayler)

Another ammonia system but this is an absorption machine. In spite of its large size

capacity was only 4 TR, built by the Automatic Refrigerating & Ice Machine Company

of Muscatine, Iowa. (“Refrigeration in the Gay Nineties,” David L Fiske, Refrigerating

Engineering, December 1940)

The first refrigerating machine produced by York was the 1885 Jarman ammonia

machine (“The Legend of York International,” Jeffrey L Rodengen, 1996:

CIBSE Heritage Group Collection)

Early catalogue drawing for absorption machine which claimed

” No Waste of Ammonia” (Fiske)

Frick 2 TR compression machine of 1890 (Fiske)