Investigation of the effect of number of nozzle intakes on Energy separation for Ranque-Hilsch vortex tube refrigerators based on computational fluid dynamic (CFD)

Investigation of the effect of number of nozzle intakes on Energy separation for Ranque-Hilsch vortex tube refrigerators based on computational fluid dynamic (CFD)

In this work, the effect of number of nozzle intakes on energy separation and refrigeration of vortex tube is investigated numerically. The three-dimensional model is investigated at steady state condition then the RNG k-ԑ turbulence model utilizes for determining the flow and temperature fields. The finite volume method (FVM) base on Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) model is verified through comparison with experimental data and numerical results used in a vortex tube, reported work in the literature. The code was then utilized to study the effect of number of inlet nozzles on the performance of the vortex tube. Numerical results indicate that energy separation can be improved by increasing the number of inlet nozzles and more details are reported during this simulation with contour plots and solid arguments comprehensively. The actual values and numerical simulation results indicated that CFD model is capable of predicting the cooling and heating performance of Ranque-Hilsch vortex tube with different geometrical and physical features.