In 1810, Scotland's John Leslie manufactured intermittent absorption refrigerator, which is the earliest absorption chiller. 1860, France's Ferdinand Carre invented a continuous type of absorption chiller, which obtained a U.S. patent.

In 1930 or so, the United States Arkla company manufactured 5 ~ 20 tons of assembly type absorption chiller. To the end of the Second World War, the United States Carrier developed a large air-conditioning absorption chiller, and in 1945, manufactured into the first water as a refrigerant, LiBr solution as an absorbent for absorption chiller.

The two-effect absorption chiller, which uses steam as a heat source, was successfully developed by the Locomotive Works in 1961, and then by Ebara Manufacturing in 1962. Nowadays, this model is the main model of absorption refrigerator. The United States Stahan company also developed this type of chiller in 1961.