The efficiency enhancement of vortex cooling by means of heat exchanger

An energy separation effect in the vortex tube resulted in a high temperature stream at peripheral region and a low temperature stream in the central region. The efficiency of a conventional vortex tube can be enhanced by increasing the rate of heat transfer from the central region to the peripheral region inside the vortex tube. This assumption has been proven by the current study. A tube jacket and the circular plate fins are designed, constructed and integrated at the outer hot tube surface of the vortex tube. The test parameters include the inlet air pressures from 1.5 to 3 bars, the cold air mass fraction between 0 and 1, and a water flow rate between 0.085 and 0.5 litre/ min. The cooling capacity of the vortex cooling system is investigated. The experimental results show that the use of the flowing water at the hot tube has increased the efficiency by 18 percent.