Efficiency of Vortex Tube Enclosure Cooling

摘要

A vortex tube offers an alternative cooling with advantages of simplicity and compact. Using a natural refrigerant, a vortex tube enclosure cooling is environmentally benign. In this paper, the performance of a vortex tube enclosure cooling, VTEC, is investigated experimentally. The VTEC system comprises of the vortex tube cooling, an enclosure with a volume space of 0.045 m~3, an air compressor, a compressed air storage tank and a compressed air line. The VTEC system is tested for its efficiency and cooling potential in the laboratory. An operating condition is controlled by a pressure regulator for an inlet air pressure of 3 bars, for energy saving, and a cold flow rate is adjusted by a needle valve near the hot exit of a vortex tube for the cold fraction between 0 and 1. Accordingly, the analysis of experimental data shows the maximum isentropic efficiency of the vortex tube enclosure cooling is 0.37 at the cold mass fraction of 0.45. Air temperature in the enclosure is about 13°C in average.