Refrigeration for developing countries
Practical Action
Novel (biomass
driven)
Local
manufacture
possible. Under
development,
relatively low cost.
Any locally available
heat source
suitable, eg
charcoal, coal, agro
wastes, cow dung
fossil fuels.
Maintenance of
open burner,
brine tank,
cooling water.
Local skills
sufficient.
Locally
available
spare parts.
Solar
Very new on
market.
Performance not
yet evaluated.
Low night
temperatures can
be advantageous
in some cases.
Presence of
cooling water
advantageous.
Provincial
manufacture
possible.
Table 1: Choosing a system.
Further information
Solar irradiation 10-
120 MJ/day/m².
Long periods of
cloud problematic.
Local skills
sufficient, few
moving parts.
Solar panels
may require
import of
spare parts.
Purchase cost
projected at
£2000 for
100 kg
ice/day. Fuel
cost £50-100
per year.
Current
purchase cost
£1500-2500
for 10 kg
ice/day.
Projected cost
£4000 for
100kg ice/day
(including
solar panel).
Factsheets & handbooks
• Evaporative Cooling Practical Action Technical Brief
http://practicalaction.org/evaporative-cooling-1
• Evaporative Cooler - The Ceramic Refrigerator Engineering drawings of the Sudan
Zeer pot-in-a-pot evaporative cooler. http://practicalaction.org/evaporative-cooling-the-
ceramic-refrigerator-1
• Solar Photovoltaic Refrigeration of Vaccines Practical Action Technical Brief
http://practicalaction.org/solar-photovoltaic-refrigeration-of-vaccines-1
• Cold Storage of Fruit and Vegetables Practical Action Technical Brief
http://practicalaction.org/cold-storage-of-fruit-and-vegetables-1
• Solar Energy and Rural Health Care: Fact Sheet N132: https://apps.who.int/inf-
fs/en/fact132.html WHO
• Solar Energy for Cooling and Refrigeration
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/eng/staff/dbm/es368/solarcool.pdf DTU
• ASHRAE Handbooks:
1997, Fundamentals
1998, Refrigeration
1999, HVAC Applications
2000, HVAC Systems and Equipment
American Society of Heating, Refrigeration & Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE)
1791 Tullie Circle
North East Atlanta
GA 30329, USA
Tel: +1 (404) 636 8400
Fax: +1 (404) 321 5478
Website: www.ashrae.org
• R J Dossat, 1997, Principles of Refrigeration. Prentice Hall, 4th edition.
• Ray Tomkins, 1985, Prospects for Solar Refrigeration,
Ray Tomkins Management School
Imperial College, 53 Princes Gate
Exhibition Road, London, SW7 2PG,
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)20 7594 9137
Fax: +44 (0)20 7823 7685
Website: www.ms.ic.ac.uk
• US AID – Powering Health
http://www.poweringhealth.org/topics/refrigeration/index.shtml
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