Servel Electrolux Gas Refrigerator

Title

Servel Electrolux Gas Refrigerator

Subject

In 1979, Jimmy Carter said that "human identity is no longer defined by what one does, but by what one owns.” Consumer appliances like the refrigerator changed American domestic life in the twentieth century. The consequences of this consumer revolution had profound and unexpected environmental impacts. The Servel corporation was one of the few companies making gas powered refrigerators in the 1930s. By the 1950s, most companies were using refrigerating chemicals called chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). CFCs were cheap, effective, and non-toxic. In 1974, two scientists discovered that CFCs deplete the earth’s ozone layer. The ozone layer in the atmosphere blocks harmful UV rays from reaching the earth. Too much UV radiation results in consequences for humans, plants and marine life. Once scientists discovered the harmful effects of CFCs, the Montreal Protocol imposed a ban on their use in 1986. This refrigerator is a reminder of paths not taken and the unexpected consequences of miracle technologies.

Description

Everyday objects are often overlooked when discussing environmental change. However, these objects hold profound impacts on our environment and when looking at our environment should be extensively researched. The new wave of consumerism and the development of new appliances contributed significantly to anthropogenic change worldwide and specifically in Omaha. The object of our project is a 1933 Servel Inc. gas powered refrigerator. It may seem like a benign, everyday object, but this consumer appliance represents a profound shift in global environmental history. One of the consequences of that revolution, and the use of artificial coolants more specifically, was their impact on the ozone layer. Our refrigerator represented a change in consumer culture, a new desire to store food, the convenience made possible by refrigerating technology. These changes occurred in Omaha and much of the developed world, but its environmental consequences were global.

The first refrigerators sold for domestic and home use were sold in 1911 by General Electric Company and 1913 an invention by Fred Wolf (Heldman, 2003). They were prohibitively expensive for families, however, and even the most wealthy people would have to make a significant investment in order to access one. Additionally, these refrigerators were costly to maintain, did not preserve food efficiently, and required significant space in the home. The Electric World journal said in 1942 “people as yet are skeptical as to the feasibility of electric refrigeration in the home” (Electrical World, 1924). This reality presented a difficulty for their widespread adoption. In response to these obstacles, engineers and refrigeration companies like Servel and Frigidaire began to attempt to mass produce refrigerators, shrink the size of their components, and advertise the feasibility of using a fridge in the home. One advertisement from 1930, markets the refrigerator by addressing all of these potential pitfalls. “Frigidaire is an electric refrigerator available to every electrically wired home. Frigidaire maintains constant, crisp, dry cold—preventing food decay, and the development of menacing bacteria” (Buziak, 2011). This ad explains that these are easy to set up and maintain because they can be simply plugged in. Additionally, the ad asserts that the air stays cool enough in order to combat decay and bacteria growth. The technology was relatively novel and definitely new to the average middle income American. Some companies, such as Frigidaire, capitalized on these early innovations. These ads attempted to explain this new technology, made possible through science, in order to promote the adoption of their product in the home (Figure 1). These new inventions paved the way for the consumer culture began to spread during this time.

The Durham Museum collection hosts a 1933 Servel Inc. gas powered refrigerator. It represents a new accessibility to mass consumer goods in the late 1920s -1940s. The advertisement presented below is of our refrigerator. In contrast to their competitors such as General Electric and Frigidaire, Servel was much less widely used. It was “a small fish in a big pond.” Servel never held more than an 8 to 10 percent share of the home refrigerator market. Servel made refrigerators until 1956 but was unable to compete with competitors who relied on compression for their refrigerators (Anderson, 1953). Servel was the only company that used “only gas-powered ammonia absorption technology. (Rees, 2015). Both the absorption and compressor refrigerators rely on heat and then the evaporation of a refrigerant to provide the cooling effect. Compression machines would often use electricity to provide the heating effect and absorption machines relied on some other outside heat source like fire. The absorption technology of our refrigerator relies on three phases for cooling. First, the gas fueled flame evaporates ammonia in a low partial pressure environment. This process extracts heat from its surroundings. Second, the gaseous refrigerant is absorbed by another liquid like a salt solution. Third, the liquid is heated causing the refrigerant to evaporate. The refrigerant passes through a heat exchanger and condenses. The process of evaporation provides the cooling effect. Servel’s story implies a reason why compression refrigerators eventually beat out absorption refrigerators. The manufacturers who produced compression machines used different resources to cool their machines. Servel’s ammonia absorption refrigerator eventually fell waned in appeal in favor of the more efficient compression machines, which, by the 1930s commonly used a new chemical coolant CFCs.

During the early 1930s, there were two primary types of refrigeration, gas powered and electric. The gas-powered units boasted a design that was meant to be more fitting of a rural lifestyle due to the fact it did not need electricity to function. Through a series of heating and cooling processes, ammonia gas would be used to pull heat out of the fridge, and in turn cool its contents. This process, aside from the emissions given off by burning the gas, had a small impact on the environment. However, its popular counterpart, the electric fridge, used a more damaging process. Relying on many of the same techniques of as the gas fridge, the electric fridge relies on a compressor to do its heating. It also uses a refrigerant rather than ammonia gas. Refrigerants, most commonly Freon, are a group of gasses that exhibit certain qualities that are helpful in the compression and condensing process of an electric fridge.

As cities became more urbanized, and the technology for refrigerators got better, the market for them boomed. “By the 1920s, the household refrigerator was an essential piece of kitchen furniture. In 1921, 5,000 mechanical refrigerators were manufactured in the US. Ten years later that number grew past one million and just six years later, nearly six million.” (Krasner-Khait, 2000)

CFCs, Freon, or Chlorofluorocarbons were commonly used by Servel’s competitors, specifically General Electric, in their compression machines. The gas-powered ammonia flame, that Servel used, would oftentimes result in fires and high exposure to toxic ammonia. CFCs are not toxic to humans and do not require flames to fuel them. Therefore, CFC machines were more appealing to consumers. The development of Freon led to the development of safer, smaller, lighter, and cheaper refrigerators. These competitors that used compression machines would use a compressor powered by electricity to increase pressure on Freon. The gas produced by this pressure then condensed to a liquid by cooling in a heat exchanger. At this point, the liquid is passed through a valve to the evaporator. The liquid then evaporates and absorbs heat from the area where food is kept. The Freon then returns to the compressor to repeat the process.

The accessibility to refrigerators in general created a change in the domestic lives of Omahans and Americans. This image from the Wentworth collection from The Durham Museum digital archive shows a woman in Omaha standing next to her electric refrigerator in 1938 (Figure 2). This image connects Omaha to this new culture of consumerism and in turn to anthropogenic change. The development of these cheaper, smaller, and “nontoxic” contributed to the continuous growth of the refrigerator. Furthermore, with the development of affordable, efficient refrigerators Americans were now able to store food regardless of weather. “ In recent decades, cold chains have propagated and lengthened, moving more goods and including more countries” (Rees, 2015). Consequently, refrigeration connected the United States globally and domestically. As seen, the refrigerator began to gain popularity in the United States and globally, but not without environmental consequences.

Our Servel “Electrolux” refrigerator contributed to these changes, however new electric refrigerators that used artificial coolants began to displace them by the 1950s. These more “modern” consumer appliances were supposed to be longer lasting and more safe for the consumer. Dependability, and reliability were the mainstays in refrigeration advertisement (Figure 3). In the advertisement shown below in the 1933 San Antonio ad, Majestic says, “the refrigerating unit is made with such precision, and of such dependable, well tasted parts that it can safely be SEALED within a steel dome.” (Novak, 2012) Safety was a mainstay in electric refrigerator advertisements. On the surface level this seems obvious because they replaced toxic ammonia gas, with non-flammable, nontoxic, non-corrosive, and highly non-reactive gases. On the other hand, the transition from gas powered fridges like out Servel Electrolux to seemingly “safer” modern option presented new dangers, this time on a global scale.

Thomas Midgley, an American Chemist, synthesized chlorofluorocarbons in 1928. They seemed a miracle refrigerant. CFCs were much safer to inhale, and much less volatile. Marketed as “Freon” by the DuPont corporation, CFC proliferated following the second world war as consumer demand increased. In addition to refrigerators, CFCs were used in many household items, bug sprays, paints, hair conditioners, and other health care products are just a few examples of their extensive usage. They provided an inexpensive solution to the desire for air conditioning in an increasingly modern society. CFC use peaked at annual sales of about a billion dollars, and more than one million metric tons of CFCs produced. (Elkins, 2005)

Mario Molina, a PhD researcher at the University of California Irvine was the first to make the shocking discovery about the environmental impact of CFCs. Molina found, that CFCs when reacting with UV radiation in the atmosphere, would destroy an oxygen compound called ozone (Figure 4). He predicted that they could deplete the ozone layer at a staggering 7 percent over 60 years putting us in real peril. (ESDE) Globally, this was troubling news, the depletion of the ozone layer meant a number of things. First and foremost for humans, the increased amount of UVB radiation can cause certain types of cancer, and result in the early development of cataracts. Furthermore, there are consequences for plant life, marine life, and the biochemical system as a whole. Plants more quickly develop disease, marine animals see a decreased ability to reproduce therefore throwing off the food chain. It also inhibits the growth and movement of phytoplankton. (EPA, 2016) Many of these of these consequences have cascading effects, for example, an ecosystem that previously was lush with plant life may see a small reduction. Animals that depend on those plants were then left with either not enough food and their numbers diminish, or they are forced to decimate the plant population to an unrecoverable point.

As a result of these findings, people finally started to realize that their actions could have environmental impact on a global scale. Mario Molina said, “It doesn’t matter where CFCs are emitted. It is a global problem. What is important is that it led to an international agreement that solved the problem.”(American Chemical Society) And that is exactly what happened. In 1986, the Montreal Protocol banned their use. Since then, we have seen an overwhelming amount of evidence that the ozone layer is rebuilding itself and that we are well on our way to fixing the damage we have done. Currently companies use HCFCs, mostly HFC-134a which is as effective as Freon, but does not have the detrimental effect on the environment.

Overall, the story of our Servel Incorporated Electrolux refrigerator proves that everyday objects do play a role in environmental change. The development of these CFCs were more efficient, non-toxic to humans, and seemingly improved everyday life. However, this new technology led to a potentially disastrous environmental repercussion. Not only do new developing technologies have unexpected consequences as seen by our refrigerator, but so do the decisions consumers, companies, corporations, governments, and people make. It is important to consider the consequences that new convenient technologies may have on the environment. The story of CFCs and their effects on our home is a teaching point about what improvements must be made. Sufficient research and testing is essential in ensuring that we maintain the natural processes of our planet, and we don’t continue along the path we find ourselves on in the Anthropocene.

Creator

Eric Heffelfinger
Fletcher Guinn

Source

American Chemical Society National Historic Chemical Landmarks. The Vitamin B Complex. http://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/cfcs-ozone.html

Anderson, Jr. Oscar Edward, Refrigeration in America (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1953), 105.

"Bottled air from all over the world tells story of ozone-Depleting gases and their connection to climate change", NOAA Climate.Gov, 18 May 2015, www.climate.gov/news-features/climate-tech/bottled-air-all-over-world-tells-story-ozone-depleting-gases-and-their.

Buziak, Ed, “What a Difference Frigidaire Made!” Alamy.com, 25 June 2011, l7.alamy.com/zooms/c6a55dfde88f4f56a2e53d322cf0edb2/1920-1930-advert-for-frigidaire-refrigerator-from-english-homes-gardens-ep8jrn.jpg.

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Electrical World 36 ( July 1924):28.

Electrolux. “ELECTROLUX Gives You Everything You Expect…AND MORE!”
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Elkins, James W. “ESRL Global Monitoring Division - Halocarbons and other Atmospheric Trace Species.” NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory, NOAA, 1 Oct. 2005, www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/hats/publictn/elkins/cfcs.html.

Environmental Protection Agency, “Health and Environmental Effects of Ozone Layer Depletion.” 28 Dec. 2016, www.epa.gov/ozone-layer-protection/health-and-environmental-effects-ozone-layer-depletion.

Heldman, Dennis R. “Extruder Power Requirements .” Encyclopedia of Agricultural, Food, and Biological Engineering, Marcel Dekker, 2003, pp. 305–305.

Krasner-Khait, Barbara, “The Impact of Refrigeration” History Magazine (February/March 2000), https://history-magazine.com/refrig.html

Novak, Matt. “The Great Depression and the Rise of the Refrigerator,” Pacific Standard Magazine. Oct 9, 2012.

Rees, Jonathan. Refrigeration nation a history of ice, appliances, and enterprise in America.

“Shopify.com.” Shopify.com, cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1021/8371/products/SEP3_018.jpg?v=1493262408.

Wentworth, William. Westinghouse 1417 No. 22nd St. Omaha, 18 June 1938.

Westinghouse 1417 No. 22nd St. Omaha, 18 June 1938.

Citation

Eric Heffelfinger Fletcher Guinn, “Servel Electrolux Gas Refrigerator,” Omaha in the Anthropocene, accessed March 29, 2024, https://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/items/show/7.

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