JOURNAL REVIEW

PROBLEM

AUTHOR/YEAR

OBJECTIVES

METHOD

RESULT

STATEMENT
- Most of the studies

- Hassan Pourariaa

- To model the effects

- Artificial neural network

- The results of this

were limited to the

- Seyed Mostafa Kia

of four important

model has been used to

study indicate that the

validation of the

- Warn-Gyu Park

parameters consist of

investigate the effects of four

genetic algorithm-

developed models

- Bahmah Mehdizadeh

the ratio of the length to

important parameters (L/D,

based artificial neural

with the

Year (2016)

diameter, the ratio of

d/D, P, and Y) on the cooling

network model is

experimental data

the cold outlet diameter

performance of a vortex tube.

capable of predicting

and the developed

to the tube diameter,

Comparison between ANN

the cooling

models were not

inlet pressure, and cold

predictions and experimental

performance of vortex

used for predicting

mass fraction on the

data has confirmed the

tube in a wide

the performance of

cooling performance of

acceptable precision of this

operating range and

the device in

counter flow vortex

model.

with satisfactory

conditions where the

tube.

experimental data

- To train and validate

were unavailable.

the neural network

- The effect of the

model with MATLAB

ratio of the cold

software.

outlet diameter to the

- To find the optimal

internal diameter of

network

the tube (d/D) has

architecture

precision.

not been studied in

previous works.
In this paper, we will

- Ismail Cebeci

- To observe thermal

- Five orifices with two,

- The temperature

restrict our attention

- Volkan Kirmaci

behavior of air and

three, four, five and six

gradient between the

to investigate of

- Umit Topcuoglu

oxygen, which are

nozzles are made from the

cold and hot fluid

heating and cooling

Year (2016)

passing through a

polyamide plastic and

decrease whenever the

performance effects

RHVT.

aluminum.

orifice nozzle number

of the distinct nozzle

- To investigate the

- Using two different fluids

increase.

numbers and

effects of the orifice

for each one of the orifices

different inlet

nozzle number and the

(nozzle numbers), inlet

pressures in counter

inlet pressure on

pressure is varied between

flow type RHVT, by

heating and cooling

150 kPa to 700 kPa by

using air and oxygen

performance of a

increasing 50 kPa for each

as a fluid

counter flow Ranque-

step and comparison is made

Hilsch type vortex tube

between these two fluids by

(RHVT)

holding the cold mass

As the study on inlet

- R. Manimaran

- To investigate the

fraction constant at 0.36.

- Numerical computations are

- Inlet with higher

parameter is rarely

Year (2016)

internal flow field in the

performed to understand the

aspect ratio gives

considered in

vortex tube indicate that

nature of flow field and the

higher temperature

literature, the study

flow field visualization

explanation for temperature

separation.

of this parameter

and instrumentation for

separation. Steady-state Roe

- The trapezoidal inlet

becomes important

temperature and

solver and second order

configuration is found

towards the

pressure measurement

upwind schemes for the

to give higher

temperature

are very difficult.

continuity, momentum and

temperature separation

separation as the

energy equations are

as compared to a

dividing line between

employed. The computations

rectangular shape.

the core and

are performed using the

- The streamlines

periphery is decided

Ansys 14.5 software

emanating at the hot

mainly by inlet while

and cold end exits for

other parameters are

both the rectangular

maintained.

and trapezoidal are

visualized. Residence
time for two shapes is
calculated and found to
be higher for
trapezoidal shape.

The accurate flow

- N. Li

- To present an

- High-pressure air is

- The experimental

pattern inside the

- Z.Y. Zeng

explanation for the

produced by a piston

results show that the

vortex tube remains

- Z. Wang

maximum cooling

compressor and flows into a

static temperature in

elusive and no

- X.H. Han

effect and the maximum surge tank to make sure the

the center of vortex

satisfactory

- G.M. Chen

heating effect when the

pressure is steady. A pressure

tube is higher than that

explanation of its

Year (2015)

cold mass fraction is

regulator valve is fitted at the

of the peripheral part.

energy separation

about 0.3 and 0.8

exit of the surge tank to

- Besides, the

mechanism has been

- To explore the

obtain the desired pressure of

stagnation point inside

put forward yet.

influences of inlet

the outlet air. The air then

the vortex tube moves

pressure and cold mass

flows through three filters (C

to the cold end with the

fraction on the

level, T level and A level)

decrease of the inlet

performance

which can eliminate oil

pressure or the increase

of the vortex tube

droplets, moisture and other

of the cold mass

impurities from it, a heat

fraction.

exchanger and mass flow

meter 1 successively. After
that, it is injected tangentially
into the vortex tube, where
air is separated into a cold
- Despite of

- Hitesh R. Thakare

- To discuss the

and a hot stream.

- Standard k- turbulence

simplicity in

- Aniket Monde

outcomes of CFD study

model has been used to

construction and

- Bhushan S. Patil,

carried out on counter

replicate the turbulence inside an important parameter

operation,

- A. D. Parekh

flow vortex tube.

vortex tube. This model is

affecting the

determination of

Year(2015)

found to be very well capable

temperature separation

nature of flow

of predicting flow features

magnitude in vortex

physics parameters

inside vortex tube

tube.

- Results indicate that

cold mass fraction is

inside vortex tube is

- Cooling power

highly difficult due

separation is also an

to presence of highly

important parameter to

swirling and

evaluate performance

turbulent flow inside

of counter flow vortex

very small

tube, instead of cold

dimensional domain

end temperature only.

of vortex tube.

- A recirculating
secondary flow has
also been identified
near the inlet region of
vortex tube, which is
accompanied by
backflow at cold end
for smaller values of

- Despite long period

- A.D. Gutak

- To investigate Ranque

- An industrial vortex tube

cold mass fraction.

- Vortex tube is more

of study, Ranque

Year (2015)

effect under gas

was designed and

efficient than a simple

effect remains

processing plant

implemented into low

Joule-Thomson valve.

unexplored in natural

conditions.

temperature separation plant.

It provides higher

gas industry.

- Several series of

cooling effect and can

There is a lack of

experiments were carried out.

be used in low-

industrial operation

temperature separation

data. No information

processes. Temperature

was found about

separation effect

achieving high

depends on pressure

temperatures due to

ratio between inlet and

Ranque effect on

outlet of the tube.

natural gas plants.

Higher temperature
differences correspond
to higher pressure

Although many

- Xingwei Liu

- To search an effective

- Three-dimensional

ratios.
- The flow

efforts have been

- Zhongliang Liu

method to predict the

computational fluid dynamic

characteristics

made to disclose the

Year (2014)

energy separation and

model together with the

including the total

energy separation

flow behavior within a

experimentally validated

temperature and

phenomenon based

vortex tube.

turbulence model is

tangential velocity

on theoretical,

established and an

were obtained.

numerical and

experimental measurement is

- The effects of cold

experimental

carried out using an optimal

fluid outlet diameter on

analysis in vortex

structure of vortex tube so as

the flow and

tubes, it is still

to validate the computational

temperature separation

difficult to provide

model.

of a counter-flow

systematical

vortex tube were

information for

investigated

designing vortex

comprehensively.

tubes due to the

- The streamlines with

complexity of the

different cold fluid

physical process and

outlet diameters were

the shortage of fully

presented and

generally-applicable

analyzed.

theory and methods.

- Vortex tubes hold

- Masoud Bovand

- To determine the

- Three dimensional CFD

- The flow in the tube

promise for

- Mohammad Sadegh

effect of vortex tube

model that utilizes the RNG

is split into two helical

developing low cost

Valipour

curvature on their

k- turbulence model is

co-axial streams with

refrigeration and air

- Smith Eiamsa-ard

performance.

employed for the numerical

different thermal

conditioning

- Ali Tamayo

simulations. The flow and

features.

systems. They do not

temperature field in curved

- Curvature of vortex

require the use of any

vortex tubes with curvature

tube causes decrease in

moving parts.

angles are simulated in the

the swirl velocity and

Moreover, they also

range of 0 (straight) to 150.

the diffusion process in

do not consume

The tangential (swirl), axial

vortex tube. Results

energy when

velocity components and

show that the straight

compressed air is

flow patterns including

and 150 curved vortex

available.

secondary circulation flow

tube have higher

are evaluated.

performance as a
refrigerator than other

- Despite the various

- Masoud Bovand

- To study the effects of

- The study was conducted on

curvature angles.
- The results show that

experimental and

- Mohammad Sadegh

radius and angle of

curvature angles of 0 and

the efficiency of

analytical

Valipour

curvature on the

110. The model is three

straight vortex tube is

investigations that

- Kevser Dincer

performance of vortex

dimensional and utilizes the

higher than the curved

have been carried out

- Ali Tamayol

tube.

RNG 3 turbulence model for

vortex tube with angle

on the vortex tube,

Year (2014)

determining the flow and

of 110. The actual

the fundamental

temperature fields. The CFD

values and CFD model

mechanism of the

model is verified through

results indicated that

temperature

comparison with

CFD model can be

separation effect is

experimental data reported by successfully used for

still in question.

the authors previously. The

the determination of

code was then utilized to

heating and cooling

study the effects of radius and performances of

angle of curvature on the

curvature effects on

performance of vortex tube.

Ranque-Hilsch vortex

- While each of these

- Noder Pourmahmoud

- To simulate the flow

- Using computer fluid

tube.
- Inlet nozzle number

explanations may

- Reza Esmaily

field structure in the

dynamic (CFD) modelling

affecting the vortex

capture certain

- Amir Hassanzadeh

vortex tube.

based on numerical analysis

tube performance.

aspects of vortex

Year (2015)

- To study the effects of

- Parameters studied were:

- Tube length, nozzle

tube, none of these

various parameters on

1. Tube length.

numbers and cold mass

mechanisms

the performance and the

2. Nozzle numbers.

fraction are important

altogether explains

temperature separation.

3. Wall temperature.

parameters for vortex

the vortex tube

- To realize the effect of

4. Inlet gas pressure.

tube.

effect.

length and other

- Using Taguchis Method.

- Optimum response

parameters on the
- Though the vortex

- G. Suresh Kumar

behavior of vortex tube.

- To analyze the effect

tube is popular for

- G. Padmanaban

of inlet pressure, hot

Taguchis parameter design

value at optimal factor

cooling applications,

- B. Dattatreya Sarma

tube length, hot tube

approach is used to optimize

levels is predicted.

temperature of the

Year (2014)

diameter, nozzle

the response.

- All parameters

hot air coming out

diameter on hot outlet

- The results are analyzed

considered are found to

from the

air temperature.

using Minitab software

have significant effect

hot tube is

on the response

considered as the

statistically.

response variable in
the present
experimentation,
suggesting that the
vortex tube can also
be used for heating
applications or for
any preheating
purpose.
- By the literature

- O. M. Kshirsagar

- To understand the

- Conducting series of

- There is an optimum

review it is clear that

- V. V. Ankolekar

effect of various

experiments with different

diameter of cold-end

there is no theory so

- V. N. Kapatkar

parameters modification parameters such as:

orifice.

perfect, which gives

Year (2014)

on the performance of

1. Inlet air pressure

- Increase in pressure

vortex tube.

2. Number of nozzles

at inlet, results in an

explanation of the

3. Cold orifice diameter

increase in the vortex

vortex tube

4. Hot end valve angle

tube performance.

the satisfactory

phenomenon.

- Best performance for

vortex tube is using

- An experimental

- Suraj S. Raut

- To realize the

- A counter flow vortex tube

four nozzles.
- The temperature drop

study has been

- Dnyaneshwar N.

thorough behavior of a

has been design,

increases with increase

conducted to

Gharge

vortex tube refrigeration manufactured and tested.

in inlet pressure.

evaluate the effect of

- Chetan D. Bhimale

system.

- The Chlorinated Poly

- The highest

working

- Mahesh A. Raut

Vinyl Chloride (CPVC)

temperature drop is

parameters such as

- S. A. Upalkar

material has been used for

found between 0.4-0.6

inlet air pressure (P),

- P. P. Patunkar

manufacturing of the vortex

cold air mass fraction.

Cold mass fraction

Year (2014)

tube.

() and length of hot

- The performance of

side tube (L) on the

vortex tube has been tested

performance of

with compressed air at

Ranque-Hilsch

various pressures.

vortex tube.
Thermal separation

- Waraporn

- To improve the vortex

- A test rig is designed and

- The cooling capacity

flow studied and

Rattanongphisat

cooling capacity and its

constructed for the

and efficiency increase

preliminary tests

- Krairin Thungthong

efficiencies

experiment on the vortex

when the

suggest that reducing

Year (2014)

cooling system incorporating

thermoelectric

the temperature of an

the thermoelectric module.

module is used to

external surface at

- A thermoelectric module is

extract heat from the

the hot tube section

employed to extract heat

hot tube surface of the

of the vortex tube

from the hot tube surface and

could increase the

then release it to

vortex cooling

environment.

vortex tube

capacity.
- In the present work,

- Mohamed S. El-

- To study the

- Ranque-Hilsch vortex tube

- The vortex chamber

a Ranque-Hilsch

Soghiar

performance of

(RHVT) is modified by

diameter has a

vortex tube (RHVT)

- Mohamed F. F. El-

modified vortex tube

suggesting a novel vortex

dominant effect on the

is modified by

Dosoky

chamber at inlet.

performance compared

suggesting a novel

- Ali K. Abdel-Rahman

- All vortex chambers with

with the vortex

vortex chamber at

- Hany A. Mohamed

different lengths and

chamber length.

inlet. The

- Mahmoud G. Morsy

diameters are tested

- The vortex chamber

performance of the

Year (2014)

experimentally at variable

gives an enhancement

inlet conditions.

in the isentropic

modified vortex tube

is studied

efficiency reach to 15.9

experimentally.

%.

Literature review

- Sankar Ram T.

- To understand the heat

- There are two design

- The design of nozzle

reveals that there is

- Anish Raj K.

transfer characteristics

features associated with a

affects the conversion

no theory so perfect,

Year (2013)

in a vortex tube.

vortex tube:

of pressure to velocity.

which gives the

- To study the effect of

(a) maximum temperature

- The material of tube

satisfactory

various parameters like

drop vortex tube design for

has significant

explanation of the

mass flow rates of cold

producing small quantity of

importance in design

vortex tube

and hot air, nozzle area

air with very low

of vortex tube.

phenomenon as

of inlet compressed air,

temperatures

- A 1o-5o inclination of

explained by various

cold orifice area and hot

(b) maximum cooling effect

the inlet orifice

researchers

end area of the tube.

vortex tube design for

towards hot end helped

- To investigates the

producing large quantity of

in reducing pressure

effect of L/D ratio on

air with moderate

buildup near the

the performance of the

temperatures

orifices, restricting

vortex tube.

- The parameters investigated

further flow.

in the study:
- nozzle diameter
- cold orifice diameter
- mass flow rates of cold and
hot air
- Area at the hot end.
Even though the

- H. Khazaeia

- To investigate the

- Numerical simulation has

- The hot outlet size

RanqueHilsch

- A.R. Teymourtasha

effect energy separation

been undertaken, due to the

and its shape do not

in a vortex tube.

complex structure of flow.

affect the energy

- The governing equations

distribution in the

numerous theoretical

have been solved by the

vortex tube, and a very

and experimental

FLUENTTM code in a 2D

small diameter will

studies, no

compressible and turbulent

decrease the

indisputable physical

model.

temperature separation.

explanation of its

- Three turbulent models,

- Using helium as a

effect has been found

namely, RSM, Standard k-

refrigerant produces

to this day.

epsilon and Spalart

the largest energy

- Although many

- Smith Eiamsa-ard

- Presents an overview

Allmaras, have been used.

- The experiment consisted of

separation.
- The computation

experimental and

- Pongjet Promvonge

of the phenomena

two important parameters:

review is concentrated

numerical studies on

Year (2008)

occurring inside the

1. Geometrical characteristics

on the quantitative,

the vortex tubes have

vortex tube during the

of the vortex tube.

theoretical, analytical,

been made, the

temperature/energy

2. Thermo-physical

and numerical (finite

physical behavior of

separation on both the

parameters.

volume method)

the flow is not fully

counter flow and

- For each parameter, the

aspects of the study.

understood due to its

parallel flow types.

temperature separation

complexity and the

- Reviews the

mechanism and the flow-field

lack of consistency

experiments and the

inside the vortex tubes is

in the experimental

calculations presented

explored by measuring the

findings.

in previous studies on

pressure, velocity, and

vortex tube effect has - M. Malek-Jafarian

been the subject of

Year (2012)

temperature separation

temperature fields.

Although intensive

- Y.T. Wua

in the vortex tube.

- To improve the energy

- Three innovative

- These modifications

research has been

- Y. Dinga

separate efficiency of

technologies were applied to

could remarkably

carried out in many

- Y.B. Jia

vortex tubes.

vortex tubes:

improve the

countries over the

- C.F. Maa

1. A new nozzle with equal

performance of vortex

years, the efficiency

- M.C. Ge

gradient of Mach number.

tube.

is still low.

Year (2007)

2. A new intake flow passage

- The cooling effect of

of nozzles with equal flow

the improved nozzle is

velocity were designed and

about 2.2oC lower than

developed to reduce the flow

that of the nozzle with

loss.

normal rectangle.

3. A new kind of diffuser

- The cooling effect of

invented by us was installed

the vortex tube with

for reducing friction loss of

diffuser is up to 5oC

air flow energy at the end of

lower than that without

the hot end tube of vortex

diffuser.

tube.
However, the

- Maziar Arjomandi

- To find the

physical mechanism

- Yunpeng Xue

relationship between the the experiment.

determining the cold

of the temperature

Year(2007)

diameter of hot end

mass fraction results in

plug and the

different efficiencies.

separation is still not

- Series of plugs were used in

- The size of plug

completely resolved.

performance of the

- The efficiency of the

vortex tube.

tube is maximized

- To study the effect of

when the area ratio is

the size of hot nozzle on

between 0.9 and 0.98.

the performance of the

- Generally, Ranque-

RanqueHilsch vortex

Hilsch vortex tube is

tube.

more efficient as a
cooling device rather
than an air heater.