ice pond on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
An ice pond is a large volume of
An ice pond is a large volume of ice
Ice is water frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 degrees Celsius or Depending on the presence of impurities such as particles of soil or bubbles of air, it can appear transparent or a more or less opaqu ...
or snow
Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes.
It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout ...
produced by natural winter
Winter is the coldest season of the year in polar and temperate climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Different cultur ...
freezing. The ice is then used for cooling or air conditioning
Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C or AC, is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior environment (sometimes referred to as 'comfort cooling') and in some cases also strictly controlling ...
.
Before refrigeration was common, ice ponds were mined by ice companies, with product transported to consumers and food businesses through much of the year. Refrigeration technology replaced this technology.
In more recent times, ice ponds have been revived as an environmentally friendly way to air condition buildings in the summer. The best known experiment is the 'Princeton ice pond' by Ted Taylor in 1981. He then persuaded the Prudential Insurance Company
Prudential Financial, Inc. is an American Fortune Global 500 and Fortune 500 company whose subsidiaries provide insurance, retirement planning, investment management, and other products and services to both retail and institutional customers th ...
to use a bigger pond to provide air conditioning for a larger building. Taylor also investigated the possibility of using the technology for water purification
Water purification is the process of removing undesirable chemicals, biological contaminants, suspended solids, and gases from water. The goal is to produce water that is fit for specific purposes. Most water is purified and disinfected for hu ...
, which he demonstrated during a non-fiction segment on the 1984 educational series '' The Voyage of the Mimi'.'' The Voyage of the Mimi' episode 10B, "Water, Water, Everywhere"
See also
* Ice house (building) *Seasonal thermal energy storage
Seasonal thermal energy storage (STES), also known as inter-seasonal thermal energy storage,
is the storage of heat or cold for periods of up to several months. The thermal energy can be collected whenever it is available and be used whenever nee ...
(STES)
* Snowmaking
Snowmaking is the production of snow by forcing water and pressurized air through a "snow gun", also known as a "snow cannon". Snowmaking is mainly used at ski resorts to supplement natural snow. This allows ski resorts to improve the reliabilit ...
* Solar pond
A solar pond is a pool of saltwater which collects and stores solar thermal energy. The saltwater naturally forms a vertical salinity gradient also known as a "halocline", in which low-salinity water floats on top of high-salinity water. The ...
Notes and references