Engineering an Icyball

**pachinko** · 10-08-2006, 01:08 PM

For those who do not know what an Icyball is:
Crosley Icyball
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icyball

I would like to ask for help with the engineering calculations. Something very basic, like this:

We start with (say) 4lbs of water and 3 lbs ammonia in the hot ball at ambient pressure and temperature.

We apply X BTUs to the hot ball and (ideally) we end up with 4 lbs of water at 230ºF in the hot side, 3 lbs ammonia at 80ºF on the cold side and the pressure at P PSIA. Or maybe less than all the ammonia goes to the cold side, I suppose.

We now insert the cold ball in an enclosure at (say) 10ºF which provides X BTUs to the cold ball until the hot ball had come down to room temperature...

I'm just trying to grasp the basics here as I am not familiar with absorption refrigeration or with the thermodynamics of water-ammonia mixtures.

Guidance from the experts will be greatly appreciated.

**Carnak** · 10-08-2006, 04:25 PM

It sounds like a Joseph Priestly experiment. I think he tried separating ammonia out of a water solution with heat.

He had a couple test tubes connected, he had the ammonia water solution in one test tube. He heated the solution and ammonia vapour left the solution and went in the second test tube and condensed to a liquid.

Now I am just trying to recall here but I think when he stopped heating the ammonia water solution, suddenly the liquid ammonia that had condensed in the other test tube started to boil at a cold temperature.

If you go through Modern Refrigeration, they have a couple pages and diagrams explaining how those RV absorbtion fridges work, it sort of revolves around "Dalton's Law of Partial Pressures".

**oroy54** · 10-08-2006, 04:44 PM

What Carnak said. The last time I posted to Carnak I got spanked. Let me get this right, adsorption is for driers with dessicant, absorbtion is like a spounge. Hey lets have a picture of a icey ball. This is fairly new to me. I do cryo. Evaporation is cool. Roy

**Carnak** · 10-08-2006, 04:52 PM

You sure you didn't post to Dear Abby and she put you over her knee?

**oroy54** · 10-08-2006, 05:07 PM

I still didn't see what I did wrong. But jrbenny fixed it. I forgot already, and thats ok. I was drinking last night. What ever is was, it wuz funny to me. Can't be serious all the time. There is a time for everything. January 2007

**Carnak** · 10-08-2006, 05:50 PM

well whatever it was I missed it, see ya in the new year. I see if I can line up a big batty woman to spank you

**Carnak** · 10-08-2006, 07:56 PM

I started searching Priestly and he used to use mercury to absorb stuff then heat it, so maybe it wasn't water ammonia. I opened up Modern Refrigeration and they were talking about Faraday using silver chloride to absorb ammonia.

Modern Refrigeration has a picture of Faradays Experiment, they also have a section on the Intermittent Absorption System, sounds pretty similar to your Ice ball.

**corny** · 10-08-2006, 09:51 PM

Might be able to do some google searching and find someone who has restored one....

I did a search and came up with quite a few links for "restored icyball"

About 20 years ago when I was in rses we had an older gentlemen who was a member. He had a restored icyball in his shop....he has long since passed on and I dont know where the icyball ended up.... probably a junk yard or something...never know though.....

anyhow...looks like there is an interest in them....

good luck

.... have you tried a patent search.... wonder if there would be any formulas in the original patent ???

[Edited by corny on 10-08-2006 at 09:54 PM]