The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1897-05-14

While. The absorption system, SO call
ed, is even less economical than this.
Here liquid ammonia is employed in
stead of anhydrous, and this IS boiled.
The resulting ammonia gas is con-
densed, and this, after being run
through the expansion coils in the
freezing tanks is led into the absorb
err" The latter is really condenser,
not much different from that used in
the compression system save that the
condensing is not effected by mechani-
cal means Of the two systems, the
compression process is in more general
use. There are thousands of these ma
chimes over the country making ice
but, except in the South, they cannot
compete save under exceptional con-
ditions, with natural ice.
The new machine, devised by the or
iginal inventor of the compression sys-
tenn, though simple enough, is extreme
ly ingenious 1t consists, essentially
of a device for freezing ice on the sur
face of big hollow drum revolving in
bath of pure distilled water. In the
interior of this hollow drum the evap-
! Grating agent, ammonia or whatever
may be employed, is introduced through
a small orifice under pressure, with the
result that it expands rapidly. The
revolution of the drum keeps its entire
interior surface wet with the liquid
ammonia thus keeping up a constant
freezing surface.
On the exterior surface of the drum
ice forms very rapidly, just as it does,
for example near the exterior Of the tin
cans in use at the present time, the
f,ean n he 70 Of olNn
a quarter OF an inch minute. But the
new machine does not allow the ice to
gain any such thickness as this, indeed
not more than a thirty~second of an
inch. 1t is then cut off by knives that
act as scrapers, and work back and
forth along the surface Of the drum,
so that a considerable portion of the
drum is always clean. Thus the freez-
ing goes on constantly, and likewise
at precisely the same rate.
The ice scrapings, when cut off, rise
| to the surface Of the water, perfOrce of
the fact that they are lighter than the
water itself, and are caught in a curved
| hood. Underneath this hood is a revolv-
| ing screw conveyor, which pushes the
! ice-scrapings out through a vent and
from this vent the water is drained off,
| and the ice remaining is thrust into a
| hydraulic press. Here a remarkable oc-
| Currence takes place. The particles of
ice are naturally moist, and when they
/ are crushed together under the action
of the hydraulic press, the moment the
press is released the particles fly to-
gether, and in a second form q perfectly
CONCEALED mass, much more compact,
! indeed, than natural ice since it con-
| tains no air bubbles and no frozen
| snow.
! 1t will be seen that by this machine
the time required for the manufacture
! of a ton of ice is cut down from hours
| to minutes. Indeed, cake of ice as
! large as that frozen in the tin cans at
present can be made by this machine
| in the space of a few minutes AS the
I freezing mixture is able to act upon
| the water to be frozen directly, and
| not as in the can system, through a
/ thick layer of slow conducting ice it
! follows that, alike in time and expen-
/ sive materials, this machine is i'm
/ mensely more economical 1t will prob
| ably cut the cost of making artificial
| ice down to a third or a quarter of
what it is now.
/ AT the present time what is known as
q 1O0-ton plant-that is a plant which
will manufacture a hundred tons of ice
per day-costs, with the best machin-
cry, in the, neighborhood of $50, 900, to
say nothing of the building and the lot
upon which it stands. and the latter
must be one of considerable size, some
thing like 100x150 feet AS the location,
further, must be in the very heart of
the district to be supplied, so as to re-
| duce the loss from hauling and melting
to a minimum, in a large city the cost
| of land alone is an exceedingly impor-
tant item and one that adds heavily to
/ the fixed charges of the plant Mr.
/ Holden estimates that a 100-ton plant
Of the new system will not cost more
than half as much as the old. or about
0GO0, and that it will only require a
| lot of about 2Jx100 feet, which very
materially decreases the original CAPT
tai required for a plant. With fuel and
supplies at present New York prices,
! he promises ice at figures already
| named-that is, at about fifty cents a
| ton for cost of manufacture. At this
rate it will be possible to sell ice in
/ cities like New York, Boston, Philadel-
! phia, and Chicago at from 81 to 81 30
a ton with handsome profit At the
present time New York uses an aver
| age Of l., 900 tons Of ice daily, and less
| than 900 tons of this is made by ma
chinery
But the new system carries with it
| more than a promise of cheap ice: it
promises pure ice as well. There is a
prevalent notion that water in freezing
! purifes itself of all kinds of contain
| ination. This is true only to a very
| limited extent. The larger particles
contained in water WILL in congelation.
tend to be expelled, just as, for exam
| pie, is the air from the airholes, which
are almost always to be seen in a pond
or river. But great deal of careful
! experiment has shown that though a
| large proportion of the invisible bac-
| terra the water contains may be de-
/ stroyed still large numbers may re-
main alive, since many species are quite
| invulnerable to the action of cold No
| tably is this the case with the germs
which cause typhoid fever, which may
remain alive for months, even though
fast frozen in q solid block of ice. AS
the neighborhood of the ice fields be-
comes more thickly settled and the de-
mand for ice also increases, the dam
| ger is proportionately advanced
But artificial ice may be made prac-
ticaly pure. Usually it is first filtered,
then converted into steam in vertical
boilers about twenty feet high; the
steam condensed and again filtered in
steam filters filled with coke. The cor
densation is effected by placing The
filters in the open air, on the roof of the
building, and circulating around them