Three-Dimensional CFD Simulation of Fluid Flow inside a Vortex Tube on Basis of an Experimental Model- The Optimization of Vortex Chamber Radius

Abstract

Vortex-chamber is a main part of vortex tube which the pressured gas is injected into this part tangentially. An appropriate design of vortex-chamber geometry leads to better efficiency and good vortex tube performance. In this study, the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model is created on basis of an experimental model and is a three-dimensional (3D) steady compressible model that utilizes the k- turbulent model. In this paper the effect of changing radius of vortex-chamber (R * ) on vortex tube performance has been studied for different value of R * and the optimized radius of vortex-chamber has been determined. According to numerical results the cold temperature difference has increased when we take into account the effect of the radius of vortex-chamber in range of 5.7-11 mm and when the radius of vortex chamber has located in range of 11-13 mm, the cold temperature difference has decreased. The highest Tc is 46.77 K for R * =11 mm at a cold mass fraction of 0.3, higher than basic model around 6.3% at the same cold flow fraction. Finally, the results obtained, particularly the temperature values, are compared with some available experimental data, which show good agreement.