Experimental study and CFD analysis on vortex tube

Abstract

Paper presented at the 6th International Conference on Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics, South Africa, 30 June - 2 July, 2008.

In this experimental study of the vortex tube performance has been carried out to investigate the parameters affecting vortex tube operation. Four cases have been studied, in which the influences of the tube length L, the number of entrance nozzles Nz, cold air orifice diameters dc and inlet pressure under various condition. The effects of these parameters on the hot and cold outlet temperature as function of cold air mass ratio (e ) are discussed and presented. And also the coefficient of performance (COP) of the vortex tube as a refrigerator and as a heat pump has been calculated. Three Dimension numerical modelling of vortex tube has been evolved through CFD analysis by using the k– turbulence model. Axial, radial and tangential components of the velocity together with the temperature and pressure fields within the vortex tube are simulated. Predictions from the present CFD simulations were compared with data obtained from our experiments under the same geometrical and operating conditions.