Grant: Collaborative Research and Development Grants
University of Prince Edward Island
$20,000.00
Design and efficiency improvement of commercial vortex tubes using computational fluid dynamics
EF 2016-17
Résumé
A vortex tube uses compressed air to produce cold and hot streams of air without using moving parts. Thetechnology is mainly used for spot cooling of components and has applications across many industries, with itsmost common application being cooling of electronic control panels in dirty, adverse environments. The vortextube design has not changed for over 30 years and the commercial product has seen little engineeringdevelopment despite major computational advances in the recent years, thus preventing its much neededimprovements in design and efficiency. In this proposed research project, We will develop a computationalmodel to investigate design parameters, such as hot and cold air temperatures compared to the predictions bythe computational model, influencing the performance and the efficiency of vortex tubes. Despite havingdeveloped a basic working computational model in a previous collaborative project, the industry partner is notyet globally promoting this capability as further improvements are still necessary. In this project commerciallyavailable computational fluid dynamics (CFD) will be used for computational modelling. CFD modelling incombination with design for six sigma (DFSS) greatly improves engineering and quality of products to meetthe expected industry standards. A DFSS design of experiments (DOE) will be our proposed platform for thisdesign engineering work.The industry partner, NexFlow Air Products Corp., is a Canadian air product engineering company andmanufacturer of compressed air components and products since 2003, and provider of custom solutions usingcompressed air technology to industries worldwide. Their vortex tube technology has been based on empiricaland in-house design improvements over their competitors', positioning them among top three suppliers of thistechnology worldwide. We expect that with this know-how, NexFlow will compete in major projects whereefficient, custom designed vortex tubes are essential and highly in demand by aerospace, power generation, andautomotive industries.
Programme
Collaborative Research and Development Grants
Bénéficiaire
Emplacement
Prince Edward Island, Canada
Type de bénéficiaire
Academia
Type
Grant
Source
NSERC's Awards Data
Tel que publié
Application id
503306-2016
Name nom
BabaiiKochekseraii, Sadegh
Department département
Engineering
Organization id
88
Institution établissement
University of Prince Edward Island
Province en
Prince Edward Island
Province fr
?le-du-Prince-Édouard
Country en
CANADA
Country fr
CANADA
Fiscal year exercice financier
2016
Competition year année de concours
2016
Award amount
20000
Program id
CRDPJ
Program name en
Collaborative Research and Development Grants
Program name fr
Subventions de recherche et développement coopérative
Group en
Research partnerships programs
Group fr
Programmes de partenariat
Committee code
96
Committee name en
RPP Internal Decision Cttee
Committee name fr
Cté de décision interne - PPR
Area of application code
9999
Area of application group en
Not available
Area of application group fr
Non disponible
Area of application en
Not available
Area of application fr
Non disponible
Research subject code
9999
Research subject group en
Not available
Research subject group fr
Non disponible
Research subject en
Not available
Research subject fr
Non disponible
Partie
1
Nb partie
1
Application title
Design and efficiency improvement of commercial vortex tubes using computational fluid dynamics
Keyword
NSERC
Application summary
A vortex tube uses compressed air to produce cold and hot streams of air without using moving parts. Thetechnology is mainly used for spot cooling of components and has applications across many industries, with itsmost common application being cooling of electronic control panels in dirty, adverse environments. The vortextube design has not changed for over 30 years and the commercial product has seen little engineeringdevelopment despite major computational advances in the recent years, thus preventing its much neededimprovements in design and efficiency. In this proposed research project, We will develop a computationalmodel to investigate design parameters, such as hot and cold air temperatures compared to the predictions bythe computational model, influencing the performance and the efficiency of vortex tubes. Despite havingdeveloped a basic working computational model in a previous collaborative project, the industry partner is notyet globally promoting this capability as further improvements are still necessary. In this project commerciallyavailable computational fluid dynamics (CFD) will be used for computational modelling. CFD modelling incombination with design for six sigma (DFSS) greatly improves engineering and quality of products to meetthe expected industry standards. A DFSS design of experiments (DOE) will be our proposed platform for thisdesign engineering work.The industry partner, NexFlow Air Products Corp., is a Canadian air product engineering company andmanufacturer of compressed air components and products since 2003, and provider of custom solutions usingcompressed air technology to industries worldwide. Their vortex tube technology has been based on empiricaland in-house design improvements over their competitors', positioning them among top three suppliers of thistechnology worldwide. We expect that with this know-how, NexFlow will compete in major projects whereefficient, custom designed vortex tubes are essential and highly in demand by aerospace, power generation, andautomotive industries.
