Comparison of different turbulence models in predicting the temperature separation in a Ranque–Hilsch vortex tube

An axisymmetric computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model is used to compare the influence of different Reynolds Averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) based turbulence models in predicting the temperature separation in a Ranque–Hilsch vortex tube. The standard κ–ɛ, RNG κ–ɛ, standard κ–ω and SST κ–ω turbulence models are used in this study. The performance curves (hot and cold outlet temperatures versus hot outlet mass fraction) obtained by using these turbulence models are compared with the experimental results. The objective is to select an appropriate turbulence model for the simulation of the flow phenomena in a vortex tube with optimum computational expense. The performance analysis shows that among all the turbulence models investigated in this study, temperature separation predicted by the standard κ–ɛ turbulence model is closer to the experimental results.