Tony,  

Jay has a good point. 

All the accounting on the Ranque-Hilsch device is still not in.  That's the device where you input a stream of air, into a section with two branches (one to the left and one to the right).  Instead of the air branching at the same temperature, due to the construction of the device one of the branches puts out warmer air and the other puts out cooler air.   There is a continuing debate on this effect.

Cheers,

Tom

Date: Mon, 5 Aug 2002 12:15:22 -0400

In reference to Tom Bearden's statement:
 
"Even grains of sand — agitated in a two-chamber vessel where the two chambers are connected by a hole — act in the manner referred to as a "Maxwell's demon" {[9]}.  The agitated sand does separate {[10]} as if for Maxwell's famous demon, with the hotter and faster-moving grains migrating to one chamber and the cooler grains migrating to the other chamber.  But because of the exchange of energy between grains of sand, this separation is thought not to violate the second law, since individual grains absorb and radiate heat, and so energy is exchanged.  It is well known that disequilibrium exchange of energy allows violation of the second law {[11]}. In the agitated sand system, disequilibrium is provided by the steady input of mechanical energy from outside the system."
 
This type of system is analogous and perhaps in some way dynamically equivalent to the Ranque-Hilsch device which has always interested me.
 
thank you.
 
Jay