Isaac Solar Ice Maker

My non-electric refrigerator operates along similar lines but uses a propane burner to dissociate ammonia from water in a continuous cycle. Devices such as this can operate on many different heat sources including kerosine. Absorption refrigerators have been available for over a century but they are neither cheap nor inherently safe. <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Absorption_refrigerator#Single_pressure_absorption_refrigeration" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Absorption_refrigerator#Single...</a><p>My next off-grid refrigerator will be solar-electric with a high efficiency compressor. Even factoring in the cost of additional solar panels and a storage battery it will be cheaper to purchase and certainly cheaper to run.

The New Yorker recently published an article on the scarcity of refrigeration in the developing world:<p>&quot;Africa’s Cold Rush and the Promise of Refrigeration<p>For the developing world, refrigeration is growth. In Rwanda, it could spark an economic transformation.&quot;<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.newyorker.com&#x2F;magazine&#x2F;2022&#x2F;08&#x2F;22&#x2F;africas-cold-rush-and-the-promise-of-refrigeration" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.newyorker.com&#x2F;magazine&#x2F;2022&#x2F;08&#x2F;22&#x2F;africas-cold-r...</a>

I&#x27;m reminded of what happened to solar hot water. It&#x27;s now generally cheaper to use PV to drive a heat pump water heater. I suspect the same is true here -- use PV to drive an ordinary refrigeration cycle. And PV, unlike the concentrating collectors shown here, also works with sunlight scattered off clouds and clear air.

If you find this interesting, then read the book or watch the film &quot;The Mosquito Coast&quot; by Paul Theroux. The whole story is about a fridge such as this operating in the heat of Africa.

Chemically&#x2F;physically, how does this work? What are the inputs and outputs?<p>(edit: n&#x2F;m, it&#x27;s not generating ammonia, it&#x27;s just using it as a coolant)

What happens when the ammonia leaks in to the river?