Historical beginnings: Using natural refrigeration
There is evidence that natural refrigeration has been used to cool food and drink since ancient times. In Egypt, where ice never occurs naturally, the first records of deliberate cooling may be found on ancient frescoes (2,500 BC) that show slaves waving large fans over clay jars to cool drinking water through evaporation. A similar procedure was applied in India, where flat clay vessels were arranged on straw mats overnight to keep water cool.
Snow and ice in ancient Mesopotamia (2,000 BC)
In ancient times, snow and ice were gathered in the winter months and stored in caves and artificially insulated cellars until summer. This practice was used mainly for keeping drinks cool, wine in particular. Alexander the Great thus had 30 trenches dug and filled with snow, to keep wine cool for his legions during the lengthy siege of Petra.
Cooling mixtures
It is unclear when it was first discovered that water could be cooled by dissolving salt. Based on the Indian book “Pancatantram” (4th century AD), which states, “Water is cool when it contains salt,” we may conclude that this phenomenon had long been known by that time. Ice cream was first commercially manufactured using cooling mixtures in Paris in 1660 by a Florentine, Procopio Coltello. His Café Procope is still in existence.
The birth of mechanical refrigeration: Jacob Perkins and the year 1834
The birth of the modern vapour compression chiller can be dated to 14 August 1834, when Jacob Perkins, an American who had emigrated to the UK, registered his famous British patent no. 6662, “Apparatus and means for producing ice, and in cooling fluids”, which was granted on 14 February 1835.
The evolution of refrigeration systems: From Gorrie to Linde
The three most important refrigeration procedures were developed in the space of just three decades (1840-1870): Cold gas refrigeration machines, cold vapour machines with thermal compressors (absorption machines) and cold vapour machines with mechanical compressors. Pioneers such as Gorrie, Carré and Linde took these technologies forward and brought them to technical maturity.
