Carl Georg Munters (22 March 1897 – 1989) was a Swedish inventor, most known for inventing together with Baltzar von Platen the

gas absorption refrigerator An absorption refrigerator is a refrigerator that uses a heat source (e.g., solar energy, a fossil-fueled flame, waste heat from factories, or district heating systems) to provide the energy needed to drive the cooling process. The system uses t ...

now sold by

Electrolux Electrolux AB () is a Swedish multinational home appliance manufacturer, headquartered in Stockholm. It is consistently ranked the world's second largest appliance maker by units sold, after Whirlpool. Electrolux products sell under a variety ...

. He also invented and patented a method of making foamed plastic, which was later rediscovered by

Dow Chemical Company The Dow Chemical Company, officially Dow Inc., is an American multinational chemical corporation headquartered in Midland, Michigan, United States. The company is among the three largest chemical producers in the world. Dow manufactures plastic ...

and used to make

Styrofoam Styrofoam is a trademarked brand of closed-cell extruded polystyrene foam (XPS), commonly called "Blue Board", manufactured as foam continuous building insulation board used in walls, roofs, and foundations as thermal insulation and water barrie ...

Personal life

He was born in Dala-Järna, Kopparbergs län,

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

, the son of engineer Anders Johan Munters and Hilma Bernhardina Helling. He graduated from

KTH KTH may refer to: * Keat Hong LRT station, Singapore, LRT station abbreviation * Kent House railway station, London, National Rail station code * KTH Royal Institute of Technology, a university in Sweden * KTH Krynica, a Polish ice hockey team * Khy ...

in 1922. Munters married Anna Eugenia Geralf in 1925 and Marianne Warkander in 1951.

Refrigerators

Together with Baltzar von Platen and John Tandberg, Munters invented the gas absorption refrigerator for domestic use. His intention was to create an easy-to-use refrigerator without any moving parts. The technique removed thermal energy, which was driven by a heat source such as propane, electricity, or kerosene. The team rented a room and worked into the night. They slept in the mornings and missed classes at the

Royal Institute of Technology The KTH Royal Institute of Technology ( sv, Kungliga Tekniska högskolan, lit=Royal Institute of Technology), abbreviated KTH, is a public research university in Stockholm, Sweden. KTH conducts research and education in engineering and technolo ...

where they were students. It took them about a year to create a first prototype that worked with self-circulation. The prototype still had one moving part, a ball valve, and was big and clumsy. Eventually the design was improved and their cooling solution was a world sensation.

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...

once mentioned how astonished he was by their ingenious solution. Manufacturing of the refrigerator commenced in 1923 by the company AB Arctic. In 1925, development was finished, and the company was bought by Electrolux.

Other inventions

After inventing

extruded polystyrene foam Polystyrene (PS) is a synthetic polymer made from monomers of the aromatic hydrocarbon styrene. Polystyrene can be solid or foamed. General-purpose polystyrene is clear, hard, and brittle. It is an inexpensive resin per unit weight. It is a ...

plastic in early 1930s and selling his US patent to

Dow Dow or DOW may refer to: Business * Dow Jones Industrial Average, or simply the Dow, a stock market index * Dow Inc., an American commodity chemical company ** Dow Chemical Company, a subsidiary, an American multinational chemical corporation ...

in 1940s, he started his own company in 1955 and developed, among other things, new insulation materials, air conditioners and dehumidification devices. At his death, Munters had over a thousand patents.

Patents

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References

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External links