Sale of Refrigerators for Boat
Looking for a refrigerator for your boat? The topRik marketplace, as always, has a diverse range of marine refrigerators from the world's best manufacturers of this equipment. In this catalog with prices, you can choose a model of a suitable design and the required cooling method from Coleman, Igloo, Campingaz etc.
If you find it difficult to make a choice of marine refrigerator yourself - contact topRik experts for a free consultation. Our experienced sailors will answer all questions through the website feedback form or by phone (the number is listed above). You may also receive a response by email if you send your questions to [email protected].
Types of Marine Refrigerators
Classification of marine refrigerators is held in different categories. The main ones are by design, which determines the location of the unit, and by the cooling method that is used in each individual type of refrigeration equipment.
Based on the cooling method, marine refrigerators can be divided into thermoelectric, absorption and compressor. Each of these types of refrigeration units has its own design, advantages and disadvantages.
Compressor Refrigerators
Cooling occurs due to the circulation of refrigerant (most often freon), which is provided by the compressor. As it circulates, the refrigerant changes its physical state from liquid to gas. Cooling of the refrigerator chamber occurs when the liquid refrigerant boils in the evaporator.
Advantages
- Higher efficiency. The difference is especially noticeable in those sailing regions where the external temperature exceeds +30°C.
- The most profitable in terms of specific energy consumption. The compressor does not always work, but only when necessary.
- Independence from position in space.
- Maintainability. It is possible to seal a depressurized radiator and then refill it with refrigerant at a specialized service center, as well as replace the compressor.
- Gets into working mode quickly and efficiently.
Flaws
- The downside of all compressor devices is that the compressor consumes a starting current that is three times higher than the operating current, which requires an appropriate output from your autonomous electrical system.
- A refrigeration unit with flowing refrigerant is sensitive to shaking, vibration and shock loads when moving.
- Remains operational when tilted no more than 30°.
Application area
Compression refrigerators are the most common models (up to 98% of the range), since they are the most efficient to operate and the cheapest per 1 liter of cooled volume among similar types with other cooling principles. Compression cooling is used in almost all types of refrigeration appliances: from mini-refrigerators to large industrial units, in floor-mounted, wall-mounted, portable and transport models.
The noise of modern compression devices with a volume of 400 liters, in the absence of manufacturing defects and correct installation, is comparable to the buzzing of a bumblebee, which has implications for yacht equipment.
Performance
Compressor refrigerators (freezers) operate with a constant temperature in the refrigerated chamber from +4°C to –18°C.
Power source – electricity, voltage: 12/24/220 V.
Thermoelectric Refrigerators
This is an increasingly popular solution when choosing a refrigerator for a yacht or boat. Thermoelectric refrigerators, due to their low cost, lightness and simplicity of design, are widely used not only on ships, but also among vehicle drivers, both professionals and amateurs.
However, this cooling method was invented much earlier. Jean-Charles Peltier, a watchmaker and experimenter from France, in 1834 placed a drop of water between electrodes made of antimony and bismuth, and then passed an electric current through them. The effect amazed him - the drop froze. This effect was named after the person who discovered it - the Peltier effect.
The basis of the thermoelectric refrigerator unit are semiconductor wafers (Peltier elements). When direct electric current is supplied to the unit in cooling mode, the internal thermoelements (located in the thermobox) are cooled, and the external ones are heated. To switch the refrigerator to heating mode, simply change the polarity (change the direction of the current).
Advantages
- Simplicity of design, low cost, lightness.
- Reliability. Thermoelectric refrigerators have no moving parts and no fluid refrigerant.
- Ability to operate in both cooling and heating modes.
- Independent operation of the refrigerator from the angle of inclination.
Flaws
- Thermal inertia. Thermoelectric refrigerators take a very long time to reach the required temperature.
- Due to the low efficiency (16-17%), the highest energy consumption to achieve acceptable temperature indicators of all types of refrigerators presented.
Performance
The performance of a thermoelectric refrigerator in cooling mode is usually 20°C less than the ambient temperature. In heating mode, the temperature inside the thermobox reaches 50-60°C.
Power source – electricity, voltage 12/24 or 220 V.
Application area
In terms of specific energy consumption per 1 liter of cooled volume, thermoelectric refrigerators are inferior to absorption and compression ones. The advantage of a thermoelectric refrigerator over similar types with other cooling principles is its absolute noiselessness and the ability to switch from cooling to heating mode. The latter quality is very important for transport refrigerators - on ships and cars for various purposes. Most portable and transport refrigerators are thermoelectrically cooled.
Absorption Refrigerators
Namely, the working process occurs due to the circulation and evaporation of a refrigerant (hereinafter referred to as ammonia) in a liquid (hereinafter referred to as water). The ammonia-water solution includes: ammonia NH3 (refrigerant R717), bidistilate water (absorbent), sodium chromate Na2CrO4 (inhibitor, prevents corrosion on the internal surfaces of the tubes of the refrigeration unit), hydrogen (inert gas, necessary to equalize pressure in the system). The unit is filled with ammonia-water solution and hydrogen under a pressure of 1.5 MPa. The concentration of ammonia in the solution is approximately 35%.
Instead of ammonia, refrigeration units also use acetone, lithium bromide solution and acetylene.
From the receiver, the concentrated ammonia-water solution enters the generator (boiler), where it is heated (by any heat source) to the boiling point of the solution. The boiling point of ammonia is significantly lower than the boiling point of water, therefore, during the evaporation of a concentrated solution (at a temperature of approximately 170°C), concentrated ammonia vapor with a small amount of water vapor comes out of the generator. On the way to the condenser, concentrated vapor passes through a reflux condenser (heat exchanger). Here partial condensation of concentrated steam occurs. The resulting condensate is a weak ammonia-water solution, which flows into the absorber, being cooled by the environment to the temperature at which absorption begins, and even more concentrated vapors with ammonia, through a separator (additional separation of a weakly concentrated solution from saturated vapors) enter the condenser, where the ammonia, cooling, acquires liquid phase (condenses) releasing heat.
Leaving the condenser, liquid ammonia is mixed with hydrogen and flows through a thin tube into the evaporator.
Ammonia vapor leaving the evaporator enters the absorber, opposite the weakly concentrated cooled solution moving from the reflux condenser, where the process of absorption of ammonia vapor by the weakly concentrated solution occurs. In this case, as the solution moves through the absorber, it cools and releases a small amount of heat into the environment. The highly concentrated solution formed in the receiver is supplied to the generator by a thermal pump. The ammonia-water solution circulates continuously while the generator and thermal pump, heated by a heat source, are operating. The role of the suction part is performed by the absorber, and the role of the discharge part is played by the thermal pump.
Advantages
- Simplicity of design, noiselessness and durability due to the absence of any moving elements.
- Autonomy. Possibility of operation from any heat source (electricity, gas).
- Shaking and vibration are not harmful for such refrigerators (within reasonable limits, of course).
Flaws
- Non-maintainability of the refrigeration unit. If there is a depressurization of the pipeline connection and subsequent leakage of refrigerant, the refrigerator cannot be helped.
- Increased energy consumption. It is necessary to constantly heat the refrigerant tank so that the cooling process does not stop.
- Low efficiency. Part of the expended energy is inevitably converted into heat on the condenser, which must be removed to the street. To increase cooling efficiency, fans (coolers) are additionally installed to remove heat from the condenser, which also require power. To be fair, we can say that in winter, by closing the ventilation grilles, you can get additional heat into the cabin from the refrigerator.
- Dependence on position in space. Since the system does not have a mechanical pump, deviation along the horizon line in space can significantly impair the operation of the refrigerator.
- Long time to reach operating temperature. If the refrigerator is new (or known to work well), only after 20 minutes you will feel the first signs in the freezer. The required temperature in the refrigerator compartment will be established after a couple of hours. With older refrigerators, this may happen the next day.
Application area
The share of absorption refrigerators in the market assortment is about 1%. These devices have no moving parts. When an absorption refrigerator is operating, a sensitive ear can detect the quiet “gurgling” of the flowing refrigerant. Absorption cooling is used in floor-mounted, wall-mounted, portable and transportable mini-refrigerators.
The advantages of absorption refrigerators are noiselessness and the ability to operate from a 220 V household network, from a 12/24 V battery and from a gaseous or liquid fuel burner. Absorption refrigerators are not inferior in reliability and may even be superior to compression refrigerators, but they are inferior to them in terms of efficiency when operating on electricity.
Another important aspect of the classification of marine refrigerators divides this equipment into types depending on the possibility of their installation. Marine refrigerators, like other transport refrigerators, are:
- free-standing;
- portable;
- built-in.
Built-in models are designed for placement in various niches of various vehicles, including yachts and boats. They look like a bedside table, a cabinet, a chest, or a complex configuration in the shape of a niche on a boat. They are installed in galley cabinets, cockpit lockers, under saloon seats, under berths in cabins, etc.
For this catalog of the topRik marketplace, we have selected the most popular, reliable and comfortable marine refrigerators models for installation on a yacht from the world's best manufacturers of refrigeration equipment for ships.