Steam Engines > Refrigeration
Thermal mass in a freezer
Frank S:
My wife decided the side by side freezer in our 31 Cubic foot fridge was not sufficient for our longer term storage needs. I agreed since much of the freezer section is wasted with an ice maker that we never use so I removed the auger from the compartment to allow for things to be stored in there.
The other day we bought a chest freezer but currently don't have enough to properly fill it
I am wondering what would be the best thermal mass to put in it.
To me water unless it were brine or have a heavy saline content to lower its freezing point.
I was thinking about linseed oil because it freezes at -4°f another thought would be blocks of aluminum
Any ideas? I would like to have something in it to fill possibly 1/4 to 1/3 of the space unless otherwise required for frozen food stuffs
Frank S:
I also want this to slow the flywheel effect of freeze thaw to help prevent crystallization or freezer burn which can be caused by food warming slightly but not thawing even though vacuum sealed
MagnetJuice:
99.99 % pure gold would be my first choice. About 600 Lbs. depending on the size of the freezer. I know Texas has a lot of gold. If not golden in color, they have black gold. :D
My second choice would be something cheaper like wood. Oak or maple is dense enough to do a good job. Put it in heavy plastic bags and place it vertically in the freezer so it can be removed quickly if necessary.
Ed
bigrockcandymountain:
I would do water. It has extremely high specific heat capacity and the latent heat for melting is also very high, so if your freezer dies, you'll be ok for a long time.
Frank S:
--- Quote from: MagnetJuice on November 26, 2020, 03:24:08 AM ---99.99 % pure gold would be my first choice. About 600 Lbs. depending on the size of the freezer. I know Texas has a lot of gold. If not golden in color, they have black gold. :D
My second choice would be something cheaper like wood. Oak or maple is dense enough to do a good job. Put it in heavy plastic bags and place it vertically in the freezer so it can be removed quickly if necessary.
Ed
--- End quote ---
I don't have any gold, yellow black or otherwise. but I have something that may become even more valuable
About 1500lbs of raw lead, but due to the extreme high density of lead even if I were to place the entire 1500 lbs in the freezer the amount of surface area available to aid in temperature stabilization would be limited.
Water is a PCM (phase change material) but it changes at 32°f (0°c)Not the best for keeping things frozen in the event of a longer power outage. Making brine by boiling the water and dissolving salt to the highest saturation level then freezing it will lower the PC° to about 25/26°f (-4°c) linseed/ flaxseed oil has a PC of around -4°f (-26°c) that is why I am thinking about using it
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