Investigation on the 3D-Printed Vortex Tube as a Lightweight Cooling Device

A Vortex tube (VT) is a very simple, compact, and light cooling device that separates the inlet stream of compressed air into two streams between which heat transfer occurs leading to one of them becoming hotter and the other colder. Its existing designs are too simple and hence inefficient due to (i) the lack of appropriate design tools and (ii) manufacturing constraints of that era. 3D printing/CNC technology can be utilized to realize the complex ducts, which could help make the VT more efficient in terms of air consumption and performance. These modern 3DP/CNC tools have hardly been exploited in the design of VT so far. To realize this, the authors ideated and recommended the design changes in the vortex generator and diverging nozzle, which are the main parts responsible for creating and sustaining the vortex. The authors fabricated the above parts by 3D printing and carried out post-processing. The experimental results obtained are discussed in this paper.