In this paper, energy separation effect in a vortex tube has been investigated using a CFD model. Thenumerical simulation has been done due to the complex structure of flow. The governing equationshave been solved by ...In this paper, energy separation effect in a vortex tube has been investigated using a CFD model. Thenumerical simulation has been done due to the complex structure of flow. The governing equationshave been solved by FLUENT code in 2D and 3D compressible and turbulent model. The effects ofgeometrical and thermo-physical parameters have been investigated. The results have shown that theoptimum length to diameter ratio is from 25 to 35. Increasing the number of nozzles from 2 to 4 withconvergent shape is found to be an efficient configuration for the swirl generator. The optimum valueof orifice diameter to tube diameter ratio, for the maximum cold air temperature difference and efficiency,has been determined to be around 0.58. The results show that if the inlet pressure increases upto a critical value, the efficiency will increase. Nevertheless, if it increases to higher values, the efficiencywill decrease. Moreover, it is found out that increasing the cold fraction decreases the coldtemperature difference and efficiency.展开更多
文摘In this paper, energy separation effect in a vortex tube has been investigated using a CFD model. Thenumerical simulation has been done due to the complex structure of flow. The governing equationshave been solved by FLUENT code in 2D and 3D compressible and turbulent model. The effects ofgeometrical and thermo-physical parameters have been investigated. The results have shown that theoptimum length to diameter ratio is from 25 to 35. Increasing the number of nozzles from 2 to 4 withconvergent shape is found to be an efficient configuration for the swirl generator. The optimum valueof orifice diameter to tube diameter ratio, for the maximum cold air temperature difference and efficiency,has been determined to be around 0.58. The results show that if the inlet pressure increases upto a critical value, the efficiency will increase. Nevertheless, if it increases to higher values, the efficiencywill decrease. Moreover, it is found out that increasing the cold fraction decreases the coldtemperature difference and efficiency.