Mini Bar

After the Montreal (Ozone Depletion) and Kyoto (Global warming) Protocols, the use of certain foaming agents to produce the thermal insulation for minibars is completely banned in Europe since 1st January 2003. With products not fully complying are illegal for sale.


Suites products are foamed with Cyclopentane which is a substance completely without either Chlorine or Fluorine. It is therefore, has a zero Ozone Depletion Potential. Equally important is: Cyclopentane also has a Global Warming Potential of Zero.


Suites Product utilises CFC-free silent absorption technology to cool its minibars. Unlike the noisier compression cooling, absorption cooling has no moving parts and is run by a heating element powered by electricity.


THE TECHNOLOGY’s Concept


It is important to remember that the heat given off during the absorption and condensation processes must be dispersed into the surrounding air, and therefore the units require adequate ventilation space.


Even though the process is more complex, we will try in a simple way to explain how the system works. In order to do so, it is important to understand that there are 4 basic parts to an absorption cooling unit, these being:
The reservoir-absorber - 1
The boiler pump - 2
The condenser - 3
The evaporator, (most commonly called the Chiller) - 4


The system works within a sealed environment and with a solution made basically of water, ammonia and hydrogen.


The boiler pump electrically heats up and boils the water with a high concentration of ammonia, which comes from the reservoir, and that releases the ammonia now in a form of gas.

The ammonia gas rises to the upper part of the system, called the condenser, where, with the help of the cooling fins, it causes the temperature to drop and

This way condensing only the ammonia from gas to a liquid form again.

This liquid and highly pure ammonia is then moved to the evaporator,

here it meets with hydrogen at different pressure, causing the ammonia to evaporate again.

It is a physical phenomenon that every time we have an evaporation there is a temperature absorption.

In other words, the process pulls the heat from the surrounding area,

onsequently cooling the evaporator to a degree that frost is formed in the outer part of it,

and the temperature in the inside of the minibar is lowered.

The evaporated ammonia, together with the hydrogen, then travels to the absorber, where we have fairly pure water which, once it encounters the evaporated ammonia gas, it absorbs it. This process is what gives the system its name, since here water is absorbing ammonia.

By gravity, this water-ammonia solution travels through the absorber coil, absorbing as much ammonia as possible, and ending at the reservoir.

Once in the reservoir, the water with a high content of ammonia passes again to the boiler pump, where a new cycle then starts.