What is a Ton?
That's easy. We all know it's defined as 2,000 pounds.
But what about the definition of a ton of refrigeration? That's easy too. It's just the cooling effect in BTU/HR of 1 ton (2,000 pounds) of ice melting uniformly in a 24 hour period.
Since the latent heat of fusion for ice [The amount of heat it takes to turn 1 pound of 32 DegreeF ice to 32 DegreeF water] is 144BTU/Pound, the refrigeration ton is calculated as;
2,000 pounds x (144 BTU/pound / 24Hr) = 12,000 BTU/Hr
I'll always remember the headline in the small town newspaper where the eager reporter announced the shipment of a 500 Ton Cooling Tower from the town's new manufacturing plant where I worked. The clear implication was it weighed 500 tons. If he had only taken the time to think it through... that's a million pounds! No wonder our roads are a mess! Conclusion: Don't always believe what you read in the newspaper! |
