Kelvinator-Nash, Chaebols, Fridigaire...
June 12, 2024 11:42 AM Subscribe
Finally, A Definitive Guide To Automakers That Also Offered Home Air Conditioners, So You Can Stop Asking by Lewin Day at The Autopian
It feels a bit remiss to have a whole General Motors section which omits the fact that General Motors Research Corporation — under the leadership of Charles F Kettering — was absolutely crucial to the development of safe* refrigerants.
And who was the absolute expert at alkane chemistry who he chose to lead this team in 1930? Well, they chose the chemist who'd done some fantastic combustion science in 1921 and found a fuel additive that pretty much eliminated knock (pre-ignition of gasoline in spark ignition engines). One that's so successful, it's still in use today for piston engined planes at a 0.056% addition. Thomas Midgeley Jr.'s development of Pb(C₂H₅)₄ for this purpose had been a huge success. Everyone went mad for it for decades and decades.
So over the period of 1930-1935, they managed to substitute halogen into the chemical we know best as natural gas. Going from CH₄ to CCl₂F₂ dramatically increased the boiling point to -29.8°C at standard pressure, renders it non-flammable, and also keeps it odourless and non-toxic. It was truly a miracle chemical, a tractable stable refrigerant. Nothing can break it down. Except for high energy ultraviolet light.
And thankfully our atmosphere protects us from high energy ultraviolet light. There's a layer of triatomic oxygen molecules which absorb it, at heights of around 12-15km. So as long as the miracle refrigerant doesn't somehow get released into the atmosphere, we're all good. If it does get released, hey, it's non-toxic**, so we're probably fine even if it does accumulate. If it disperses up to that UV protection layer, and then gets broken down, then all it's doing is releasing those halogens, and what can they do? Catalyse the breakdown of triatomic oxygen to normal O₂?
Oh, that sounds bad. Like we won't be protected from high energy UV anymore. Which doesn't just break down CFCs — sorry, yes, I was talking about CFC there — but it breaks down the DNA in our skin in a way which may end up causing cancer.
So yes, Thomas Midgeley Jr, working for General Motors reached infamy by managing to bring two of the worst global pollutants ever to market for two completely separate purposes:
*at distances of up to 15km
**but it is an extremely potent greenhouse gas with 1500 or so times the global warming potential of CO₂
posted by ambrosen at 1:39 PM on June 12 [5 favorites]
And who was the absolute expert at alkane chemistry who he chose to lead this team in 1930? Well, they chose the chemist who'd done some fantastic combustion science in 1921 and found a fuel additive that pretty much eliminated knock (pre-ignition of gasoline in spark ignition engines). One that's so successful, it's still in use today for piston engined planes at a 0.056% addition. Thomas Midgeley Jr.'s development of Pb(C₂H₅)₄ for this purpose had been a huge success. Everyone went mad for it for decades and decades.
So over the period of 1930-1935, they managed to substitute halogen into the chemical we know best as natural gas. Going from CH₄ to CCl₂F₂ dramatically increased the boiling point to -29.8°C at standard pressure, renders it non-flammable, and also keeps it odourless and non-toxic. It was truly a miracle chemical, a tractable stable refrigerant. Nothing can break it down. Except for high energy ultraviolet light.
And thankfully our atmosphere protects us from high energy ultraviolet light. There's a layer of triatomic oxygen molecules which absorb it, at heights of around 12-15km. So as long as the miracle refrigerant doesn't somehow get released into the atmosphere, we're all good. If it does get released, hey, it's non-toxic**, so we're probably fine even if it does accumulate. If it disperses up to that UV protection layer, and then gets broken down, then all it's doing is releasing those halogens, and what can they do? Catalyse the breakdown of triatomic oxygen to normal O₂?
Oh, that sounds bad. Like we won't be protected from high energy UV anymore. Which doesn't just break down CFCs — sorry, yes, I was talking about CFC there — but it breaks down the DNA in our skin in a way which may end up causing cancer.
So yes, Thomas Midgeley Jr, working for General Motors reached infamy by managing to bring two of the worst global pollutants ever to market for two completely separate purposes:
- Leaded Gasoline and
- CFCs
*at distances of up to 15km
**but it is an extremely potent greenhouse gas with 1500 or so times the global warming potential of CO₂
posted by ambrosen at 1:39 PM on June 12 [5 favorites]
I feel slightly rude adding the Thomas Midgeley Jr. story to this fun piece of Autopian whimsy (and after all, there is so much whimsy on The Autopian, not least the continuing saga of Jason Torchinsky's tail light obsession), but it's just one of those things that's so bizarre because of its Doofenshmirtz's two nickels-ness that I can't help but retell the story every time I get the chance.
posted by ambrosen at 1:49 PM on June 12 [1 favorite]
posted by ambrosen at 1:49 PM on June 12 [1 favorite]
From the linked Wikipedia article on Midgeley On October 30, 1924, Midgley participated in a press conference to demonstrate the apparent safety of TEL, in which he poured TEL over his hands
This describes how I washed car and bike parts as a kid, with bare hands covered in open eczema sores. Not pure TEL obviously, but definitely leaded petrol. No idea what it did to my blood lead levels but it can't have been anything good. Thanks Midge (and dad).
posted by deadwax at 4:07 PM on June 12 [2 favorites]
This describes how I washed car and bike parts as a kid, with bare hands covered in open eczema sores. Not pure TEL obviously, but definitely leaded petrol. No idea what it did to my blood lead levels but it can't have been anything good. Thanks Midge (and dad).
posted by deadwax at 4:07 PM on June 12 [2 favorites]
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fun fact, Durant held a competition to name the new refrigeration system, he submitted his own which was Frigidaire and won the prize.
posted by clavdivs at 11:55 AM on June 12 [1 favorite]