Effect of Nozzle Structure on Energy Separation Performance in Vortex Tubes

Ming Tang, Gongyu Jin, Jiali Zhang, Fuxing Guo, Fengyu Jia and Bo Wang ()
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Ming Tang: Hangzhou Power Supply Company State Grid Zhejiang Electric Power Co., Ltd., Hangzhou 311000, China
Gongyu Jin: Hangzhou Power Supply Company State Grid Zhejiang Electric Power Co., Ltd., Hangzhou 311000, China
Jiali Zhang: Hangzhou Join Electric Technology Co., Ltd., Hangzhou 311030, China
Fuxing Guo: Hangzhou Join Electric Technology Co., Ltd., Hangzhou 311030, China
Fengyu Jia: School of Energy and Power Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, China
Bo Wang: School of Energy and Power Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, China

Energies, 2025, vol. 18, issue 17, 1-13

Abstract: Vortex tubes are used in specialized scenarios where conventional refrigeration systems are impractical, such as tool cooling in CNC machines. The internal flow within a vortex tube is highly complex, with numerous factors influencing its energy separation process, and the coefficient of performance for refrigeration is relatively low. To investigate the impact of nozzle type on energy separation performance, vortex tubes with straight-type, converging-type, and converging–diverging-type nozzles were designed. Numerical simulation was conducted to explore their velocity, pressure, and temperature distribution at an inlet pressure of 0.7 MPa and a cold mass fraction of 0.1~0.9. The cooling effect, temperature separation effect, cold outlet mass flow rate, and refrigeration capacity of vortex tubes were assessed. The converging–diverging nozzle increases the gas velocity at the nozzle outlet while it does not significantly enlarge the airflow velocity in the vortex chamber. As the cold mass fraction rises, the cooling performance and cooling capacity of three vortex tubes first increase and then decrease. The maximum cooling effect and cooling capacity of vortex tubes are achieved at cold mass fractions of 0.3 and 0.7, respectively. Under identical conditions, the vortex tube with a converging nozzle achieves the highest cooling effect with a temperature drop of 36.6 K, whereas the vortex tube with converging–diverging nozzles possesses the largest gas flow rate, and the cooling capacity reaches 542.4 W. The vortex tube with straight nozzles exhibits the worst refrigeration performance with a cooling effect of 33.6 K and a cooling capacity of 465.9 W. It is indicated that optimizing the nozzle structure of the vortex tube to reduce flow resistance contributes to enhancing both the gas velocity entering the swirl chamber and the resultant refrigeration performance.

Keywords: vortex tube; nozzle structure; energy separation; refrigeration; numerical simulation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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