James Harrison’s hometown to celebrate World Refrigeration Day

James Harrison is widely regarded as one of the pioneers of refrigeration, having first created ice artificially in 1854.

Harrison’s story is a remarkable one for many reasons. Born in Scotland, he moved to Sydney in 1837, then later to Geelong where he quickly became a sensation in his adopted hometown.

In many circles he is best known for his prolific career in journalism, having founded and edited the Geelong Advertiser, before going on to edit The Age. But in the HVAC&R industry, we remember Harrison for entirely different reasons.

Fishing for a solution

In the early 1850s, Harrison often fished in Corio Bay but struggled to keep his catch cool. In Glasgow, he had studied chemistry at night school and knew that cleaning his printing type with volatile chemicals chilled it due to evaporation. But food and chemicals do not mix; he had to use this property safely.

After experimenting for several years beside the Barwon River, he at last made ice in 1854, patenting his discovery. The process he invented still serves as the fundamental used in refrigerators, air conditioners and heat pumps.

Using steam power, he created a vacuum in a closed coil immersed in brine. As ether evaporated in the coil, it drew heat from the brine, which became so cold that it froze water.

The ether was then reliquefied and re-used. Although the chemicals were costly, it was an economical process overall. Harrison had made the world’s first commercial ice-making machine.

Perfecting the process

Harrison went to the UK to perfect and enlarge the machine, selling several to breweries. He returned to Geelong with a machine worth £1,200 that made three tonnes of ice a day.

Harrison set up Australia’s first ice works in Geelong in 1869, while opening a second ice works in Melbourne and commissioning more machines for sale from Humble’s Foundry in Ryrie Street.

In 1873, Harrison embarked on a mission to take the world’s first shipment of 20 tonnes of frozen meat to England in insulated tanks. The insulation failed and the cargo spoiled, but Harrison didn’t give up; he patented new methods of insulation that were successfully used by others.

Today’s refrigeration, cold transport, heat pump and air conditioning industries are still reaping the benefits of Harrison’s work, as are all of the people in the world who can afford the benefits of air conditioning and refrigeration.

Celebrating Harrison’s legacy

The theme of this year’s World Refrigeration Day is “cool skills”, something Harrison certainly demonstrated during his lifetime.

Geelong will mark the occasion across two days: Thursday, June 26 and Saturday, June 28. Events will be held at the Geelong Showgrounds.

During the Saturday event, engineer Warwick Bryce will demonstrate his working model of Harrison’s ice-making machine.

You can read more about the events at the Geelong Showgrounds website.

You can book tickets for the events via the TryBooking platfom.

• Adults: $10
• Students and children under 15: $5
• Family ticket (two adults, two children under 15): $25

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