The Daily bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Hawaii]) 1882-1895, 1884-08-16
Ths 9ailp 8nMEtin.
SATURDAY, AUGUST l6, 1884.
A VISIT TO THE ICE WORKS.

Among the industries of our city,
there is probably none more neces.
sary to our comfort than the produc-
ton of ice.
To obtain u practical idea of the
process involved in its manufacture,
some days ago, visited the Artesian
Ice Works at Punahou. On entering
the same, found myself in a spacious
room containing the engine, two gas
pumps, q retort and receiver, also q
large pipe connecting with the pumps
from q partition on the right of the
room, on the left Of it, through q
small door 1 caught sight of c. boiler,
and in front of me just in
side of the building was q
large circular framework on
which were fastened spirally two
coils of pipe which were connected
at the top to a large pipe leading
from the pump, and at the bottom
with a pipe leading to the receiver,
already mentioned, which is a plain
upright cylinder of great strength.
In the centre of the circular
framework is q revolving sprinkler,
which, in its revolutions, throws
constant spray of water against the
spirally arranged pipe.
was then conducted up u short
flight of stairs through n small heavy
door in the partition on the right,
and found myself in large room with
low ceiling, which is called the treez-
ing room, and its temperature is
sos Fahrenheit when making ice.
One half of the floor had been taken
up showing u large wooden tank
with partitions of iron, some two
feet apart, thus forming compart-
ments eight feet long, two feet wide
and four feet high, the partitions are
double leaving space of several
inches between the plates of iron.
From the receiver in the engine
room, pipe leads through the wall
of the freezing room, and entering
the space between the two plates of
the first partition, on one end, passes
to the bottom and traversing the
length of the same, it returns until
reaching the other end, turns again
and so on until it reaches the top,
forming sort of rack of pipes be-
tween the iron plates.
On reaching the top of the first
partition, the pipe rises two feet,
then crossing over, enters the next
partition repeating the same arrange
ment as in the first, and so on
through the eight partitions. On
leaving the last one, the pipe returns
along the wall, to near the point
where it entered the room, and there
connects with the large pipe leading
to the pump, The remaining half
of the floor was down, but a similar
set of pipes on the opposite side OF
the room revealed the fact, that n
tank like the one exposed, was UNI
derneath our feet. Shortly after l
entered the room, those in charge of
the works finished filling the two
foot spaces between the partitions,
with water from an artesian well
outside. They next filled the spaces
in the double partitions with
salt brine, until the latter would just
cover over the top pipe.
They covered the whole tank with
short planking which would reach
from one partition to the other, and
having done so, they told me the
tank was ready for freezing, which
process was explained to me us fol-
lows:
The freezing is done by the ammo
MIA process, that is in its liquid state
is charged in the retort, steam coil
in the center furnishes the heat neces-
sary to change the ammonia from
liquid to gaseous state, it is thus
drawn through small pipe into the
dump cylinder, and from there ejec-
ted into the spiral coil outside the
building where, by the constant eva
peration of the spray thrown against
the outside, condensation ensues, and
the liquidruns into the receiver, from
there it enters the pipes in the racks
in tank partitions, and combining
with the brine surrounding the
pipes, creates so low temperature
as to cause the water to CONCEAL on
the plate surfaces. In reducing the
the temperature of the water, the
ammonia is constantly throwing off
gas which is drawn away by the
large pipe leading to the pump.
The pump forces it into the con-
denser and after liquefying it again
passes through the receiver on its
cooling GRAND.
After q sufficient amount of ammo
MIA has been drawn into the pipes,
to properly do the work of freezing,
z a slight addition, now and then only,
is necessary to make up for possible
loss by leakage.
The process requires the constant
- working of the engine, night ant