Capstone: Vortex Tube Desalination

Capstone is a project that all engineering students at Concordia must complete in order to graduate. It is a year long project that simulates real world engineering challenges. I and 4 others took on the task of making a desalination machine powered by a vortex tube. A vortex tube is a device which takes compressed air (60 psi) and separates the air into hot and cold streams.

 In our machine, the hot air, at a temperature of 70° C, flows through salt water. In doing so this air is humidified, i.e. : it absorbed some of the water. This saturated air is then directed into another chamber where the cold air from the vortex tube condenses the water. This eliminates the salt in the water and converts it to fresh water.

My part of the project was to do the design and manufacture of many of the components. 

Our final CAD design, which was then built. The vortex tube is the long cylinder mounted to the side of the bin. 

Ansys Fluent simulation of the vortex tube done by my teammate Reuben. Note the two vortices, one of which is inside the other. The outside vortex takes heat energy from the inside one. This cools the inner vortex and heat the outer one. This is how the the hot and cold air is produced. Our vortex tube was composed of six parts, all of which were designed and machined by myself, with help from teammates. 

My Capstone team presenting our project to the general public, April 2019. From left to right, Reuben, Emily, Lauriane, Jeremy and myself. On the table is the vortex tube and the desalinator is on the right. 

Our final poster which details the whole process of our Capstone.

Overall, the project was a success. Our device was able to produce 238 ml of fresh water per hour. It is the first desalination device of this type. However, there is still much work to be done on this method of desalination before it can have any impact. It was a fantastic experience and I was lucky to work with such talented colleagues.