Carl Munters

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Carl Georg Munters (1897–1989), born 22 March 1897 in Dala-Järna, Kopparbergs län, Sweden, died in 1989. Swedish inventor, most known for inventing the gas absorption refrigerator together with Baltzar von Platen now sold by Electrolux.

He was the son of engineer Anders Johan Munters and Hilman Bernhardina Helling. Married Anna Eugenia Geralf in 1925 and Marianne Warkander in 1951. Munters graduated from KTH in 1922.

[edit] Refrigerators

Together with Baltzar von Platen and John Tandberg he invented the gas absorption refrigerator for domestic use. His intention was to create an easy-to-use refrigerator without any moving parts. The technique produced "cold" from a heat source such as propane, electricity, or kerosene.

The inventor-team rented a room and worked into the wee hours, they slept in the mornings and cut classes from the Royal Institute of Technology where they were students at the time. 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 prototype was improved and their cooling solution was a world sensation. Albert Einstein once mentioned how astonished he was by their ingenious solution.

The manufacturing of the refrigerator began in 1923 in the company AB Arctic. In 1925 the development was finished and the company was bought out by Electrolux.

[edit] Other inventions

After inventing the foam plastic he started his own company and developed, among other things, new insulation materials, air conditioners and dehumidification devices. At his death, Munters had over a thousand patents.