non electrical refrigeration, freezing, and air condition system

Hi permies people, I’ve been lurking for a while now and figured this idea was a good enough reason to sign up as any so here it goes:
I have 2 fast moving streams about 100ft from my house so the system I’ve come up starts with a series of trompes(https://permies.com/t/4665/alternative-energy/alternative-energy-appropriate-tech-stuff#40416) to act as the forced air, initial cooling and drying. The compressed air would then flow threw a manifold contained into a passive soda bottle freezer(https://permies.com/t/4401/homestead/build-energy-efficient-walk-cooler#54714) in the basement. The freezer would be positioned under the cold cupboard in the kitchen and the now even colder air would be pushed threw another manifold in the cupboard. Finally the cold air would be released into the house providing cold air conditioning. i also thought of using a solar chimney to help things along. I’m figuring the freezer might be a cooler by the end of the season but that is something I’m willing to deal with. I would love any feed back from you guys.

Hello Everyone. Has anyone come across a system which can run off hot water and produce air conditioning for a house ? Looking forward for your reply. Thanks.

Markham Cornoit wrote:Hello Everyone. Has anyone come across a system which can run off hot water and produce air conditioning for a house ? Looking forward for your reply. Thanks.

These are available in Europe. See sortech.de. As far as the U.S. I have no idea.

If you're mechanically inclined and willing to experiment, then I can suggest a few possibilities.

Looks like that sortech.de site is under construction. Here is another site that describes the same products: http://www.solarnext.eu/eng/prod/chillii_ads_kits.shtml

Look up designs for old kerosene fired refrigerator/freezers common before WWII. They should be able to run from just about any sort of heat. The refrigerant is common ammonia.

I've been pondering the idea that a propane refrigerator could be modified to use other sources of heat. For instance, why not solar? Any heat source could be used. It should be possible to have an array of available heat sources. Use the heat source that is most appropriate and then have a backup and backups for the backup.

The same could work for home/house cooling. You would have to cobble something together on a larger scale than a refrigerator, but it should work. The technology is relatively simple. The refrigeration unit itself has no moving parts.

Here's an interesting one: http://www.notechmagazine.com/2012/06/the-poor-mans-refrigerator.html

George Stone wrote:I've been pondering the idea that a propane refrigerator could be modified to use other sources of heat. For instance, why not solar? Any heat source could be used. It should be possible to have an array of available heat sources. Use the heat source that is most appropriate and then have a backup and backups for the backup.

The same could work for home/house cooling. You would have to cobble something together on a larger scale than a refrigerator, but it should work. The technology is relatively simple. The refrigeration unit itself has no moving parts.

no moving parts does not necessarily make them simple. These things usually use toxic chemicals (ammonia), so you gotta be careful.

There were plans floating around the net for a solar ice maker. Basically an ammonia freezer powered by a solar trough.

That brings up an interesting point, have any of you seen the movie, "Mosquito Coast"?

Saw that movie a long time ago. Didn't the "hero" made an ice machine in a jungle somewhere?

Everything has a risk. We just have to be clever and careful about how we manage the risk. Ammonia is toxic, but it's been used in refrigerators, coolers, and refrigeration for a long time. I'm thinking the potential hazard is fairly small. And if I am recalling correctly, it's not very concentrated in refrigeration units. That and I don't think we're talking about a very large volume of it either. The "active chemicals" in propane refrigerators are ammonia, water, and hydrogen. Handling the hydrogen might actually be more hazardous. Still, I think a reasonably sharp tinkerer could come up with a safe, working prototype and go from there.

15 years ago, they were going to use brine as the refrigerant. Is pretty hard on the pipes tho.

There is a company up in colorado distributing a heat exchanging swamp cooler. still takes power tho.

In looking around for more information on trompes, I came across this thread.

Much to my disappointment, there are no responses to the OP. The second post totally hijacked the thread.

So, anyone have any thoughts related to the original poster's idea?

It seems to me that there are numerous uses for a trompe in a good permaculture design, including refrigeration.
It also seems to me that a trompe is a textbook method of stacking functions in certain circumstances.

Im sure that one could carefully remove the propane fired fridge from a camper and modify it to run off a solar collector instead of the propane burn chamber. Im fairly certain that most of those camper fridges are ammonia absorbtion systems so all that's needed is a heat source that I'm sure could be supplemented by a rmh or solar application. the trick I think would be to get the guts out in one piece so that it doesn't leak or need to be recharged or resealed.

I just started a new thread about this exact topic. Not the OP's topic, but the absorption fridge by solar trough idea. Would love to see this convo get up and going again.

Hi. I'm new to this as you may be able to tell...
Live off grid in central Missouri and it's hot and humid right now.  Just bought a harbor fright inverter generator (2200 watt) , and so far so good- I'm running a small (10,000btu) a/c in it. Getting 6 hours of run time on a gallon of gas.
Well I was wondering if anyone knows of or has built a "direct-drive" gas/ propane  refrigerator or a/c, where there would be no electric conversion- the engine would power the compressor directly- should be more efficient.
I'd be willing to help build one.
Thanks! Tom Moran

Here is some trompe design info from the American Society of Mining and Reclamation

https://www.asmr.us/Portals/0/Documents/Meetings/2016/27-01-Danehy.pdf

Maybe put a trompe on one stream and a ram pump for irrigation on the other......

found this in an article by MotherEarthNews on how to run a trompe:

"....builder of a small-scale trompe should be able to achieve the same result with only one or two such tubes [14-inch diameter].
Here are a couple of things to remember if you decide to jury-rig your own hydraulic air compressor:

If you want to be able to switch the air off but leave water running through the device, build a "blow-off" pipe....
the lower end of which is located slightly below the normal water level in the reservoir. This way, when you block the airflow
through the discharge line, the air pressure in the reservoir will increase to the point where the water level drops and surplus
air can escape through the blowoff pipe. "

"When you first start up your trompe, don't let any air escape through the discharge line until the pressure has had a chance
to build. Otherwise you'll end up with a plenum full of water and no compressed air."

I've been reading about trompes for a while now.  Haven't played around with them yet as most sources say you only get 14psi of air pressure for every 25 feet of vertical drop.  

One of the more interesting things I did find was three Youtube videos by Mr Teslonian hybridizing a hydralic ram pump and a trompe into what he called the Trompe Hammer.  It is an intriguing concept that probably needs further research.  It could be an amazing adaptation for those of us that have low head flowing streams.

Parts One, Two, and Three on the following links.