REFRIGERATION FOR
DEVELOPING
COUNTRIES
Introduction
Refrigeration plays an important role in
developing countries, primarily for the
preservation of food, medicine, and for air
conditioning. Examples of these applications are:
• In agriculture and dairies:
Removal of field heat immediately after
harvesting of crops, storage of fruit, flowers,
vegetables, milk, meat, and cooling during
transport.
• In retail trades:
sale of fresh foods, fish and cold drinks.
• Buildings, computer installations:
air conditioning and temperature regulation.
• Domestic:
food and drink storage.
• Health clinics:
storage of blood, vaccines and medicine.
Choice of technology
Cooling can be provided in different ways. The
method adopted in industrialized countries
depends heavily on grid electricity, supplied
continuously and reliably to every part of the
country. In contrast, refrigeration is required in
developing countries to stimulate agriculture
and commerce, in vast areas without a reliable
electricity supply. Alternative methods are
therefore necessary. A number of approaches
can be considered. Three kinds of cooling
technology are contrasted in Figure 1 a-c,
these are:
Figure 1a: Passive / evaporative coolers
Figure 1b: Sorption refrigerator
• Passive / evaporative
• Sorption heat driven
• Mechanical compression
The third method, mechanical compression, is
usually dependent on a reliable and
continuous supply of grid or diesel generated
electricity.
The other two methods are therefore more
suitable in non-industrialized areas. They
require further development on the basis of
requests from users in rural locations.
Figure 1c: Compression refrigerator
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