Thermal separation flow characteristic in a vortex tube: CFD model

Abstract

A vortex tube produces hot and cold streams simultaneously from a source of compressed gas. The device can be used for cooling and heating. Air is selected as a working fluid for the investigation on the thermal separation flow phenomenon inside the counter-flow vortex tube using a computational fluid dynamics model. A three dimensional model that utilized a turbulent standard k-e model is used to simulate the physical behavior of the flow such as temperature and pressure inside the vortex tube. The simulation results clearly indicated the two regions of high and low air temperature in the vortex tube. That can be observed through the graphical visualization. The outlet temperatures predicted by the simulation model are agreed with the experimental data obtained from the laboratory testing.