Cold Link Africa Online |
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INCORPORATING COLD CHAIN |
Cold Link Africa
ColdLinkAfrica
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VOL. 40- NO. 1 | MARCH / APRIL 2026 |
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CONTENTS |
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REGULARS
3 Editor’ s Column 30 Buyer’ s guide 31 Word search
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
4 SA and China lay groundwork for major agricultural trade expansion
NETWORKING
5 Understanding compressor failures 7 Panel discussion insights on citrus export and quality control 8 Cold chain sustainability in a changing world
EVENTS AND EXHIBITIONS
9 Risk management and law enforcement at SA borders
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FEATURE
18 Refrigerants at a crossroads
PROJECT
21 Maersk’ s R1.7-billion Belcon Cold Store strengthens SA’ s export competitiveness
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It had no screen, no software updates and rarely earns a second thought – yet the domestic refrigerator has shaped how we eat, shop, live and organise our homes for a full century. Although mechanical refrigeration existed well before then, it was the mid-1920s that marked the moment refrigerators moved from experimental technology into ordinary kitchens. In a recent feature for ASHRAE Journal, engineer Andy Pearson revisits this turning point, exploring how technical innovation and social change advanced hand-in-hand. The refrigerator’ s journey into the home was anything but smooth. Development stretched across decades, driven by trial and error, competing design philosophies and some very real dangers. Pearson’ s research highlights the 1920s as a period of intense creativity – and equally intense risk.
Early household refrigerators used refrigerants that would never be accepted in homes today. Sulphur dioxide, common at the time, was toxic and strongly irritating. Methyl chlorides posed even greater hazards. Open, belt-driven compressors were standard, increasing the likelihood of leaks. In this early phase, the dominant engineering challenge was not efficiency or sustainability, but basic safety.
Seen from today’ s perspective, these debates feel strikingly familiar. The core question – how to balance toxicity, flammability, performance and practicality – remains central to refrigeration design. Pearson draws a clear parallel between the arguments of the 1920s and today’ s global
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refrigerant transitions, reminding us that the industry has been here before.
One of the more eye-opening insights from Pearson’ s work is how fluid the concept of safety can be. In the 1920s, propane was promoted as a safe refrigerant because it was non-toxic – a sharp contrast to modern priorities, where flammability dominates risk assessments. The lesson, Pearson suggests, is that safety is not inherent to a refrigerant alone, but emerges from system design, manufacturing quality and control measures.
Two technological paths eventually shaped the future of domestic refrigeration. Some manufacturers, including General Electric, focused on improving containment and engineering controls while continuing to use hazardous refrigerants. Others, led by Thomas Midgley, pursued synthetic alternatives, culminating in the introduction of R-12. These approaches converged with a crucial breakthrough: the hermetic compressor. By sealing the refrigerant circuit, engineers dramatically reduced leak risks and made refrigerators viable for mass adoption.
Pearson expresses deep respect for the engineers of this era. Working with limited data and incomplete theory, they relied on observation, experimentation and practical ingenuity – laying the foundations for an appliance that would soon feel indispensable.
The refrigerator’ s impact went far beyond engineering. While researching ASHRAE’ s archives, Pearson uncovered domestic refrigerator advertisements from the 1920s that reveal as much about society as they do about technology. Marketing was aimed squarely at women, framed around
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household responsibility and, at times, fear – warning of illness and danger if food was left unrefrigerated.
At the same time, refrigerators were sold as symbols of modern life. They promised progress, care and aspiration. Pearson shares an anecdote from his own neighbourhood: a former refrigerator salesman recalled being invited to dinner by a newly married couple in the 1930s, keen to show off the appliance he had sold them. It is hard to imagine such excitement today- yet it captures just how aspirational the technology once felt.
A century on, refrigerators are background infrastructure: reliable, expected and largely invisible. But their influence has been enormous. They changed diets and shopping patterns, reduced food waste, reshaped domestic labour and underpinned the growth of urban populations and industrial food supply chains. As Pearson said,“ our lives have never been the same since”.
While there is no single invention date to celebrate, the 2025 – 26 centenary marks something just as significant – one hundred years since refrigeration became a normal part of everyday domestic life. Pearson’ s ASHRAE Journal webinar is a timely reminder that this shift was not inevitable. It emerged from decades of risk-taking, engineering judgement and social adaptation.
As today’ s cold-chain sector grapples once again with safety, sustainability and refrigerant choice – from household appliances to large-scale distribution – the early history of the domestic refrigerator feels newly relevant. The centenary is
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Andy Pearson, Ph. D., C. Eng., is group managing director at Star Refrigeration in Glasgow, Scotland.
more than a birthday for an appliance; it is a reminder of how quietly, and how profoundly, refrigeration continues to shape the way the world lives and eats. CLA
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