Advice for building a Hilsch Vortex tube

[askingask]

Hi so I wondered how crude can a vortex tube be build? Is high precision needed to build one, or could I build it out of literal cardboard and use a bicycle pump as a pressure source?

 

[Baluncore]

Welcome to PF.

I wondered how crude can a vortex tube be build?

A simple fan will produce cool air at the centre of the flow, with hotter air at the periphery.

Small and efficient vortex tubes are used for cooling cutting tools. They cost less than $100 from China. (eBay "Small Vortex Tube Cooler SE-WLG08 Vortex Tube + Joint Universal Tube 4150")

Search eBay for "vortex tube" and you will find "Vortex Tube Air Conditioner Waistcoat Compressed Air Cooling" below $100.

A bicycle pump immediately produces hot air. You can use a vortex tube to increase that temperature.
If you want to produce cold air from a vortex tube, you will need an intercooler or storage reservoir to pre-cool the compressed air.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vortex_tube

 

[askingask]

Welcome to PF.


A simple fan will produce cool air at the centre of the flow, with hotter air at the periphery.

Small and efficient vortex tubes are used for cooling cutting tools. They cost less than $100 from China. (eBay "Small Vortex Tube Cooler SE-WLG08 Vortex Tube + Joint Universal Tube 4150")

Search eBay for "vortex tube" and you will find "Vortex Tube Air Conditioner Waistcoat Compressed Air Cooling" below $100.

A bicycle pump immediately produces hot air. You can use a vortex tube to increase that temperature.
If you want to produce cold air from a vortex tube, you will need an intercooler or storage reservoir to pre-cool the compressed air.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vortex_tube

Thank you!

So if I place the fan at the opening of a tube, so that the vortex can travel a longer distance, will that increase the temperature difference?

 

[Baluncore]

So if I place the fan at the opening of a tube, so that the vortex can travel a longer distance, will that increase the temperature difference?

It depends on what exactly you mean, but probably not.

I think your next step should be the YouTube videos about making DIY vortex tubes, (they include warnings of burns and frost bite). Your "literal cardboard" may burn.

 

[askingask]

I think your next step should be the YouTube videos about making DIY vortex tubes, (they include warnings of burns and frost bite). Your "literal cardboard" may burn.

I‘ve seen a few of these videos. I just want to replicate the basic principle with simple materials and experiment with different designs. And see how I can maximise the effect.

Is pressure necessary or would it be enough to blow high speed air?

 

[Baluncore]

Is pressure necessary or would it be enough to blow high speed air?

It takes pressure to blow high speed air.

The vortex separates the hot and cold by spinning fast, the faster the spin, the greater the temperature difference. The vortex is driven by a peripheral air jet, that must operate at a pressure greater than the high pressure of the outer vortex. The air supply is typically 100 psi, and there must be sufficient flow volume to supply the vortex tube. You will need some form of air compressor.

Your experimentation will depend on your environment and your creativity. Do you live on the top floor of a tower block, or in a cave at the bottom of a 100-metre-high waterfall? Is there a small mechanical workshop nearby?

 

[askingask]

Your experimentation will depend on your environment and your creativity. Do you live on the top floor of a tower block, or in a cave at the bottom of a 100-metre-high waterfall? Is there a small mechanical workshop nearby?

As you might have seen in the other thread I made, I‘m trying to get all the knowledge needed to make a very primitive cooling system. I‘m very limited in my environment. I‘m not really looking to build an efficient system, but rather my goal is to get at least a proof of concept.

I‘ve looked in to joule thompson throttles (Linde cycle), stirling coolers, Peltier elements, vapour compression cycles, Absorption refrigerators and so on.

It started off with me trying to liquefy air with the Linde cycle, realising that it‘s not really achievable with what I have at my disposal, after reading a post here on the forum and watching a video on Youtube.
Problem is it‘s really hard to do any of the major cooling methods without sophisticated copper tubing and an compressor as well as insulators.

I just want something that works and from there on I‘ll try to cascade whatever system works to achieve cooler and cooler temperatures.

Currently the vortex tube seemed to be my best option as it involves no moving parts. The Seebeck effect looked like another promising alternative.

Keep in mind, I know that I can just buy things of the internet which are 400x more efficient and work with no problems. But again my goal is building things from scratch.

If you got any ideas I’d appreciate that!