Making Ice With Fertilizer + Coolers.

[dannyisdude]

I doubt I'm the first person to have suggested this, but it would be cool to be able to make ice with fertilizer and water. This ice could be used to put into a cooler to keep it cold and preserve things. This way we could have a fairly reliable way of preserving food after the power goes out.

[Dusty Lens]

Fan of Jericho I take it?

 

I'm really not sure if the whole ammonium nitrate/metal bowl trick is really a reliable method of freezing. Honestly I'm not sure if that's something that would actually work in any appreciable (or at all) fashion in the 'real' world.

 

Being said there are propane refrigerators out there in the world. Be lovely to find one or two of those somewhere.

 

Honestly with the new system of moving furniture I wonder if an appliance store isn't in order  But I digress.

Edited May 18, 2016 by Dusty Lens

[dannyisdude]

11 minutes ago, Dusty Lens said:

Fan of Jericho I take it?

 

I'm really not sure if the whole ammonium nitrate/metal bowl trick is really a reliable method of freezing. Honestly I'm not sure if that's something that would actually work in any appreciable (or at all) fashion in the 'real' world.

 

Being said there are propane refrigerators out there in the world. Be lovely to find one or two of those somewhere.

 

Honestly with the new system of moving furniture I wonder if an appliance store isn't in order  But I digress.

I am a fan of Jericho actually, however I learned about this in a high school chemistry class before I saw it in Jericho. The ammonium nitrate ions (1 nitrogen ion + 4 hydrogen ions) bond with the ions that make up water. Creating bonds requires energy, which result in an endothermic reaction when the two are combined.

[Dusty Lens]

2 minutes ago, dannyisdude said:

I am a fan of Jericho actually, however I learned about this in a high school chemistry class before I saw it in Jericho. The ammonium nitrate ions (1 nitrogen ion + 4 hydrogen ions) bond with the ions that make up water. Creating bonds requires energy, which result in an endothermic reaction when the two are combined.

Right, I'm picking up what you're throwing down in terms of the chemical process and its impact on local energy. While I'm cautious about what kind of response you might see on a Kentucky afternoon it is a pretty neat idea. If your assembly was placed in, say, a fridge/freezer/insulated container with the displacement of the pot/water/etc it seems like it could be a poorman's cooling system. 

 

Assuming the ammonium nitrate is useable in the form it's found. 

[critical jim]

just sayin, there are appliance stores. gasoline works fine for me, and when thats gone, jars work good. if fertilizer were more common, it might be fine. but lets say optimistically a cooler lasts 24 hours before the ice melts. combine that with the low storage capacity of a cooler filled with ice, and it's starting to get a bit silly. now factor in the abundance of gas jerrys compared to NPK fertilizer bags. 

[Dusty Lens]

I think it's a wonderful use for the single bag of fertilizer on the map. 

 

Though I am very annoyed with the dude who took advantage of the outbreak crisis to steal every other bag in town and dump them into the river.