The First Chlorofluorocarbons
In June of 1918, General Motors joined the refrigerator manufacturing industry by purchasing a small Detroit company and renaming it Frigidaire. On the surface, this does not seem to be that significant an event. However, when General Motors began manufacturing, it also began working to perfect the products it was selling. Though many other companies were in the field, few had the quality researchers that General Motors possessed. Also, the money that could be invested by this automotive giant was unparalleled.
The research team for General Motors changed the aesthetics of the early refrigerators to make them more acceptable to the consumer. This change, along with several others, improved the physical appearance and functioning of the General Motors' units. More than any other problem, the main difficulty that still remained with all refrigerators was the refrigerant used to cool the box. Ammonia, a highly toxic and potentially explosive liquid/gas was the refrigerant of choice at the time. Many research groups tried in vain to find an adequate substitute which had as good a cooling potential, was less toxic, was safe, and would not cost an exorbitant amount.
One of General Motors' most celebrated and successful researchers was a man named Thomas Midgley Jr. Midgley had invented the lead additive for gasoline as well as many other chemical innovations. When he started work on the problem of the refrigerator, no one thought that his next creation would change the world so significantly, but it did. On December 31, 1928, Frigidaire received the first patent for the class of compounds which would come to be known as chlorofluorocarbons (CFC). With this patent, the modern age of refrigerators and air-conditioning began.
In retrospect, the creation of the first chlorofluorocarbons was a momentous discovery. At the time, however, no one knew exactly what these new chemicals could be used for. Slowly, CFCs made their way into the market. Before anyone would rush to purchase and use this new chemical, many tests and studies would need to be undertaken. In April 1930 Midgley made a presentation demonstrating the safety of CFCs at the Atlanta meeting of the American Chemical Society. Midgley began by placing an empty glass jar on a table in front of the assembled crowd. Into the jar, he poured liquid CFCs, which appeared to be white and opaque. The liquid began to boil instantly as soon as it warmed to room temperature. As the vapors billowed up out of the jar, Midgley placed his face over its mouth and took a deep breath, inhaling the cold stream. He went on to explain that CFCs are non-explosive, have not harmed any animals, and except for an intoxicating effect, have no effect on humans. Moreover, CFCs are chemically inert and, most importantly, are perfect refrigerants. The crowd was thoroughly impressed. A few months later, on August 27, 1930 General Motors and DuPont entered into a partnership to produce CFCs under the trade name Freon. Scientists at the time, performed every test on CFCs that could be imagined. In the end, they were found to be safe to humans, construction materials, and the environment. Best of all, they were inexpensive and highly useful. Not until many years later did a new group of scientists find out that CFCs could be very harmful to everything on earth.
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