Earla writes –
I made a Hilsch tube in my shop this weekend. It’s quite impressive! With just a little experimentation, at 80 PSI. the temperature is 17 Degrees on one end and about 70 degrees on the hot side. The pipes are 1/2″ PVC. The center hole where the vortex is formed is 11/32″ with a 1/4″ hole in the washer on the cold side. There are 4 equally spaced Drill #53 (.059) holes Tangent to the center hole that forms the vortex. The valve on the hot side is from a old air tool. It’s quite loud and you can hear the air “spinning up” like a turbo! It uses lots of air.
P.O.K.E.R. Night – Link.
From the pages of MAKE:
P.O.K.E.R. Night. MAKE 09 – Page 34. Subscribers–read this article now in your digital edition or get MAKE 09 (on stands now).
2 thoughts on “Trick your friends into building a vortex tube”
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Friction is important at sonic speeds. Using a leaf blower would be better than compressed air at 80 psi. This is because a drilled hole does not allow a greater velocity than the speed of sound for the vortex. A supersonic nozzle has a special shape that allows the air to exit faster than the speed of sound. Since a leaf-blower blows more air, a larger plastic tube would be required. Using tangential holes is a good idea because it is simpler than cutting a spiral shape, and more efficient since the spiral used in a typical Hilsch tube has friction losses.