Vortex Tubes

Vortex Tubes:

Instant Cold or Hot Air – from -40°F to 230°F – From Ordinary Compressed Air

Vortex Tubes from VSI — Precision Stainless Steel for the Price of the “Other Guys” Aluminum Tubes

Starting with corrosion-resistant, food-grade Stainless Steel as the principal material of construction, VSI designers have optimized every aspect of Vortex Tube design for convenience, dependable performance, and long-lasting service.

The VSI Vortex Tube is as good-looking as it is functional. It’s precision machined, assembled and tested.

Manufactured to exacting tolerances, VSI Vortex Tubes are produced under strict quality control to ensure years of reliable, maintenance-free operation.

• Cool manufacturing processes: machining plastics or metals, wood working, soldering, adhesive application, heat sealing, sewing needles, mold tooling and many others.
• In the laboratory: cool and dehumidify gas samples, cool environmental chambers.
• “Temperature cycle” electronic components, instruments, switches and thermostats.
• Air condition electronic control enclosures: CNC cabinets, industrial PCs, PLCs and motor controls.
• Generate hot air to +230°F (+110°C), without a spark or explosion hazard to soften plastic, melt glues and seal packaging.
• Cool workers wearing protective gear.

VSI Vortex Tube Advantages

• No moving parts, portable, lightweight and low cost.
• Uses no electricity, freon or chemicals; just filtered, factory compressed air.
• No spark hazard, RF/EMI interference.
• Instant on/off, easy to control, cools without waste.
• No residue to clean up, no parts washing needed.
• Reliable, maintenance-free, durable Stainless Steel construction.
• Input air flows of 8, 10, 15, 25, and 35 cfm (220,280,420, 700, 990 lpm); up to 2800 BTU/H (630 Kcal/H) cooling capacity.

Metal Fabricating – Tapping

Tapping brass clips is completed without messy liquid coolants using air from a Vortex Tube to cool the tap. The brass does not have a chance to gum up, the cut is cleaner,, and secondary operations are eliminated.

Cutting wheels on this slitter can work at top speed and stay sharper longer – when cold air from Vortex Tubes eliminates the friction heat build-up. The trim edge is also cleaner.

Cooling this spot-welding operation with a Vortex Tube virtually eliminates secondary smoothing operations, and greatly improves the appearance of the product.

Vortex Tube Performance Data

Inlet PressurepsiG

Figures in pink area give temperature drop of cold air, °F
Figures in grey area give temperature rise of hot air, °F

Heat Balance Formula

Cold fraction can be computed from the temperature readings from the inlet temperature (Ti), the cold air outlet temperature (Tc), and the hot air tem-per-a-ture (Th), so that;

Air Conditioning Power

The cooling and heating power in BTU/H can be found by using these formulas.

For Cooling: BTU/H = 1.0746 (cfm c) (Ti-Tc) For Heating: BTU/H = 1.0746 (cfm h) (Th-Ti)

Where: CF = Cold Fraction
cfm t = Total Air Flow
cfm h = Hot Air Flow = cfm t (100 – CF)
cfm c = Cold Air Flow = cfm t (CF)
Ti = Inlet Temperature Tc = Cold Air Outlet Temperature
Th = Hot Air Outlet Temperature

“Cold Fraction”: an Important Term for Understanding Vortex Tube Performance

“Cold fraction” is the percentage of input compressed air that’s released through the cold end of the tube. As a rule of thumb, the less cold air you release, the colder the air will be. You adjust the cold fraction with the control knob. Cold fraction is also a function of the type of vortex generator that’s in the tube, i.e., a “high cold fraction” or “low cold fraction” generator.

Most industrial process applications use a high cold fraction (above 50%). A high cold fraction tube can easily give you cold outputs 50-90°F (28-50°C) below your compressed air temperature. High cold fractions give you a greater air flow, but they don’t give the lowest possible temperatures.

The high cold fraction combination of airflow and cold temperature produces the maximum refrigeration capacity, or greatest BTU/H (Kcal/H).

Just remember, your maximum BTU/H (Kcal/H) capacity (also called maximum cooling or refrigeration) occurs with a high cold fraction tube.

The chart to the right shows you the temperature drop (pink bar) and rise (grey bar) you can get at various inlet pressures and cold fraction settings.

Reliable, Predictable, Easy to Control Without Tools

A Vortex Tube turns factory compressed air into two airstreams, one very cold and one hot, using no moving parts. Simple and low-cost, a Vortex Tube can produce:

• temperatures from -40°F (-40°C) to +230°F (+110°C) from 70°F compressed air
• up to 2800 BTU/H (630 Kcal/H) refrigeration
• air flow rates up to 35 cfm (990 lpm)

You just set the cold temperature output with the handy control knob and your thermometer. No tools are required.

Assuming your compressed air input pressure and tem-per-a-ture remain constant, a Vortex Tube will hold output temperatures ±1°F (±0.6°C). Our unique temperature control knob lets you adjust the cold air discharge without tools.

A simple, interchangeable part — the Vortex Generator — allows our Vortex Tube to deliver five different air flows: 8, 10, 15, 25, 35 cfm (220, 280, 420, 700, 990 lpm) — each with two ranges of cooling performance (high or low).