Posted by Rob (208.17.229.230) on July 09, 2002 at 15:08:49:
In Reply to: Re: Here's one to add: posted by Scott Ellis on July 08, 2002 at 11:58:13:
This sounds like a vortex tube. Compressed air enters midway in the side of a tube and heated air comes out one end and refrigerated air out the other. They are in use for electrical cabinet cooling and machine tool cooling.
: Hi Dave. Thanks for your post. I'm glad you like the website... thanks so much for your contributions.
: This is an interesting idea indeed! All kinds of possible applications come to mind, from cheaper refigeration to wind powered stirling engines. I have a couple of questions, though I realize you might not have the answers.
: In addition to the exact angle of the Y, we would need to know some other things:
: 1. Were the ends of the tube open or closed?
: 2. Which end do you force air into?
: If you don't have these answers then only more experimentation can tell us. Hopefully someone has the time and resources to look into it further...
: Best,
: Scott
:
: : Since you are into all kinds of interesting ideas, this one is lengthy but true:
: : When I first went to work in industry, my boss was an older engineer named Al Rosen. Over a few beers one night, he told me of an experiment that he always wished that he had followed up on (he died a year later). In the 40's, Al worked for a research group where the sky was the limit (those days are gone). One scientist found that if you took a piece of copper tubing shaped like a "Y". and forced air into it, one outlet on the Y got red hot and the other frosted up!
: : Al did say that the Y angle was critical and it more than a few degrees off, would not work. At that time, freon was plentiful and this devise could not compete so it was dropped. Today, it would make someone a fortune. When we discussed it, I was not that interested (a few beers did not help) and he may have said what the angle was but I don't remember. What I have written is the limit of what I remember. Has anyone else heard of this?
: : You might file this with one of those "interesting concepts" but who knows, maybe someone reading this is familiar with it.
: : If other readers have items like this of interest, let's share.
: : By the way Scott: I like your web site.
: : Dave