International Journal of Research and Innovation on Science, Engineering and Technology (IJRISET)

International Journal of Research and Innovation in

Thermal Engineering (IJRITE)
PERFORMANCE TESTING OF VORTEX TUBES WITH VARIABLE PARAMETERS

Ch Pavan Kumar1, S Raja Sekhar2.

1 Research Scholar, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Kakinada Institute of Technology & Science, Divili, Andhra Pradesh, India.
2 Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Kakinada Institute of Technology & Science, Divili, Andhra Pradesh, India.

Abstract
Conventional refrigeration system is a type of refrigeration systems which are costly; noisy, harmful gases released
from a machine based on application of this type of system and it is required more maintenance. So, we need to go for
unconventional refrigeration systems like vortex tube refrigeration system, which produce less vibrations and which
require less maintenance and which are noiseless. It is required for our mechanical engineers to look for enhancing the
performance of such vortex tubes. So as a part of my project work, I have chosen various sizes of vortex tubes and test
their performances for finding out optimum performance.
We will be testing the performance of vortex tubes with different l/d ratios and different cold fractions, with different
pressures and different nozzle sizes.

*Corresponding Author:
Ch Pavan Kumar,
Research Scholar,Department of Mechanical Engineering, Kakinada Institute of Technology & Science, Divili,
Andhra Pradesh, India.
Email: pawan.ch9@gmail.com
Year of publication: 2016
Review Type: peer reviewed
Volume: III, Issue : I
Citation:Ch Pavan Kumar, Research Scholar "Performance Testing of Vortex Tubes With Variable Parameters" International Journal of Research and Innovation on Science, Engineering and Technology (IJRISET)
(2016) 78-83

INTRODUCTION
Vortex tube is a simple device which can be used to separate the energy into two streams namely hot stream and
cold stream. Energy separation effect means the separation of flow into two regions of low and high, the total
temperature is referred as temperature separation effect
or energy separation effect.
In conventional refrigeration systems the refrigerants like
Freon and Ammonia is used for heating the surroundings
and for cooling inside rooms in winter and summer seasons respectively. This kind of systems causes for defiencies such as design complexity, high labor cost, presence
of green house gases and toxic substances. The alternative ways of cooling and heat flow generation can be done
by Ranque Hilsch effect.
In general most of the industries are using conventional
refrigeration systems, Even though those are better in its
performance, but in the safety point of view it is necessary
to choose better alternatives as well as thought of performance of the system. In order to avoid or reduce these
deficiencies unconventional refrigeration systems called
vortex tube refrigerating system plays a major role.

Vortex tubes are categorized into two i.) Uni-axial or parallel flow ii.) Counter flow. In the case of Uni axial flows
both cold and hot streams of a gas or air can passed in
the same direction, whether in the case of counter flow
both cold and hot streams of a gas or air can passed in
opposite direction to each other. In comparison of both
the case counter flow vortex tube is more effective than
the Uni-axial flow, because the energy separation in this
case is more due to the separation takes place by the cold
stream gas can cover the each and every position of the
hot stream.
Refrigeration and air conditioning have traditionally used
the concept of operation of the thermodynamic cycle vapor compression, either for cooling chambers chilled or
frozen, either to ambient air conditioning, or even other
applications. And this requires basic components such as
refrigerant, heat exchangers and compressors. However,
this technology represents problems regarding to environmental damage caused by refrigerants and the increasing
global consumption of electrical energy. The usual CFCs
(chlorofluorocarbons), proven toxic to the ozone layer,
have been replaced by modern gases HFCs (hydro fluorocarbon) in countries signatory to the Montreal Protocol
in 1987. However, this change was not, in fact, the solution to environmental problems since these gases may be
about a hundred times more powerful than carbon dioxide in terms of potential for trapping heat, exacerbating the greenhouse effect. An alternative to the currently
used HFCs would be the blends (mixtures) which have
less Ozone Depletion Potential (ODP) and lower value of
Global Warming Potential (GWP), but show a reduction in
energy efficiency around 15%, and consequently, a higher consumption of electricity. According to the International Institute of Refrigeration, cooling systems demand
about 15% of the world's electricity (IRR Guides, 2003).
The development of technological alternatives to conventional cooling can reduce the impacts caused by the use
of these systems. It is known that from the apex of the
Brazilian energy crisis in 1973 and later in 2001, the airconditionings have been described as "villains" when it
comes to electricity conservation. And to supply most of
the consumption in common residences or industries, for
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International Journal of Research and Innovation on Science, Engineering and Technology (IJRISET)

example, (something like 20% or even 25%), these devices

are usually linked during the day when the demand is
higher, as well as the cost.
This device has been applied in different sectors in the
fields of engineering, e.g., cooling parts of machinery and
electronic control cabinets to cool food, dehumidifying
gas samples and other applications. To better understand
how this process works, it is very important to analyze
some elements relevant to the nature of the flow inside
the fluid.
LITERATURE REVIEW:
The energetic analyses and comparison of three natural
refrigerants like ammonia, propane and isobutene based
on vapor compression refrigeration combined with vortex
tube gives the improvement in COP. [1]
As the performance of vortex tube is very low and in
order to improve the performance 3 types of modifications
can be done such as adding some parts called diffuser,
vortex generator near the inlet and cooling jacket provided for hot tube. [2]
Experimental analysis includes variation in inlet properties like air inlet pressure focused of vortex tube focused
on temperature variation in the cold out stream and in
cooling capacity when cold mass fraction varies with insulation and without insulation. [3]
Based on the constructional design, it can be evaluated
by computational domain. The compressible and turbulent flow of dry air was numerically solved a commercial
CFD package based on Finite Volume Method. The turbulence was tackled with standard k- model into Reynolds
Average Navier Stokes approach. By optimizing the degrees of freedom of ratio between diameter of cold outlet
and diameter of vortex tube for several inlet stagnation
pressures. [4]

The spiral flow passes through the periphery of the hot

tube through its inner diameter; the temperature of the
air in the central part of hot tube is separated by the spiral flow of compressed gas. Then the temperature of air
in the central part of hot tube is decreases and leaves out
through the end of cold tube. Adjusting the conical control valve at hot exit which is possible to vary the fraction
of the incoming flow that leaves through the cold end. The
cold gas is collected from the cold end and we can supply it to the surroundings for reducing the temperature
or we can used for cold surroundings by increasing the
temperature by which the hot gas stream is exposed to
that surroundings.
DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTIONAL DETAILS:
In the construction of vortex tube the following parameters plays a vital role in the performance of Vortex Tube.
Those parameters are core diameter of the hot chamber,
cold chamber, nozzle, thickness of the tube, area of cross
section of air inlet and outlet, inlet diameter of the nozzle
and its orifice. Here we are going to maintain the nozzle inlet having sufficient dimensions i.e.; its maximum
diameter must be equivalent to the core diameter of the
receiver outlet. It is observed that in the case, if the nozzle
inlet dimensions are more than the receiver outlet then
the velocity of flow of gas is going to increase because it
acts as a divergent nozzle. So, in our design the nozzle
inlet must be equivalent to receiver outlet or less than
the receiver outlet i.e.; 3.8mm, 4.7mm, 5.1mm, 2.5mm
diameter, rectangular inlet having 4mm length 2.5mm
width, 3mm length1.82 width. Core diameter of receiver
outlet is 6 mm.
Diagrammatic representation of different Nozzles :
The pictorial views of nozzles mentioned below can be
drawn in 3D modeling using Autodesk software product.
The other views some of are fabricated parts which can be
done with the help of lathe, drilling machine, etc;

Double circuit vortex tube make possible in increasing

of thermodynamic energy separation characteristics. The
main difference of double circuit vortex tube and classical
separating vortex tube is an existence of additional of gas
inlet near the hot outlet. [5]
To achieve good efficiency of vortex tube, by varying the
ratio of diameter of cold orifice and VT inlet diameter and
length of the vortex tube to its inlet diameter gives optimum performance of vortex tube. [6]
The above mentioned literature says that improvements
in the performance of vortex tube by using gases like ammonia, propane etc; providing cooling jackets, insulation,
additional gas inlets at hot exit, varying orifice diameters
etc; As in the part of my project work we are concentrated mainly on coefficient of performance of vortex tube at
steady and unsteady state conditions with different combinations of inlet pressure and diameter of nozzle inlets.

Cross sectional view of the vortex chamber and nozzle

WORKING PRINCIPLE:
The vortex tube is a mechanical device which splits a
compressed high pressure gas stream into cold and hot
low pressure streams without any chemical reactions or
external energy separation effect. When the high pressure gas enters into the vortex chamber passes through
the nozzle having inlet tangential to the inner bore of it,
then the gas expands through the nozzle and achieves
high angular velocity causing a spiral flow in the tube.

Proposed Vortex Chamber

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International Journal of Research and Innovation on Science, Engineering and Technology (IJRISET)

Length of the nozzle

40 mm

Outer diameter of the nozzle

35 mm

Bore diameter of the nozzle

12.5mm

Inlet (L mm B mm)

42.5

Length of the nozzle

41 mm

Inlet (L mm B mm)

31.82

Outer diameter of the nozzle

35mm

Depth of the seating inlet orifice

5.9mm

Bore diameter of the nozzle

12.5mm

Nozzle with inlet dia 2.5mm

Length of the nozzle

40mm

Inlet diameter of the nozzle

2.5mm

Outer diameter of the nozzle

35mm

Depth of the seating inlet orifice

5.9mm

Bore diameter of the nozzle

12.5mm

3D model of nozzle with 4 inlets

Fabricated vortex tube.

EXPERIMENTAL SETUP:

Sectional view of Nozzle with 4 inlets

2D view of nozzle with 4 inlets

The experimental set up consist of an two stage reciprocating air compressor (TS03HN) with an allowable pressure range of 10 kg/cm2, vortex tube and temperature
sensor, analog pressure gauge at inlet and cold outlet.

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International Journal of Research and Innovation on Science, Engineering and Technology (IJRISET)

A control valve at the compressor receiver exit controls

the flow of air to the inlet of the vortex chamber.
The inlet pressure can be measured by using pressure
gauge.
Thermo couples (K type-which are corrosive resistant)
are used to measure the temperatures of the air at inlet,
at cold end, at hot end and at ambient condition.
The compressor was initially run for about 20 minutes
to get the stable compressed air in the tank at a pressure
of 10 bar.The temperatures of the air at cold and hot end
are the main important parameters that determine the
performance of the vortex tube.
In this experiment compressed air collected from the receiver of compressor is send to the vortex tube through
pressure regulator, It regulates the flow that which we
can select the required amount of pressure, here in this
experiment set up we considered 2 types of experiments.
They are steady state and unsteady state. In the steady
state condition pressure is maintained constant and taking readings at different dimensions of nozzles and as well
as different hot tubes. In unsteady state pressure varies
from high value to the low value and taking readings with
an average pressure at different dimensions of nozzles
and as well as hot tubes. Here the temperature of inlet
air, hot end air and cold end air is measured with the help
of thermo couples. Pressure is regulated by the regulator
valve. Air flow in the vortex tube is regulated with the help
of conical valve.
Formulae: To calculate the Coefficient of Performance,
cold mass fraction, hot mass fraction
Area = /4*D
Discharge (q) =A*V
Mass flow rate (m) = q*
Cooling effect (q) = mCpT
Work done by compressor (W) = ( n*3600)/( t*1600) kW
Actual COP = actual cooling effect in vortex tube/Work
done by air compressor = Q/W
Mass flow rate at hot outlet
mh= ah*vh
Mass flow rate at cold outlet
mc= ac*vc
ah -area under which air leaves through hot outlet
ac -area under which air leaves through cold outlet
vh velocity of air leaves through hot outlet
vc velocity of air leaves through cold outlet
Mass flow rate at inlet mi= mc+mh
Cold mass fraction = mc/mi
Hot mass fraction = mh/mi
Temperature difference (T) = ( Tc-Ti ) or ( Th-Ti )
Time for total number of revolutions (t)
Total number of revolution of energy meter (n)
Velocity of air(V)= root of 2p/

OBSERVATIONS:
Type of condition

Steady flow

unsteady flow

Inlet Dia mm

2.5

31.8

42.5

42.5

2.5

31.8

42.5

Bore Dia mm

12.5

11

12.5

12.5

12.5

11

12.5

Inlet temp
in oC

31

27

24

30

29

27

28

58

95

95

Length of the
pipe in mm
No. Of Blinks
in energy
meter

210
178

96

96

189

Time in sec

178

94

94

175

59

92

100

Pressure
drop
in bar

In

2.8

3.5

4.5

Out

1.3

1.8

1.6

3.5

2.5

3.1

3.6

Temp at HOT
END in oC

31

28

25

31

30

24

25

Temp
at
COLD
END
in oC

19

18

19

24

20

17

24

The pressure drop mentioned in the above table is constant pressure in the case of steady flow and it is taken
average pressure range between 6 bar to 1 bar in the case
of unsteady flow.
ADVANTAGES OF VORTEX TUBE:
1) In this, compressed air is treated as refrigerant, if any
leakage takes place it doesnt react with other external
gases, therefore chance of explosion or chance of polluting the environment is very much less.
2) Vortex tube is simple in design and it avoids control
systems.
3) There are no moving parts in vortex tube.
4) It is light in weight and requires less space.
5) Initial cost is low and its working expenses are also
less, where compressed air is readily available.
6) Maintenance is simple and skilled labors doesnt required.
APPLICATIONS:
1) Vortex tubes are extremely small and as it produce hot
as well as cold air. Its application must be useful for industries.
2) Temperature as low as 150C can be obtained without
any difficulty, so it is very much useful in industries for
spot cooling of electronic components.
3) It is commonly used in mining because air is used as
refrigerant in this system, so there is less chance of explosive and toxic gases covered in mining area.
RESULTS:
Condition

Bore Dia
(mm)

No.of
inlets

Inlet Dia
(mm)

Length of
the pipe
(mm)

Cop at
cold end

Cop at
hot end

Steady
state

12.5

2.5

210

5.93

0.20

Unsteady
state

12.5

2.5

210

4.47

0.22

Steady
state

11

31.8

210

8.5

0.86

Unsteady
state

11

31.8

210

9.50

0.57

Steady
state

12.5

42.5

210

7.24

0.69

Unsteady
state

12.5

42.5

210

3.68

1.14

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International Journal of Research and Innovation on Science, Engineering and Technology (IJRISET)

GRAPHS:

University, E-12071 Castelln, Spain.

The following graph represents the comparison of COP of

vortex tube for steady and unsteady flow.

CONSTRUCTAL DESIGN OF A VORTEX TUBE FOR

SEVERAL INLET STAGNATION PRESSURESC. H.
Marquesa, L. A. Isoldia, E. D. dos Santosa, and L. A. O.
Rochab-aUniversidade Federal do Rio Grande FURG, Escola de Engenharia, Av. Itlia, km 8, CEP: 96201-090,
CP 474, Rio Grande, RS, Brazil, bUniversidade Federal
do Rio Grande do Sul UFRGS, Department de Engenharia Mechanical, UFRGS, Rua Sarmento Leite, 425, CEP:
90050-170, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
Mathematical simulation of Ranque-Hilsch vortex tube
heat and power performances -A.V. Khait, A.S. Noskov,
V.N. Alekhin, A.V. Lovtsov Ural Federal University named
after the first President of Russia B.N. Yeltsin.
EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION THE EFFECTS OF
ORIFICE DIAMETER AND TUBE LENGTH ON A VORTEX TUBE PERFORMANCE - Mahyar Kargaran*1 and
Mahmood Farzaneh -Gord2 1Department of mechanical
Engineering, University of Technology, Sydney Australia
2Deparmentent of mechanical Engineering, Shahrood of
Technology, Shahrood ,Iran.
A Review on Experimental and CFD Analysis of Ranque
Hilsch Vortex tube, Manisha. V. Makode Government College of Engineering, Amravati.
NUMERICAL INVESTIGATION ON FLOW BEHAVIOR
AND ENERGY SEPARATION IN A MICRO-SCALE VORTEX TUBE -by Nader RAHBAR a*, Mohsen TAHERIAN a,
Mostafa SHATERI a, Mohammad Sadegh VALIPOUR b a
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Semnan Branch,
Islamic Azad University, Semnan, Iran b School of Mechanical Engineering, Semnan University, Semnan, Iran.

CONCLUSION:
Energy separation will be increased with decreasing the
internal diameter of the hot chamber. If it is any possibility in increase the length of the hot chamber, the passage
of air takes time to escape from hot exit mean while it
may possible for more temperature exchange from core
to the periphery of the tube. This results in more energy
separation. C.O.P. of the system will be increased by increasing number of inlets for the nozzle. Consistency at
higher pressures will results in increase of refrigeration
effect. Energy separation between the cold stream and
hot stream inside the hot chamber will be effected by the
sharpness of the point at the end of conical valve.
REFERENCES:
Performance Analysis of Natural-Refrigerants-Based
Vortex Tube Expansion Refrigeration Cycles Jahar Sarkar
* Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute
of Technology (B.H.U.), Varanasi, UP-221005, India.
A Review of the Effect of Modification in Internal Parts
on the Performance of CounterFlow Vortex Tube
-B.D.Wankhade Amravati, India- Dr.R.B.Yarasu Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Government College of engineering, Amravati, India.
Experimental Evaluation of the Energy Performance of
an Air Vortex Tube when the Inlet Parameters are Varied.E. Torrella1, J. Patio2, D. Snchez2, R. Llopis2 and R.
Cabello*, 2 -1Department of Applied Thermodynamics,
Camino de Vera, 14. Polytechnic University of Valencia,
E-46022 Valencia, Spain 2Department of Mechanical Engineering and Construction, Campus de Riu Sec. Jaume I

NUMERICAL INVESTIGATION ON COOLING PERFORMANCE OF RANQUE-HILSCH VORTEX TUBE by Hassan

POURARIA1*, Warn-Gyu PARK1 1School of Mechanical
Engineering, Pusan National University, Busan, 609-735,
Korea.
LOCALIZED COOLING BY VORTEX TUBE POWERED
BY SOLAR PV-- Oseas Carlos da Silva Jardel Queiroz Juvncio Maria Eugnia Vieira da Silva Universidade Federal do Cear, Fortaleza, Cear, Jos Augusto Fontenele
Magalhes Universidade Federal do Cear, Fortaleza,
Cear,.
Effect of orifice and pressure of counter flow vortex tube
J. Prabakaran1 and S. Vaidyanathan2 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Annamalai University, Chidambaram-608001, Tamilnadu, India.
A Review of Computational Studies of Temperature Separation Mechanism in Vortex Tube --H.R. Thakare, Y.R.
Patil and A.D. Parekh.
Modification and experimental research on vortex tube
Y.T. Wua,*, Y. Dinga, Y.B. Jia, C.F. Maa, M.C. GebaKey
Laboratory of Enhanced Heat Transfer and Energy Conservation of Ministry of Education and Key Laboratory of
Heat Transfer and Energy Conversion of Beijing Municipality, College of Environmental and Energy Engineering,
Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100022, China
institute of Engineering Thermophysics, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing, China.
Experimental Investigation and Optimization of Vortex
Tube with Regard to Nozzle Diameter Jay Kumar D. Golhar Government Polytechnic Yavatmal, India B.R. Rathod
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International Journal of Research and Innovation on Science, Engineering and Technology (IJRISET)

Government Polytechnic Yavatmal, India A.N. Pawar,

PhD. Government Polytechnic Amravati, India.

AUTHORS

An Experimental Modeling and Investigation of Change

in Working Parameters on the Performance of Vortex Tube
--Suraj S Raut*, Dnyaneshwar N Gharge, Chetan D Bhimate, Mahesh A. Raut, S.A. Upalkar and P.P. Patunkar
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sinhgad Institute
of Technology and Science, Pune, India.
An Experimental Performance Study of Vortex Tube
Refrigeration System --Shankar Ram T. Department Of
Industrial Refrigeration and Cryogenics T. K. M. College
of Engineering Karicode, Kollam, Kerala -Anish Raj K. Department Of Mechanical Engineering, Jyothi Engineering
College Cheruthuruthy, Thrissur, Kerala.

Ch Pavan Kumar
Research Scholar,
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Kakinada Institute of Technology & Science, Divili,
Andhra Pradesh, India.

Effect of Changing Cone Valve Diameter on the performance of Uni-Flow Vortex Tube-Dr.Ing.Ramzi Raphael
Ibraheem Barwari Assistant professor Mechanical Engineering Department College of engineering university of
Salahaddin Erbil- Iraq.
Performance Improvement of Ranque-Hilsch Vortex
Tube by Using Conical Hot Tube -R.Madhu Kumar*1,
V.Nageswar Reddy2, B. Dinesh Babu3 1, 2, 3 Mechanical
Engineering Department, R.G.M. College of Engineering
& Technology, Nandyal, Kurnool, A.P, India.
AIR COOLING IN AUTOMOBILES USING VORTEX
TUBE REFRIGERATION SYSTEM--B.SREENIVASA KUMAR REDDY B.Tech., M.Tech(R&A/C) JNTUA College
of Engineering, Anantapur 515002, Andhra Pradesh,
India. Prof. K.GOVINDARAJULU M.Tech., Ph.D., F.I.E.,
M.I.S.T.E., C.E. Professor of Mechanical Engineering Department, Director of Evaluation, JNTUniversity, Anantapur. Andhra Pradesh, India.

S Raja Sekhar
Associate Professor,
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Kakinada Institute of Technology & Science, Divili,
Andhra Pradesh, India.

Modeling, Optimization & Manufacturing of Vortex Tube

and Application A. M. Dalavi, Mahesh Jadhav, Yasin
Shaikh, Avinash Patil (Department of Mechanical Engineering, Symbiosis Institute of Technology, India).
Performance Analysis of a Vortex Tube by using Compressed Air --Ratnesh Sahu, Rohit Bhadoria, Deepak Patel.
The Application Of Vortex Tubes to Refrigeration Cycles
G. F. Nellis University of Wisconsin-Madison S. A. Klein
University of Wisconsin-Madison.
ESTABLISHING EMPIRICAL RELATION TO PREDICT
TEMPERATURE DIFFERENCE OF VORTEX TUBE USING RESPONSE SURFACE METHODOLOGY --PRABAKARAN J.1,*, AIDYANATHAN S.2 , KANAGARAJAN D.3 1,
2Department of Mechanical Engineering, 3Department
of Manufacturing Engineering, Annamalai University, Annamalai Nagar, 608002 India.

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