CFD Prediction and physical Mechanisms consideration of Thermal Separation and Heat transfer processes inside Divergent, Straight and Convergent Ranque-Hilsch Vortex Tubes

The design of Ranque-Hilsch vortex tube (RHVT) seems to be interesting for refrigeration and air conditioning purposes in industry. Improving thermal efficiency of the vortex tubes could increase the operability of these innovative facilities for a wider heat and cooling demand To this end, it is of a interest to understand the physical phenomena of thermal and flow patterns inside a vortex tube.. In the present work, the flow phenomena and the thermal energy transfer in Ranque-Hilsch vortex tube are studied for three RHVT: straight, divergent and convergent vortex tubes. A three-dimensional numerical analysis of swirling or vortex flow is performed, verified, and validated against previous experimental and numerical data reported in literature. The flow field and the temperature separation inside a RHVT for different configuration of straight, five angles of divergent hot-tube (1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 degree) and five angle of convergent hot-tube (0.5, 0.8, 1, 1.5 and 2 degree) are investigated. The thermal performance for all investigated RHVTs configuration is determined and quantitatively assessed via visualizing the stream lines for all three scenarios.

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