ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Adam Grosser - Venture capitalist
Adam Grosser is a general partner at Foundation Capital -- and a refrigeration visionary.

Why you should listen

Adam Grosser is a venture capitalist, working with startups that are exploring new ideas in data communications, electronics and energy management. With a background in engineering and entertainment, he enjoys looking for opportunities that map over a few of his passions -- which also include greentech.

His passion for a sustainable solution to refrigeration -- for storing food and medicines -- led to the project he describes in his 2007 TEDTalk. 

 

More profile about the speaker
Adam Grosser | Speaker | TED.com
TED2007

Adam Grosser: A mobile fridge for vaccines

Adam Grosser e a súa neveira sostible

Filmed:
973,042 views

Adam Grosser fala dun proxecto para construir un refrixerador que funciona sen electricidade, e levar a vital ferramenta ás vilas e clínicas de todo o mundo. Botando mano das vellas tecnoloxías, encontrou un sistema que funciona.
- Venture capitalist
Adam Grosser is a general partner at Foundation Capital -- and a refrigeration visionary. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:13
This is a work in process,
0
1000
3000
Este é un traballo en desenvolvemento
00:16
based on some comments that were made
1
4000
3000
basado en comentarios que se fixeron
00:19
at TED two years ago
2
7000
1000
en TED hai 2 anos
00:20
about the need for the storage of vaccine.
3
8000
4000
sobre a necesidade de almacenar vacinas.
00:24
(Music)
4
12000
1000
(Música)
00:25
(Video) Narrator: On this planet,
5
13000
1000
[Neste planeta]
00:26
1.6 billion people
6
14000
2000
[ 1.600 millóns de persoas ]
00:28
don't have access to electricity,
7
16000
2000
[ non teñen acceso a electricidade ]
00:30
refrigeration
8
18000
4000
[ refrixeración ]
00:34
or stored fuels.
9
22000
2000
[ ou combustibles almacenados ]
00:38
This is a problem.
10
26000
2000
[ isto é un problema ]
00:40
It impacts:
11
28000
2000
[ e ten un impacto: ]
00:44
the spread of disease,
12
32000
2000
[ na propagación de enfermidades ]
00:46
the storage of food and medicine
13
34000
3000
[ no almacenamento de comida e medicinas ]
00:49
and the quality of life.
14
37000
3000
[ e na calidade de vida ]
00:52
So here's the plan: inexpensive refrigeration that doesn't use electricity,
15
40000
3000
[ este é o plan: refrixeración barata sen electricidade... ]
00:55
propane, gas, kerosene or consumables.
16
43000
5000
[ ... propano, gas, queroseno ou consumibles ]
01:00
Time for some thermodynamics.
17
48000
2000
[ hora de falar de termodinámica ]
01:02
And the story of the Intermittent Absorption Refrigerator.
18
50000
3000
[ E a historia da Neveira de Absorción Intermitente ]
01:05
Adam Grosser: So 29 years ago, I had this thermo teacher
19
53000
3000
Hai 29 anos, tiña un mestre de termo
01:09
who talked about absorption and refrigeration.
20
57000
1000
que falaba de absorción e refrixeración.
01:10
It's one of those things that stuck in my head.
21
58000
2000
Nunca o esquecín.
01:12
It was a lot like the Stirling engine:
22
60000
1000
Era moi parecido ao Motor Stirling:
01:13
it was cool, but you didn't know what to do with it.
23
61000
2000
xenial, pero non sabías que facer con él.
01:16
And it was invented in 1858, by this guy Ferdinand Carre,
24
64000
3000
O inventou este tío, Ferdinand Carre, en 1858
01:19
but he couldn't actually build anything with it
25
67000
1000
pero non puido construir nada con él
01:20
because of the tools of the time.
26
68000
3000
polas ferramentas da época.
01:23
This crazy Canadian named Powel Crosley
27
71000
3000
Un canadense tolo chamado Powel Crosley
01:27
commercialized this thing called the IcyBall in 1928,
28
75000
2000
comercializou unha cousa chamada Icyball en 1928,
01:29
and it was a really neat idea,
29
77000
2000
e era unha idea moi boa,
01:31
and I'll get to why it didn't work,
30
79000
1000
aínda que non funcionou,
01:32
but here's how it works.
31
80000
1000
pero así é cómo funciona.
01:34
There's two spheres and they're separated in distance.
32
82000
2000
Hai dous esferas que están separadas.
01:36
One has a working fluid, water and ammonia,
33
84000
2000
Unha ten auga e amoníaco,
01:39
and the other is a condenser.
34
87000
1000
e a outra é un condendador.
01:40
You heat up one side, the hot side.
35
88000
2000
Quentas un lado.
01:42
The ammonia evaporates
36
90000
1000
O amoníaco evapórase
01:43
and it re-condenses in the other side.
37
91000
2000
e recondénsase noutro lado.
01:46
You let it cool to room temperature,
38
94000
1000
O deixas arrefriar ata chegar a temperatura ambiente
01:47
and then, as the ammonia re-evaporates and combines with the water
39
95000
4000
e logo, ao re-evaporarse o amoníaco e combinarse coa auga
01:51
back on the erstwhile hot side,
40
99000
1000
na parte quente anterior,
01:52
it creates a powerful cooling effect.
41
100000
2000
crea un potente efecto de arrefriado.
01:55
So, it was a great idea that didn't work at all: it blew up.
42
103000
3000
Foi unha gran idea que non funcionou: explotou.
01:58
Because using ammonia you get hugely high pressures
43
106000
5000
Ao usar amoníaco, se crean presións moi altas
02:03
if you heated them wrong.
44
111000
1000
se o quentas mal.
02:04
It topped 400 psi. The ammonia was toxic. It sprayed everywhere.
45
112000
4000
Chegou a 28 Bar. O amoníaco era tóxico. Se asperxía por todas partes.
02:08
But it was kind of an interesting thought.
46
116000
2000
Pero foi unha idea interesante.
02:10
So, the great thing about 2006 is
47
118000
3000
Entón, o bo de 2006 é
02:13
there's a lot of really great computational work you can do.
48
121000
3000
que temos moitos recursos computacionais.
02:16
So, we got the whole thermodynamics department
49
124000
3000
Tivemos ao departamento de termodinámica
02:19
at Stanford involved --
50
127000
1000
de Stanford involucrado.
02:20
a lot of computational fluid dynamics.
51
128000
1000
Moita dinámica de fluidos computacional.
02:22
We proved that most of the ammonia refrigeration tables are wrong.
52
130000
3000
Probamos que a maioría das táboas de refrixeración por amoníaco están mal.
02:25
We found some non-toxic refrigerants
53
133000
3000
Atopamos algúns refrixerantes non tóxicos
02:28
that worked at very low vapor pressures.
54
136000
1000
que funcionaban a presións moi baixas.
02:29
Brought in a team from the U.K. --
55
137000
3000
Trouxemos un equipo do Reino Unido
02:32
there's a lot of great refrigeration people,
56
140000
1000
(hai moita xente boa en refrixeración
02:33
it turned out, in the U.K. --
57
141000
2000
no Reino Unido)
02:35
and built a test rig, and proved that, in fact,
58
143000
2000
e fixemos probas e vimos que
02:37
we could make a low pressure, non-toxic refrigerator.
59
145000
3000
podíamos facer unha neveira de baixa presión non tóxica.
02:41
So, this is the way it works.
60
149000
1000
Así é como funciona.
02:42
You put it on a cooking fire.
61
150000
1000
O pos nunha fogueira.
02:43
Most people have cooking fires in the world,
62
151000
2000
A maioría das persoas teñen fogueiras.
02:45
whether it's camel dung or wood.
63
153000
1000
xa sexa bosta de camelo ou madeira.
02:47
It heats up for about 30 minutes, cools for an hour.
64
155000
3000
Se quenta 30 minutos, e se arrefría unha hora.
02:50
Put it into a container
65
158000
2000
O pos nun recipiente
02:53
and it will refrigerate for 24 hours.
66
161000
2000
e refrixerará durante 24 horas.
02:55
It looks like this. This is the fifth prototype. It's not quite done.
67
163000
3000
É algo así. Este é o quinto prototipo, non está rematado.
02:59
Weighs about eight pounds, and this is the way it works.
68
167000
3000
Pesa 3 kilos e medio e funciona así.
03:02
You put it into a 15-liter vessel, about three gallons,
69
170000
3000
O pores nun recipiente de 15 litros,
03:06
and it'll cool it down to just above freezing --
70
174000
2000
e o arrefriará ao punto de conxelación,
03:08
three degrees above freezing --
71
176000
1000
tres graos por riba,
03:10
for 24 hours in a 30 degree C environment. It's really cheap.
72
178000
3000
durante 24 horas nun ambiente a 30ºC. É moi barato.
03:13
We think we can build these in high volumes for about 25 dollars,
73
181000
3000
Cremos que podemos fabricalos a gran escala por 25 dólares,
03:16
in low volumes for about 40 dollars.
74
184000
2000
en menores cantidades a 40 dólares.
03:18
And we think we can make refrigeration
75
186000
2000
E cremos que podemos facer que todo o mundo
03:21
something that everybody can have.
76
189000
1000
teña refrixeración.
03:22
Thank you.
77
190000
1000
Grazas.
03:23
(Applause)
78
191000
3000
(Aplausos)
Translated by Canela Rodal
Reviewed by Jose Camean

▲Back to top

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Adam Grosser - Venture capitalist
Adam Grosser is a general partner at Foundation Capital -- and a refrigeration visionary.

Why you should listen

Adam Grosser is a venture capitalist, working with startups that are exploring new ideas in data communications, electronics and energy management. With a background in engineering and entertainment, he enjoys looking for opportunities that map over a few of his passions -- which also include greentech.

His passion for a sustainable solution to refrigeration -- for storing food and medicines -- led to the project he describes in his 2007 TEDTalk. 

 

More profile about the speaker
Adam Grosser | Speaker | TED.com

Data provided by TED.

This site was created in May 2015 and the last update was on January 12, 2020. It will no longer be updated.

We are currently creating a new site called "eng.lish.video" and would be grateful if you could access it.

If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to write comments in your language on the contact form.

Privacy Policy

Developer's Blog

Buy Me A Coffee