Around 1000 BC, Persians had invented an ancient air conditioning system, which used wind poles installed on the roof to blow cold water into the room from the outside to make people feel cool indoors.
In ancient times when there was no air conditioning, people mainly relied on ice to cool down and relieve heat. In the pre-Qin era, people used natural ice for refrigeration. According to reports, at that time, in order to ensure the use of ice cubes in summer, the Zhou royal family set up a corresponding organization to manage the "ice policy", which the person in charge called "bullying people". The establishment of this department is not small, with 80 "employees". Generally, from June 5438+February every winter, workers begin to store natural ice cubes.
Later, people came up with a way to keep the ice in the basement in winter. There is a poem in the Book of Songs called July, which tells that slaves cut ice cubes for nobles to enjoy in winter: "Cut ice cubes on the second day of junior high school and take them to Lingyin on the third day", which means to cut ice cubes and hide them in the freezer. Because there is ice in the ice room, about two-thirds of the ice will melt every year, so the ancients often increased the ice storage to three times the amount needed.
What if there is no ice in the south? Around the end of the Tang Dynasty, craftsmen happened to find that saltpeter absorbed a lot of heat when it was dissolved in water, which could cool the surrounding water until it froze. So some skilled craftsmen began to make ice with saltpeter.
In addition, during the Han Dynasty, there was an air-conditioned room in the palace for both winter and summer. According to Notes on Water Classics, in the 15th year of Jian 'an, Cao Cao built three sets of Tongquetai, Hujin and Bingjing in Yecheng, Henan. "Ice well platform" digs a deep well to collect cold air, and the top is covered with a cover. The cover is perforated, so that cold air will come out from below in summer and warm air will come up in winter to ensure the temperature of the hall is relatively stable and pleasant.
Of course, these are all enjoyed by the elite. In ancient times, the life of ordinary people in the hot summer was quite hard.
Recently, Atlantic Monthly introduced the development process of air conditioning technology. The article points out that although air conditioning is very common now, once upon a time, people regarded the behavior of air conditioning as a sin. Even now, some people think that air conditioning not only shows human wisdom, but also symbolizes human fragility: it seems that people can't stand the natural temperature in summer without the help of machines. The following is the original content:
Before the 20th century, only the rich or the sick would see the attempt to cool the indoor air. Although it is common to use a fireplace for heating in winter, many people think that human beings should not try to resist natural heat waves, and it is a sin to control the temperature with machines. Even in the early 20th century, American congressmen still avoided using air conditioners in their rooms, because voters might laugh at them for not sweating like others.
The adoption of air conditioning requires both industrial innovation and elimination of this outdated concept. However, from a certain point of view, the use of air conditioning does bring bad effects to the earth.
In the shadow of morality, air conditioning technology has made a breakthrough, because some people need air conditioning very much, especially those doctors who want to cure patients. 185 1 year, a doctor named John Gori in Florida, USA, obtained the patent for the first ice maker. Salvatore Basile, the author of Air Conditioning Changes Everything, said that Gori didn't want to invent an ice machine at first, but he just wanted to use air conditioning to help malaria patients reduce their fever. To this end, he designed a device that can suck in air, compress air, and then let the air cool the indoor air through pipes.
But outside the ward, people don't think this equipment is needed. It was not until the pipes of this machine unexpectedly froze and began to form ice cubes that he discovered a new opportunity (making an ice machine). However, this achievement was satirized by the media: "Dr. Gori is really whimsical, thinking that he can make ice cubes with machines, just like Almighty God."
"Old" Air Conditioning Technology
Making cold drinks and cool rooms with ice cubes is nothing new. /kloc-in the 7th century, the inventor Cornelius Drebbel used the ice cubes stored in the basement to "turn summer into winter". Tom Shackman speculated in his books Absolute Zero and Conquering the Cold that Drebbel mixed snow with water, salt and potassium nitrate to form ice crystals, which were used to cool the room. King James invited Drebbel to Westminster Abbey to demonstrate this innovation. It is said that the king ran out of the room because he was shivering with cold.
Two centuries later, American President James A. james garfield also experienced an icy journey. 1881On July 2nd, Charles Guiteau shot Garfield with a revolver. Some engineers invented a way to help the injured president lower his temperature, although he was still slowly falling into death.
The cooling equipment in Garfield ward was developed by astronomer Simon Newcomb. Newkov assembled an engine connected to the pipeline and let the fan blow through the huge ice bucket. Newcock explained in a written report that his device always contains about 6 tons of ice, and air can go out from one direction and return from the other. The equipment reduces the room temperature from 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 degrees Celsius) to 75 degrees Fahrenheit (24 degrees Celsius) and consumes hundreds of pounds of ice per hour.
The news media reported the equipment of Newkov, which gradually aroused public interest, and people's distrust of cooling air began to decrease. Some people began to invent interesting heat-resistant schemes. Some people think that connecting balloons to fire hydrants and hoses can create "artificial rain and wind". It has also been proposed to use carbon dioxide bombs over residential areas to cool the air. Some of these schemes have managed to obtain patents, but it turns out that these schemes are of little use in practice.
The formation of air conditioning technology
Twenty years after Garfield's death, willis carrier coined the word "air conditioning". 1In July, 902, his air treatment equipment made a breakthrough and was installed in Sacktor Williams Publishing House in Brooklyn, new york. This device lets air pass through a tube filled with coolant. To be precise, its purpose is to reduce humidity rather than air temperature. Too much moisture in the air causes the paper of the publishing house to deform.
In fact, Alfred R. Wolff installed an air conditioner in the autopsy room of Cornell Medical College in new york on 1899. Later, in the year when Carrier installed machines in Brooklyn, Wolff also installed his own machines on the new york Stock Exchange, which greatly improved the working environment of professionals.
Air conditioning technology began to popularize and develop. Fregy Dai introduced the first "room cooler" in China on 1929. H.H. Schultz and J.Q. Sherman introduced an air conditioner installed on the window sill, but the first window air conditioner we know today is the Thorne indoor air conditioner of 1932. It looks like the body of an old car through the window. In The Romance of Americans and Air Conditioning, the author Martha Ackerman tells an interview in which Carrier talked about her vision. He imagined such a world: "Ordinary businessmen will sleep in air-conditioned rooms and wake up feeling energetic. He will take an air-conditioned car to work in an air-conditioned office. "
Popularization of air conditioning
The first major public appearance of air conditioners was at the 1939 World Expo. Carrier designed a "Tomorrow Expo" exhibition hall, and 65,000 spectators enjoyed air conditioning for the first time, which ignited consumers' interest in it. In the next decade, with the shrinking of air conditioners, the focus of air conditioner advertisements will also shift from men in the workplace to housewives. Some early advertisements were like this: the family proudly praised the air conditioner on the windowsill, as if a spaceship had landed in the living room.
Basil pointed out that there was an unremarkable thing that enhanced the popularity of air conditioning: 1959, the US Meteorological Administration formulated the "discomfort index", which integrated temperature and humidity, and was later called the "sultry index". Basil pointed out in the book that this index unexpectedly promoted the popularity of air conditioning and enhanced people's understanding of the benefits of air conditioning. People can know whether the weather is sultry or not through this index. If you have enough money on hand, you can buy an air conditioner to ease it.
By 1960, the United States will sell millions of air conditioners every year. Air-conditioned window machines can be seen on the windowsills of urban and suburban users. According to the residential energy consumption survey conducted by the Energy Information Administration, as of 20 1 1, 87% of households in the United States have air conditioning or central air conditioning. In contrast, Brazil's figure is 1 1%, and India's is only 2%.
Adverse effects of air conditioning
Although the public's initial suspicion of air conditioning may hinder the early development of air conditioning technology, it turns out that the final popularization of air conditioning is harmful to our atmosphere.
The Montreal Protocol came into effect on 1989, aiming at reducing the emission of chlorofluorocarbon refrigerants such as dichlorodifluoromethane into the atmosphere. This refrigerant used in early air conditioners may destroy the atmospheric ozone layer.
Although the refrigerant has been changed from chlorine to fluorine in order to avoid destroying the ozone layer, the impact of air conditioning on the environment is still great. Daniel Morrison, US Deputy Secretary of Energy, said that in 20 15 alone, the electricity consumption of air conditioners exceeded 500 billion kWh, accounting for almost 20% of the total electricity consumption of buildings, and the annual electricity bill was as high as 60 billion US dollars. Moreover, air conditioning has also pushed up the peak of electricity consumption in summer, which may lead to power outages.
Attempt of personalized air conditioning
Of all the devices we use today, air conditioners have not undergone such great innovations as televisions or telephones. However, some companies are also trying to innovate the future of air conditioning-both in aesthetics and efficiency. Some of these companies want to make air conditioners more personalized. For example, CoolWare invented an air-conditioning collar, which can be worn around the neck and provided with water and cold air by a small fan. Wristify has launched a product similar to a bracelet. Kuchofuku introduced air-conditioned overalls.
Evapolar, a Cypriot company, claims to have invented "the world's first personal air cooler". It is a small cube with a water tank and a fan, which can produce cool and clean air. Evapolar wants to use it to improve the "microclimate" when single people are working or sleeping, so there is no need to waste energy to cool the whole room or building. "Just as mobile phones become personalized, we think air-conditioning equipment should also become personalized," said a spokeswoman for Evapolar.
Dyson and Xiaomi also introduced small personalized air purifiers. But these products are not popular and immature, but they may also become an instant hit. After all, more strange things have become mainstream.
Even today, the controversy about air conditioning still lingers. Because of its adverse effects on the environment, some advocates call on people not to use air conditioners. Air conditioning seems to be a symbol of human wisdom and fragility, which weakens people's adaptability and makes people feel as if they can't bear the natural temperature in summer without the help of machines.
Air conditioning is not only a household appliance, but also a warning. It reminds us that human innovation may come at a price. People used to think that cold air was dangerous, but this concept may not be completely absurd.
Comprehensive arrangement from the network, please correct me.
Lan Xiang, Chairman of Nongnong Holdings, has integrated the online and offline resources of the agricultural industrial chain with the theme of big tourism, big health, big agriculture and big data since the establishment of Nongnong Commune, and built the first agricultural platform in China.