What are refrigerators made of?
Refrigerators take 9 things directly, among them sheet steel, paint, plastic, polyurethane, copper and aluminum. Trace them back and you pass 52 made things on the way to 24 raw materials.
How refrigerators are made See it on the map
What goes straight in
- Sheet steelat Weld the outer shell
- Paintat Paint the bare metal
- Plasticat Vacuum form the liners
- Polyurethaneat Foam the wall gap
- Copperat Attach the cooling circuit
- Aluminumat Attach the cooling circuit
- Solderat Attach the cooling circuit
- Electric motorat Attach the cooling circuit
- Refrigerantat Charge the sealed loop
From the ground: 24 raw materials
- Water through copper
- Natural gas through plastic
- Copper ore through copper
- Air through copper
- Crude oil through aluminum
- Coal through aluminum
- Fluorspar through refrigerant
- Zinc ore through sheet steel, zinc
- Titanium ore through paint, titanium dioxide
- Iron ore through paint, pigment
- Sulfur through paint, pigment
- Rock salt through refrigerant, chlorine
- Bauxite through aluminum, alumina
- Tin ore through solder, tin
- Lead ore through solder, silver
- Silver ore through solder, silver
- Corn through refrigerant, carbon dioxide
- Limestone through refrigerant, carbon dioxide
- Dolomite through electric motor, steel, magnesium
- Manganese ore through electric motor, steel, manganese
- Quartz through electric motor, steel, magnesium, metallurgical silicon
- Timber through electric motor, steel, magnesium, metallurgical silicon
- Sugarcane through refrigerant, carbon dioxide, baker's yeast, molasses
- Sugar beet through refrigerant, carbon dioxide, baker's yeast, molasses
Made along the way: 43 things
Metals 13
Metal goods 1
Chemicals and fuels 24
Titanium dioxidePigmentNaphthaEthylenePropyleneNitric acidChlorineOxygen gasSulfuric acidPetroleum cokeAmmoniaCarbon dioxidePropaneQuicklimeArgonCarbon blackMethanolHydrogenCaustic sodaPhenolAcetoneBenzeneCharcoalToluene