Vivek Engineers for EXAIR -Intelligent Compressed Air Products: Vortex Tubes: What, Why, Where?

Thursday, 12 November 2020

Vortex Tubes: What, Why, Where?

The most common questions about Vortex Tubes are “How long have they been around?” and “How do they work?”. These questions are simple enough and answering someone how long Vortex Tubes have been around is the easy answer, Vortex Tubes have been around since 1928 with what may seem as an accidental existence by the developer George Ranque.

As to how they work, these are a phenomenon of physics and the theoretical math behind them has yet to be proven and set in stone. They have been called various names such as “Maxwell’s Demon” which posited that a demon was splitting the hot and cold air molecules prior to leaving the Vortex Tube. They have also been referred to as the “Ranque Vortex Tube”, “Hilsch Tube”, and the “Ranque-Hilsch Tube” which highlight some of the prominent people in developing vortex tubes.

WHAT: EXAIR defines a Vortex Tube within our catalog as “a low cost, reliable, maintenance free solution to a variety of industrial spot cooling problems. Using an ordinary supply of compressed air as a power source, vortex tubes create two streams of air, one hot and one cold, with no moving parts.”

The scope of Vortex Tubes include being able to produce temperatures from -50 degrees to 260 degrees Fahrenheit with flow rates from 1 to 150 SCFM and refrigeration up to 10,200 Btu/hr. Temperatures, flows and cooling power can be easily adjusted with the control valve located on the “hot” end of the tube.

WHY: EXAIRs’ Vortex Tubes offer low cost and reliable solutions primarily for product cooling and sometimes heating. Constructed of stainless steel, our vortex tubes are resistant to corrosion and oxidation providing for years of reliable maintenance-free operation. Vortex tubes operate with a source of compressed air with no moving parts or electricity.

EXAIR offers two series of vortex tubes. The 32XX series is “Maximum Refrigeration (cooling) and is typically used for process cooling, part cooling or chamber cooling. The 34XX series provide lowest cold temperatures at low cold airflow and typically used in cooling lab samples and circuit testing.

EXAIR offers a cooling kit with interchangeable generators that are easily changed so you can experiment and find what temperature and airflow works best for your application.

WHERE: There are many uses for EXAIR Vortex Tubes including but not limited to cooling electronics, machining operations, CCTV cameras, soldered parts, gas samples, heat seals, environmental chambers, ultrasonic weld horns, welds and setting hot melts.

The history of EXAIR Vortex Tubes and the variety of uses has derived new products designed for specific applications like our Spot Coolers and Cabinet Coolers. These items can be found in our catalog or at www.vivekengineers.net