Pull-out refrigerator: free cold by Félix Trombe (patented in 1962)

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Pull-out refrigerator: free cold by Félix Trombe (patented in 1962)




by Christophe » 23/10/20, 10:39

I pull out technological corpses from the cupboards ... : Cheesy:

I present to you the pull-out fridge and the electric wall respectively by Felix Trombe (also inventor of the solar wall called the trombe wall: ecoconstruction-hqe / solar-collector-wall-or-storm-wall-in-passive-house-t8671.html ) and Daniel Depris

1962: French researchers discovered free cold… 1982: Daniel DEPRIS invents the wall that produces electricity… 2002: these discoveries have never been exploited! ! !

“If in the morning, after a clear night, the countryside is adorned with dew or frost, it is because the ground has radiated its daytime heat during the night, while the air temperature has varied much less. Hence the temperature difference between soil and air, hence condensation on the cold spots. But, laymen or physicists, we have never thought of using this temperature difference. Are not the obvious phenomena the least studied? ... Now, here in France, the systematic study of the phenomenon has given rise to surprising possibilities. A new form of energy was born, it is French, it is universal… ”.

It is on this "cocorico" that began, in May 1963, an article published by the French review "SCIENCE et VIE" (n ° 548). Mention was made of the work carried out by Félix TROMBE, a CNRS research director whose name is well known to those who are interested in the natural processes of refrigeration and air conditioning. He is notably the inventor of a type of wall (Trombe wall) which regulates the temperature inside so-called “bioclimatic” dwellings.

It was at the beginning of the 60s that Félix Trombe, in collaboration with Albert and Madeleine Lê Phat Vinh, developed a series of devices whose extreme simplicity was - the editor of "Science et Vie" tells us - of the egg of Columbus.

Among these devices was a refrigerator which exploited the physical phenomenon described above. Named a "pull-out refrigerator", it took the form of a box with walls lined with shiny aluminum surrounded by thick insulation with, for bottom, a plate of oxidized aluminum and, as a cover, a film. of very fine plastic transparent to infrared from 8 to 13,5 microns in wavelength. By fitting several of these boxes together, one could obtain temperature differences of up to 35 degrees! So, for an external temperature of 25 ° C, we could go down to - 10 ° C without any moving part, therefore without consuming any external energy. The CNRS team even demonstrated that the process could be further improved and temperature differences of around 50 to 75 ° C could be obtained, in particular by storing the heat stored by rocks exposed to the sun.

It was therefore shown that one could produce cold almost for free, with an installation which cost only a few cents and which could be installed in the garden of a house or in a corner of a remote African village. Because this “brilliant French invention” offered great possibilities for hot countries where energy is scarce and expensive.

But now, the bride was too beautiful! No industrial group wanted to hear about this fridge which cost next to nothing and which did not consume energy. This material could not bring them anything and the CNRS researchers were asked to look for something else, something very profitable for the lobbies and for EDF-GDF! ! !

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Two diagrams which illustrated the article of May 1963. On the left, the general principle of a cooling element and, above, the 5-element nesting system which made it possible to obtain a temperature difference of 35 ° C. The necessary materials are very inexpensive: aluminum plates, polystyrene plates, white paint based on titanium oxide and very common polyethylene film. Nothing else. The manufacture is within the reach of a good handyman if he has a clear and complete plan. These refrigerators can easily be produced on site, the transport of raw materials being easy and inexpensive. This material is perfectly suited to hot countries.

And we no longer spoke of "free cold". Refrigerators had to be sold, including to the most remote villages in central Africa. If they did not have electricity, they had to sell them - very expensive - bottles of gas. The principle was the same as for cooking, where housewives in hot countries were encouraged to cook "European-style" even though a "solar cooker" allows cooking… for free!

From Félix Trombe's research, only a few very rare articles remain, including that of Science et Vie which appears in the CEPHES archives. Fortunately, the indications which appear in this article - and the diagrams which illustrate it - are sufficient to realize a “Trombe fridge”. Notice to amateurs.

In the same vein, Daniel DEPRIS, President of CEPHES, studied various practical applications of thermoelectricity, in particular the Seebeck effect and the Thomson effect. Like Trombe, he imagined a wall, not to produce cold but to produce electricity. This "Depris wall" should consist of a large number of thermocouples included in a special partition. It would exploit the temperature difference existing between the external face and the internal face of the partition to produce a potential difference. This difference would be sufficient to power light bulbs and a minimum of modern comfort (radio, TV, computer and small electronics). Like the Trombe fridge, the Depris wall does not involve any moving element, which gives it great reliability. It is virtually indestructible and requires no maintenance. In addition, electricity production can be done at night, unlike photovoltaic panels which can only operate during the day.

The manufacturing cost of thermoelectric walls would however be higher than that of nesting fridges (certain materials used in the manufacture of thermocouples being quite expensive). Produced in series and in standardized formats, they could however be sold at an affordable price and, in any case, easy to pay for in the context of a new construction. But, here again, we should not expect any collaboration from official authorities (such as Ademe or Anvar) which are very skillfully handled by agents of industrial and financial groups.


source: http://depris.cephes.free.fr/presscom/2002/021-02.htm

I will try to find the corresponding patents ...
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