Thread: One for the fridgies

Not just one's throat either Rick, they'd feel like that before they fell off, earlier if the FDC fans were blowing.

It has been many years since I worked on any type of refrigeration / air conditioning. But it is even longer since I was exposed to an Ammonia plant.
Any of you guys have to work on them? Also brine circulating systems?

Never worked on ammonia systems,although a mate of mine does.

We do a bit on quite a few glycol systems,mainly for beer systems,but not brine.

Originally Posted by Old Farang

It has been many years since I worked on any type of refrigeration / air conditioning. But it is even longer since I was exposed to an Ammonia plant.
Any of you guys have to work on them? Also brine circulating systems?

Have done. Mainly was Milk Factory Cold Rooms, but the last one was yonks ago when I installed a Werner CP system with a White Cooling Tower for a Concrete batching Plant for the Flood Control Dam on the Sturt Creek.

Pipes were laid in the wall location & concrete was poured over them. & Chilled Water was pumped through them to cool the concrete mass. Surprising how "hot" it gets when Concrete is curing.
Later the CP (Creamery Package) was dismantled & sent back the E&WS Stores for the next job which I think was the Kangaroo Creek Dam in the Torrens Gorge Reservoir.

I didn't get to do that one.

Hmm, I must be older than what I think I am! Early 1960's, not sure exactly, but I was involved with a new abattoir electrical installation. There was a humongous "Budge" compressor being installed which we were having trouble with trying to start the thing. Budge was an Australian Company based in Sydney. I will add a link to a museum, but not sure if it allowed because of copyright. They have one on display which shows a very early one.

James Budge refrigeration compressor - MAAS Collection

Another one where my late brother-in-law worked a few years later were replacing the piping. We had a farm at the time and ended up with a lot of the removed piping. It was very thick wall black pipe, and the ammonia had soaked into it. Welding it was a problem because of the fumes it produced when heated up!

The brine system that I recall was on a ship that I worked on.

Don't feel too badly, we are all older than what we think, or wish to be.

Yep, Budge was a brand to be reckoned with & was up there with the best.

As far as I can recall Werner was an Aust. brand but seems difficult to find any info on them these days especially the CP System.

Equipment from the Carlton and United Brewery, Ballarat, 2007 - Victorian Collections



I used to have a lot of brochures on them until I retired & then you think, "What do I need to keep all this old crap for?," & so out it goes.

If you want to see ammonia systems go to India.
I can recall entering cold stores in buildings maybe 100 years old or more and hardly being able to breathe.
Some of the walls were 3 metres thick and I wondered if it was The Black Hole of Calcutta.

I visited one on the North shore of Calcutta or more correctly Kolkata, where the workers were shoveling something off the floor. it was Shellac. Sort of takes you back 100 years.

In about 2006 there were only 18 modern cold stores in India and most were tenanted by Tip Top Ice Cream a Nestle company.
Regards Philip A

I've never touched ammonia either, but the youngish (compared to me!! ) Brisbane based tech we have has done quite a bit of ammonia work around Brisvegas.

Des, my old 3 phase air compressor, sadly long gone was a converted twin cylinder Werner that pre-dated me big time, (the flywheel was a flat belt drive!) and I had a number of new heads and valve plates off some big 50Hp Werners that alas, went to the sceappies in '96.
They were ancient history then.