Abelló Linde Centenary Book

First journey
On September 15 th 1893 he was in Béziers, in Languedoc, where he visited
the Fritz Kayser brewery, which used the La Vergne refrigeration system, from
New York.
The following day – September 16 th – he visited the boiler-making workshop
of Ymbert Frères, in Saint Chaumond, near Saint-Étienne, a company installing ice
machines. On September 18 th in Lyon he visited a German factory making
colouring products, where there was a La Vergne system ice machine, like the one
in Béziers, and the Gorges brewery. The latter had a “1,000 kg refrigerating
machine with two compressors. The compressors were of the Linde system,
coupled to a steam engine”. This is the first time we find a reference to the
German genius and his refrigeration system.
Second journey
To Cologne (Germany):
September 26 th 1893. “Visit to the central electricity installation, one of the
best there is. Three 900 HP Compound machines and one simple 150 HP one.
They are of the Sulzer system (1891) and run at 85 revs. The dynamos are
installed directly on the revolving axis and are alternating current. Electrically
welded using an American system.”
Gottfr. Linde
“Transparent ice factory and chambers cooled to 1°C. For the conservation
of meat for years. It has 4 Linde compressors with Sulzer machines, built in
Augsburg. Makes transparent ice using two methods:
1. Using stirring rods, old system, which leaves much to be desired and
produces a very opaque ice.
2. Using distilled water, which no matter how crystalline it was still
contained quite a lot of air. It uses the steam expelled by all the machines and
takes it to a surface condenser and other devices that [the manufacturer] did not
want to show me. He is very careful when filling the moulds. It has a tank like
ours, but he fills them all at once from below. Also, after filling each mould he
adds to each one half a glass of a milky solution that he said helped to give it
greater transparency and which he had invented. With one of the compressors it
cools the water to 5 degrees, before placing it in the moulds.”
Notebook
Deutsch-Belgische Fabrik
“Transparent ice. Produces about 3,000 kg per hour. Two machines built by
Vaass & Littmann, in Halle. They produce completely transparent ice, very nice. For
this they collect the condensed water from the boiler coils in ammonia and it
passes automatically through a boiler tank in which it is first cooled and then
reheated by a coil.”
To Belgium:
October 3 rd 1893. Frigorifere d’Anvers SA. Explains the system of making ice
and adds that “they face stiff competition from the natural ice of Norway”, which
they import.
October 4 th 1893. He was in Brussels where he visited the “Glacières de
Bruxelles” and a company called Walschaerts.
Isidro Abelló, his family and his first business ventures 19