Ben & Jerry’s new in-store freezers don’t use hydrofluorocarbons as refrigerants, but instead use, uh, something else. Something so useful and harmless to the ozone, in fact, that the Environmental Protection Agency hadn’t allowed the technology in the U.S. before this test project, despite its inclusion in over 300 million refrigerators elsewhere around the world. (My guess is some sort of pinko, terrorist molecule that would threaten the American way of cooling — an enemy of freon.)
Speaking of B&J, has anyone had that new Elton John “Yellow Brickle Road” variant? I’m dying to try it but I haven’t been able to find it in Brooklyn as our bodegas don’t really cycle in ice cream in a timely manner. The Colbert flavor ended up being one of my favorites.
Greenpeace and Ben & Jerry’s Make Climate-Friendly Ice Cream Cooler [TreeHugger]
The refrigerant – since it says “Hydrocarbon” on the fridge – might be purified liquid propane. That would also explain why the EPA would not allow it to be used as a refrigerant here in the US – can you imagine purposefully compressing a flammable substance for a reason other than ignition? – but propane needs to be a gas to burn.
I find it weird that they openly avoid what the new technology is. I guess since the tech is open source, I could find out, but why hide it in the articles?
Are the souls of dead kittens hydrocarbons?
BardFinn, I think you’re right:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propane#Refrigeration
I thought that was a really old technology, but it turns out I was wrong. The old propane refrigerators use it in a combustion cycle, whereas the new tech is to use it in an electric compressor setup instead of freon. And yes, it seems very dangerous to me.. let’s hope those are brushless motors!
enochrewt: The more I research the EPA guidelines on acceptable refrigerants, ala http://epa.gov/ozone/snap/refrigerants/qa.html#q11
- the more I am coming to believe that the refrigerant is not named because people might not want to stand next to a refrigerator running on cigarette lighter fluid (butane) as the refrigerant.
I used to be a Ben & Jerry’s fan, but then I took a look at the nutritional information and realized that I may as well gnaw on a stick of butter.
Not that I don’t still eat B&J’s, I just feel guilty about it.
Reminds me of how Mexoryl-based sunscreens were banned in the USA until just a few years ago, despite being accepted as safe in Canada and the EU since 1993.
About propane fridges..
i attended the original Sudbury valley school(oft mentioned in the boingboing forums)
The school fridge looked like this
http://www.sellortrade.biz/buttons/Lge%20GE%20refrig%20003final.jpg except twice as wide.
one day it sprung a leak and they had to clear the building for 48 hours. Luckily it happened over a weekend so it was no big deal.
They replaced it with a stainless steel monolith contemporary (non-propane) fridge which made me very sad.
Elton John’s “Yellow Brick Road” and the Beatles’ “Yellow Submarine”… are two of the five most popular songs that are secretly about bowel movements.
Perhaps it is related to this:
http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/27/einsteins-eco-friendly-refrigerator-concept-dusted-off-put-to/
Liquid propane? Awesome!
Remember that B&J is owned by Unilever.
Am I allowed to feel old if I reference a post I made a long time ago, in which I said I felt old?
The post: http://www.boingboing.net/2008/01/30/man-unveils-30yearol.html#comment-115492
The relevant link (which may or may not be relevant, depending on what method of refrigeration is actually used): http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2003/01/57063
Only if you are Oldie Olson.
Duracool is probably the coolant. It is a purified liquid propane. From their website–Auto ignition of ~1635°F is ACTUALLY a higher auto ignition than R134a which is 1328°F
In automotive applications it runs at 150psi high side vs 300+psi for 134a, thus less load on the engine = saves fuel.
I would like to switch my truck over from 134
http://www.duracool.com/
Glad we’re catching up with the rest of the world here.
I’ll be a bit more excited when the first magnetic refrigerators based on permanent magnets become available. 50% more efficient than what we have now, no working fluid as a coolant. Neat stuff.
Human breast milk maybe?
Some fridges use ammonia – mostly the compressor-less Electrolux ones which you sometimes see in hotel minibars, or in multi-fuel camping coolboxes (although I agree that the refrigerant in the B&J freezer is more likely to be propane or butane).
Propane!
“Ben & Jerry’s unveils new ‘green’ freezers
WASHINGTON – Leave it to Greenpeace to find a way to make ice cream green..(snip)..The freezer, which will eliminate dangerous F-gas emissions found in standard freezers, runs on about three cigarette lighters’ worth of propane.”
From: http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=25&sid=1487966
You can use hydrocarbons such as propane as a refrigerant since they will vaporize and can be compressed back to a liquid in a continuous cycle. They’re not commonly used because of flammability issues and slightly higher compressor pressures needed. The small quantity of refrigerant used and sealed system help prevent problems.
Environment Canada among others has a HCFC phase-out program that is requiring these changes:
http://www.hrai.ca/hcfcphaseout/doc%20english/HRAI%20Brochure%20Web%20Site.pdf
Refrigerators that *burn* gas used it as a heat source to power a sorption cycle — these are commonly used in RVs and remote areas.
The legal status of these as far as EPA regs go can be found at
http://www.epa.gov/Ozone/snap/refrigerants/hc-12a.html#q2
Their composition, health and flammability data can be found at
http://www.duracool.com/msds/webmsdscylr.pdf
Although the autoignition temperature is higher than other refrigerants, it’s quite flammable stuff.
Ben and Jerry’s has funded some work at Penn State working on thermoacoustic coolers but haven’t produced anything significant yet probably because of noise insulation issues.
#16: My friend’s Winnebago has a fridge that uses ammonia. It seemed like a decent alternative until some of it leaked, now you can’t open the fridge without throwing up.
What about the sonic (sorry, “thermoacoustic”) freezer they were working on?
http://www.thermoacousticscorp.com/news/index.cfm/ID/14.htm
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3289/is_/ai_n6073905
Freon was phased out after the Montreal Protocol in 1996. Propane seems to be an improvement in some ways to R134a. The wikipedia link posted earlier explains that, here you can find information the phasing out of freon:
http://www.arap.org/adlittle/4.html
Did anyone (including the original poster and me)notice that “Hydrocarbon ∙ The New Cool” is prominently displayed on the front of the case?
weren’t they talking a couple years ago about switching to freezers that used sound waves or magnets or something to stay cold?
Autoignition is meaningless for normal use:
1) At room temperature, propane/butane will ignite with the smallest spark, and it is (very mildly) toxic.
2) HFC’s: non-toxic to humans (unless you count touching ANY liquid gas, propane included) and will not burn at room temperature (or anywhere near it).
Also, you notice (propane):”slightly higher compressor pressures needed”. This means the freezer uses more power to keep cold= unless this thing is running off of some big windmill/solar panel, it’s creating MORE GREENHOUSE GASSES.