The Windhexe is an industrial waste processing machine invented by Frank Polifka. It is distributed through his company, Vortex Dehydration Systems. The machine uses high-speed air to turn nearly anything you put into it, into a fine powder (oft cited examples being: shoes, concrete, old tires, chicken feathers). Current applications include the processing of waste from poultry operations. The machine is a variation on the Hilsch vortex tube.
For photographs and video of the Windhexe see the MSNBC article
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[li]Why isn’t the Windhexe being used for its environmental advantages (more than it currently is)?[/li][li]What else could we use this technology for? Could we harness the energy it creates and put it into something else?[/li][/ul]
I’d like to see the full system efficiency for drying and pulverising inputs, when you take into account the energy used to compress/heat the vortex air. How does it compare to just baking the inputs and grinding the results?
What temperature does the vortex air enter at? Does it change the chemical structure of the inputs? How long does the vortex chamber last? I’m trying to imagine putting a concrete block in there…
What are its environmental advantages? There are many ways of turning things into a fine powder - this approach may be the most efficient and least polluting for some applications, but I don’t see anything that makes it automatically superior for all.
Another point, the name is dreadful; the vast majority of potential customers will think only of the well-known brand of cleaning fluid. Mr Polifka would have been better advised to choose a different advertising agency, if he didn’t come up with the name by himself.