How we learned to make the ice
It's no secret that ice comes in different forms: atmospheric and what is produced by man himself. And ice created by man can be edible and artificial, granular and flaky, hot and even fried. Naturally, food ice is most often used in everyday life. To create such ice, you need a special device - an ice maker.
The first ice generators appeared in the mid-19th century. American naturalist and physician John Gorey, born in 1803, worked for many years on the creation of air conditioners in parallel with his medical practice. And in 1851, he came up with a brilliant idea - to create a machine capable of producing artificial ice. But its discovery remained undeservedly forgotten, since the company where it was planned to produce the first ice generator went bankrupt. But the principle was later used by other engineers.
People continued to use natural ice, and dozens of scientists and inventors continued to work on the development of technology for producing artificial ice. The attempts of the American engineer Oliver Evans also ended unsuccessfully. And only the English doctor Jacob Perkins was the first to receive a patent for his compression unit operating on diethyl ether.
In parallel with Perkins' developments, the Englishman John Leslie developed a fundamentally new technology based on absorption. The first absorption machines were used in a Brooklyn brewery in 1870. Later, the first refrigerated ship appeared, which was equipped with a refrigeration unit by Fernando Carre.
Along with the development of compression devices, other technologies for generating cold were created. At the beginning of the 20th century, the first domestic refrigeration units appeared. The ancestors are the compression refrigerators of Carlo von Linde. Since then, a whole industry has emerged. And refrigeration units were rapidly improved and became very popular. Hundreds of enterprises in Europe and America have launched the production of refrigerators, and their names are known throughout the world: Servel, General Electric, Kelvinator, Gibson, Electrolux.
Currently, ice generators have been created as separate devices, specifically for producing edible ice. The operating principle of such a device is extremely simple. Just fill in the water and turn on the device. Using a pump, water enters the chamber, where it turns into ice cubes. After this, the finished product goes into a special container for collection. Such devices are used in bars and cafes, as well as at home to cool drinks during a party.
Author - Harut Tsormutyan 