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Vortex Tubes
Use Compressed Air Efficiently to Provide Spot Cooling

A Vortex Tube is a low cost, reliable, maintenance-free solution to a variety of industrial spot cooling problems that uses an ordinary supply of compressed air as a power source. These Vortex Tubes create two streams of air, one hot and one cold. This cold air tube has a durable, stainless steel construction and there are no moving parts to wear out. This stainless steel construction gives a resistance to corrosion and oxidation and exceptional wear resistance.

Vortex Tube advantages include:

No moving parts to wear out

No electricity or chemicals

Small, lightweight

Low in cost

Maintenance free

Instant cold air

Durable, stainless steel construction

Adjustable temperatures from -50°F to +260°F

Sometimes called a Hilsch Tube or Maxwell's Demon, a Vortex Tube can generate temperatures as cold as -50°F and as high as +260°F. For more articles regarding a Hilsch Tube or Maxwell's Demon, see Ranque-Hilsch Vortex Tubes, and Maxwell's Demon.

Compressed air is supplied to the vortex tube and passes through nozzles that are tangent to an internal counterbore. These nozzles set the air in a vortex motion. This spinning stream of air turns 90° and passes down the hot tube in the form of a spinning shell, similar to a tornado. A valve at one end of the tube allows some of the warmed air to escape. What does not escape, heads back down the tube as a second vortex inside the low pressure area of the larger vortex. This inner vortex loses heat and exhausts through the other end as cold air.

 How an EXAIR Vortex Tube Works

While one airstream moves up the tube and the other down it, both rotate in the same direction at the same angular velocity. That is, a particle in the inner stream completes one rotation in the same amount of time as a particle in the outer stream. However, because of the principle of conservation of angular momentum, the rotational speed of the smaller vortex might be expected to increase. (The conservation principle is demonstrated by spinning skaters who can slow or speed up their spin by extending or drawing in their arms.) But in the vortex tube, the speed of the inner vortex remains the same. Angular momentum has been lost from the inner vortex. The energy that is lost shows up as heat in the outer vortex. Thus the outer vortex becomes warm, and the inner vortex is cooled.

To learn more about Vortex Tubes, choose one of the following:

Vortex Tube - Vortex Tubes provide a reliable, maintenance-free solution to a variety of spot cooling problems.

Spot Cooling Products - Products based on vortex tube technology for specific cooling applications. A variety of products are available for spot cooling in manufacturing operations, allowing you to choose the product best suited to your needs.

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