Generally speaking, the only time one needs an air conditioner is when the sun shines. The rest of the time you could shut it off. Just doing that simple act of conservation would save a bundle on your light bill. But better yet, why pay for air conditioning at all, when you can have an air conditioner that runs on sunshine. Then, when the sun is hot, it makes cold to keep you comfortable. Cool idea?

   Absorption refrigeration has been around since the 1930s, even though its detailed operation regarding the fundamental mechanism of physics was yet to be revealed. It uses a unique combination of compatible resonant fields associated with ammonia, water, and hydrogen gas to pump heat from one place to another.

   First of all, a mixture of ammonia and water is separated in a "generator" by heating it with concentrated sunlight. The ammonia vapor is condensed to a liquid giving off large quantities of heat. Liquid ammonia is then mixed with hydrogen gas just as the mixture enters an evaporator. There, the ammonia evaporates taking large quantities of heat form the surrounding "cold compartment." This can be used as a refrigerator, or one can use a fan to blow air through it for air conditioning.

   The ammonia vapor is then absorbed into the circulating water. Here in the "absorber" it gives up some of its heat along with the hydrogen gas. The hydrogen is re-circulated back to the evaporator, and the water/ammonia mixture is re-circulated into the generator. The generator is also designed to function as a percolator pump like the one in a coffee maker to pump all these various fluids through the system.

   The device has some distinct commercial disadvantages as you can see. First of all, it has no mechanical moving parts… which means that it tends to outlast the building it is installed in, and requires very little maintenance. It doesn't use any electricity except for the fan if one is used. So it is not well suited for planned obsolescence, which is so dear to the hearts of modern industry. Thus it is really designed to save money rather than to generate money for someone else, like ordinary air conditioning is so efficient at doing.

   Most commercial absorption refrigeration systems operate on natural, or LP gas. But in this case, there is no reason to buy fuel, when sunlight is readily available during the time when the process is needed most.

   There are a variety of ways to build a solar concentrating collector, which will be covered in future CoolScientist articles. Concentrated sunlight can be directed right onto the generator at the location where a flame would be held in a gas-fired system. Or, the sun's heat can be collected and transported to where it is needed using a heat pipe, which will also be covered in a future article.

   The seeming paradox of producing cold from heat baffles many. The key to its operation is in the resonant bonding fields in ammonia and water. When the two get together, the ammonia will absorb into the water, just like sugar soaks into your coffee. That is, the outer fields interlace, pulling the molecules closer together. But in doing so, they give off heat. Thus the "absorber" and the "condenser" need to be located in the open air so the extra heat can blow away.

   Hydrogen gas is mixed with the ammonia in the evaporator in order to equalize pressures within the system, and keep the water from running backwards into the evaporator. Thus it maintains the functional separation between evaporation (which naturally soaks up heat,) and absorption into water, which naturally gives off heat.

   Cool Science huh!

   Can you beat the competition for your job in science, engineering, or education without being up-to-date with the most advanced information?

   You can learn more about Resonant Fields with the exciting E-book: "Resonant Fields, the Fundamental Mechanism of Physics," from the Lesson Index Page

   Now that's exciting, isn't it!