Strudel d161.2|17
So this was real fun to play with, only about 1.3m filament and you have a https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vortex_tube.
As an air vortex is not visible i made it with water for demonstration.
kudos to @mark_warlick who planted the idea of beeing the first 3D-printing an airconditioner. And Yes it is working for real, powered with 7bar(100PSI) you get cold air out of one End - like magic. (and yes it is loud and inefficient)
What kind of temperature differential are you seeing?
I can’t tell it is not that much, maybe 10-20°C as this is not a fixed setup … And I have not enough airsupply for a constant test. But I cleary have a temp. drop additional to the normal chilling of airflow. It feels weird as it is a very small zone in the middle only ~2mm∅ of the cool outlet. I just render and later print a improved version i can glue to the metall tube to make meassurements. Do you like to print one yourself?
I would like to have the file.
Here is a link to the operators manual for a 3M vortex tube:
This is the lowest price I see for one:
https://www.apdmro.com/3M-Versaflo-V150-p/70070799070.htm?psrid=242750802
If your design works as well as the 3M product, 3M would find it very disruptive indeed, if we could print out replacements at will.
Could bring you some notoriety.
Wow didn’t expect such a high price … to be honest my design is very minimalistic - so first ill need to make walls thicker to get the ¼ coupler nipple connected more secure and i want to emphasize that a 3D-printed part for 80N/cm² compressed air include unknown safety hazards - not sure if anyone should take that risk especially when working commercialy… Also in question how oil within the air could degenerate the plastic over time.
@Ulrich_Baer
I wouldn’t necessarily worry about oil in this application as this device is intended to deliver breathable air, so there won’t be any oil.
As far as concerns about bursting due to the supply pressure, I’d add a few wraps of fiber reinforced packing tape over cloth to contain any shrapnel during testing, put it in a box, and test it at 160N/cm².
The pressure is only high at the inlet too. It drops off immediately.
Oil might be a problem in some applications, if the oil is not compatible with the plastic you use, but there are options in print media, and in oil.
Ideally, a CLIP produced part would likely offer the most strength.
I’ve got some contacts at Carbon 3D, because they want me to buy one of their printers.
I just cant get past the maintenance fee, and I have not found a good application in our process to justify the expense over injection molded parts.
Nice! I’ve been wanting somebody to make one of these for ages.
@Ryan_Carlyle
Me too.
Ulrich does not hesitate.
@Ryan_Carlyle @mark_warlick Well my “quick’n dirty” approach turned out to be just dirty. Rendering now took 9h 56m 24s … I should redesing this, but i don’t want to keep you waiting any longer - please find the actual results (STL download as 7-zip (*.7z)) here: https://sites.google.com/site/ulrichbaer/tdi/tech/vortextube
@Ulrich_Baer
Thanks for that.
I’ll be interested in the developments as they come along.
I sent you a hangouts message too, but I don’t know if you got it.
@mark_warlick first results with the short version (no tube, cab directly attached) temp at cold end drop to 20°C, room temp is 27°C… also clear meassurement that the other side gets hotter (can’t meassure both at the same time in the current setup)… but i have not enough supply air to run this at full power. [edit: ignore this only the air could already cool the thermometer to 12°C - and the short version has no interaction of the vortices]
