The vortex tube, also known as the Ranque-Hilsch vortex tube, is a mechanical device that separates gas into hot and cold streams. It has no moving parts. Pressurized gas is injected into a swirl chamber and accelerates to a high rate of rotation (over 1,000,000 rpm). The gas is split into two streams, one giving kinetic energy to the other, and resulting in separate flows of hot and cold gases. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1165x359, 16 KB) Vortex tube Source: fr:Image:Tube de Ranque-Hilsch. ... A gas is one of the five main phases of matter (after solid and liquid, and followed by plasma and Bose-Einstein Condensate) and, that subsequently appear as a solid material is subjected to increasingly higher temperatures. ... Kinetic energy (also called vis viva, or living force) is energy possessed by a body by virtue of its motion. ...

The vortex tube was invented in 1933 by French physicist Georges J. Ranque. German physicist Rudolf Hilsch improved the design and published a widely read paper in 1945 on the device, which he called a Wirbelröhre (literally, vortex tube). 1933 (MCMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1945 (MCMVL) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ...

Vortex tubes have lower efficiency than traditional air conditioning equipment. They are commonly used for inexpensive spot cooling, when compressed air is available. Commercial models are designed for industrial applications to produce a temperature drop of about 80 °F (45 °C). Note: in the broadest sense, air conditioning can refer to any form of heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning. ...

Another application is for uranium enrichment. South Africa used vortex tubes in their Helikon vortex separation process. // Enriched uranium is uranium whose uranium-235 content has been increased through the process of isotope separation. ... Isotope separation is the process of concentrating specific isotopes of a chemical element by removing other isotopes, for example separating natural uranium into enriched uranium and depleted uranium. ... The Helikon vortex separation process is an aerodynamic uranium enrichment process designed around a device called a vortex tube. ...

Dave Williams, of Engineers Without Borders, has proposed using vortex tubes to make ice in third-world countries. Although the technique is inefficient, Williams hopes it could yield helpful results in areas where using electricity to create ice is really not an option. There are organizations in several countries that have the name Engineers Without Borders. ...

Vortex tubes also seem to work with liquids to some extent.

See also

• Windhexe

The word: German, literally wind witch An industrial waste processing machine invented by Frank Polifka, and distributed through his company, Vortex Dehydration Systems. ...

References

• G. Ranque, Expériences sur la Détente Giratoire avec Prodctions Simultanées d'un Echappement d'air Chaud et d'un Echappement d'air Froid, J. de Physique et Radium 4(7)(1933) 112S.
• Rudolf Hilsch, The Use of the Expansion of Gases in A Centrifugal Field as Cooling Process, The Review of Scientific Instruments, vol. 18(2), 108-1113, (1947). translation of an article in Zeit. Naturwis. 1 (1946) 208.
• H. C. Van Ness, Understanding Thermodynamics, New York: Dover, 1969, starting on page 53. A discussion of the vortex tube in terms of conventional thermodynamics.
• Mark P. Silverman, And Yet it Moves: Strange Systems and Subtle Questions in Physics, Cambridge, 1993, Chapter 6
• C. L. Stong, The Amateur Scientist, London: Heinemann Educational Books Ltd, 1962, Chapter IX, Section 4, The "Hilsch" Vortex Tube, p514-519.
• J. J. Van Deemter, On the Theory of the Ranque-Hilsch Cooling Effect, Applied Science Research 3, 174-196.
• Saidi, M.H. and Valipour, M.S., "Experimental Modeling of Vortex Tube Refrigerator", J. of Applied Thermal Engineering, Vol.23, pp.1971-1980, 2003.
• R.T. Balmer. Pressure-driven Ranque-Hilsch temperature separation in liquids. Trans. ASME, J. Fluids Engineering, 110:161–164, June 1988.

External links

• G. J. Ranque's U.S. Patent
• http://www.airtxinternational.com/how_vortex_tubes_work.php - AiRTX International, International manufacturer of Vortex Tubes.
• Tim Cockerill's pages on the Ranque-Hilsch Vortex Tube, including his 1995 Cambridge University thesis on the subject, and a mailing list.
• How to Make Ice Out of Thin Air: Cool Heat Transfer, Daren Fonda, Sep. 4, 2005, Time Magazine. (Requires membership)
• Oberlin college physics demo
• http://www.itwvortec.com/vortex_tubes.php - ITW Vortec, manufacturer of vortex tubes
• http://www.exair.com/vortextube/vt_page.htm - Exair, manufacturer of vortex tubes
• http://www.tinaja.com/glib/elesimp.pdf
• http://www.tinaja.com/glib/hack68.pdf
• The Hilsch Vortex Tube - A Scientific American article from the late 1960s or early 1970s