Fridge Without Using Electricity!

This is incredible idea is an extension of the pottery water cooling vessels used though the millennia.

This is Mohammed Bah Abba's Pot-in-pot invention. In northern Nigeria, where Mohammed is from, over 90% of the villages have no electricity. His invention, which he won a Rolex Award for (and $100,000), is a refrigerator than runs without electricity.



Here's how it works. You take a smaller pot and put it inside a larger pot. Fill the space in between them with wet sand, and cover the top with a wet cloth. When the water evaporates, it pulls the heat out with it, making the inside cold. It's a natural, cheap, easy-to-make refrigerator.





So, instead of perishable foods rotting after only three days, they can last up to three weeks. Obviously, this has the potential to change their lives. And it already has -- there are more girls attending school, for example, as their families no longer need them to sell food in the market.

Arnold Williams from hathaby.net commented on this in his weblog. He said:

QUOTE
Brilliant ideas don't need to be difficult to execute: here's a case in point. The technology has been known for centuries, but WASN'T APPLIED TO THE PROBLEM. Notice that applying technology also has the effect of educating young people.

Great post, L! I just might try it. I bet you need to have clay pots, without holes like a lot of flower pots have. Probably can get them in any garden supply store. Sand from the beach or wherever. Have to remember to keep the sand moist, and you probably have to put a layer of sand in the bigger pot first, then place the smaller pot and fill around the edges with sand, water. I'll let you know if I try it. That man deserves a prize - oh yeah, he got one.

I had seen this technique before but I think I posted it on the other site before we all left so when it came up again I figured I would post it here...

Let us know how you make out Ruts, maybe use a thermometer and let us know what the temps are like and for how long....

Oh yes, good idea L. I can put a refrigerator thermometer in with the food inside the "fridge". Wonder if the inventor did that....

Here's a new twist

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Global Cooling: Solar-Powered & Ultra-Portable Mini-Fridge



It is this kind of truly remarkable invention can (and did) get a student designer like Emily Cummins an invitation to visit with the Queen of England. It looks like an unassuming mixed-material cylinder, but conceals the astonishing ability to transform rays from the sun into vital food-cooling air ... a simple but world-changing technology.

Refrigeration is a tough technology to make mobile, let alone solar-powered and suitable for the developed and developing nations of the world alike. A few years, now, since its creation, and already this little fridge has changed the lives of thousands of rural Africans who have heretofore relied on less convenient, cheap and healthy methods for keeping edible commodities fresh and safe.



Better than the best cold basement, this device is capable of keeping milk and meat cool for days in most climates - not quite as long in serious desert conditions. Not yet, anyway. A new model is already in the works to carry both food and medical supplies). This is not an entirely new concept - locals have been doing this in various countries for ages, but in low-tech, less-efficient and less-effective ways.



The outer shell of the device can be made with whatever materials may be handy (including wood or plastic), while the inner drum is crafted from metal. Soaking the layer between both cylinders with water (dirty works just as well as clean, since the inner unit is sealed) begins and evaporative cooling process that keeps the contents cold as long as it remains wet. Beyond making for a neat piece of camping gear, it can help preserve food for people in places without electricity all over the globe.