Study on the Influence of the Hot and Cold Outlet Pressure Ratio on the Performance of Vortex Tube

The flow field in a vortex tube was empirically approximated,mathematically formulated with Standard k-ε Turbulence model and numerically simulated with Fluent software.The influence of the medium type and ratio of pressures at hot-and cold-outlets,p_h/p_c,on performance of vortex tube was investigated.The simulated results show that the pressure-ratio,medium type and flow-channel number all have a major impact.When it comes to impact on cooling/heating/separation behavior,a descending order exists:R41>R32>R23>R290>R134 a>R234 rf.And R41 the best separation of R41 is taken as the working medium to analyze its change rules.As the pressure-ratio increases,the effect of heating and separation increased,accompanied by a decrease of cooling effect.Moreover,at different pressure ratios,an increase of the nozzle flow-channel number reduces the cooling effect and enhances the heating effect.