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Vortex Tubes for spot cooling

Cooling with Compressed Air

download technical catalogue

Vortex Tubes | Cold Air Guns | Price list

link to Vortex Tube Cabinet Enclosure Cooler System page

Vortex Tubes are available in many
sizes offering a range of cooling
capacities.
Vortex Tube
Phenomenon
The vortex tube was
discovered in 1930 by
French physicist Georges
Ranque. Vortec was the
first company to develop
this phenomenon into
practical, effective cooling
solutions for industrial
applications. Here's how it
works.

Fluid that rotates about an

Vortex Tubes || Vortex
Tubes are available in a wide
range of sizes to meet the needs
of many process and spot
cooling applications. Vortex
Tubes offer cooling capacities
beyond those available from our
Cold Air Guns.
Features:
 Cool without refrigerants
(CFCs/HCFCs) or moving
parts for reliable, trouble-
free operation.
 Use no electricity --
intrinsically safe, no RF
interference.
 Compact and lightweight
for easy installation --
even in tight areas.
axis -- like a tornado -- is called a
vortex. A vortex tube creates a vortex
from compressed air and separates it
into two air streams -- one hot and
one cold. Compressed air enters a
cylindrical generator which is
proportionately larger than the hot
(long) tube where it causes the air to
rotate. Then, the rotating air is forced
down the inner walls of the hot tube
at speeds reaching 1,000,000 rpm. At
the end of the hot tube, a small
portion of this air exits through a
needle valve as hot air exhaust. The
remaining air is forced back through
the center of the incoming air stream
at a slower speed. The heat in the
slower moving air is transferred to the
faster moving incoming air. This
super-cooled air flows through the
center of the generator and exits
through the cold air exhaust port.

ITW Vortec's vortex tube products have been solving industrial cooling
problems for years. Using only filtered, factory compressed air as a power
source, they convert ordinary compressed air into two air streams -- one
hot and one cold. At 100 PSIG (6.9 Bar) and 70° F (21° C) inlet
temperature, a vortex tube can produce refrigeration up to 6000 BTUH
(1512 kcal/H) or temperatures to -40° F (-40° C).
Choose one of our Cold Air Guns for quick, easy installation or the model
from our complete vortex tube line that best fits the specific needs of your
application.

Vortex Tube Models and Performance

Specifications:
COMPRESSED AIR
COMPRESSED AIR
PRESSURE -- 100
PRESSURE -- 6.9 BAR
PSIG
MODEL TEM SLPM TEM
NO.
Dimensions
SCFM P. P.
BTU
CONSUMP DR CONSUMP DR KCAL
H
TION OP TION OP /H
° F* ° C*
VOR.1 10
2 61 57 34 25
06-2-H 0
VOR.1 25
4 80 113 44 64
06-4-H 5

VOR.1 40
8 81 227 45 101
06-8-H 0

VOR.2
64
08-11- 11 84 312 47 161
0
H
VOR.2
90
08-15- 15 84 425 47 227
0
H

VOR.2
15
08-25- 25 67 708 37 378
00
H
VOR.3
26
08-35- 35 76 992 42 668
50
H

VOR.3
30
28-50- 50 79 1416 44 756
00
H
VOR.3
45 113
28-75- 75 85 2125 47
00 4
H

VOR.3
60 151
28- 100 78 2833 43
00 2
100-H

BTUH (kcal/H) capacity based upon 70° F (21° C) compressed air dried to
a dewpoint of -40° F (-40° C).

* Airflow temperature can be dropped up to an additional 20° F (11° C). Colder airflow
temperatures are produced by adjusting the needle valve to increase the hot airflow. The
needle valve is located in the hot exhaust. Vortex Tubes produce less airflow at colder
temperatures and have less BTUH (kcal/H) capacity.

link to experimental kits page

Accessories:
MODEL NO. DESCRIPTION

Individual Generator for VOR.106 Vortex Tube -- specify 2,

VOR.106GEN
4 or 8 SCFM

VOR.106MC Cold End Muffler for VOR.106 Vortex Tube

Individual Generator for VOR.208 Vortex Tube -- specify

VOR.208GEN
11, 15, 25 or 35 SCFM

VOR.208MC Cold End Muffler for VOR.208 or VOR.308 Vortex Tubes

VOR.208MH Hot End Muffler for VOR.106 or VOR.208 Vortex Tubes

VOR.308MH Hot End Muffler for VOR.308 Vortex Tube

VOR.328M Cold or Hot End Muffler for VOR.328 Vortex Tube

Individual Generator for VOR.328 Vortex Tube -- specify

VOR.328XB
50, 75 or 100 SCFM

link to Vortex Tubes Dimension Page

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Cold Air Guns ||

Cold Air Guns incorporate a vortex tube in a
system designed to fit the needs of many
common vortex tube applications.
Features:

 Cool without refrigerants (CFCs/HCFCs) or

moving parts for reliable, trouble-free
operation.
 Use no electricity -- intrinsically safe, no RF
interference.
 Include an integral muffler for quiet
operation -- within OSHA noise
specifications.
 Are powered by filtered compressed air.
Use the Model VOR.610
Adjustable
Cold Air Gun to increase feed
rates and tool life, or cool
parts
and industrial processes.
Model VOR.610 Adjustable Cold Air Gun
The Model VOR.610 Adjustable Cold Air Gun is ideal for use in machining
applications and for cooling parts and industrial processes. Model
VOR.610's adjustable feature allows you to set the cold airflow rate
(BTUH) at optimum levels for your application. The Adjustable Cold Air
Gun's maximum temperature drop is 100° F (55.6° C) below inlet air
temperature and the maximum cooling capacity is 1500 BTUH (378
kcal/H). Model VOR.610's compressed air supply requirement is 15 SCFM
(425 SLPM) at 100 PSIG (6.9 Bar).

Model VOR.610 comes complete with a flexible nozzle for directing cold air
and a magnetic base for quick, easy installation and use.

link to Cold Air Gun VOR.VOR.610 detailed Page

new frost free cold guns pdf page(341Kb)

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Models:

Model
Description
no.

Adjustable Cold Air Gun, includes

VOR.610 Magnetic Base and 5-micron Auto-Drain
filter

VOR.610-
Adjustable Cold Air Gun only
1

Options:

Model no. Description

VOR.611-
Frost-Free Nozzle Upgrade Kit
FNU

VOR.610-30 Dual-Point Flexible Nozzle (two cold air

 outlets)

Needle Cooler
Watch your piece rate jump with ITW Vortec's Model 424 Thread Guard®.
The Thread Guard delivers a continuous stream of cold air onto the
sewing machine needle to virtually eliminate downtime caused by needle
breakage and thread burning caused by overheating. It's effective even in
the most challenging sewing operations including belt loops and tough
materials. Cooling also prevents holes caused by hot needles burning
synthetic fabrics. Model 424's compressed air supply requirement is 4
SCFM (113 SLPM) at 100 PSIG (6.9 Bar).

link to Model VOR.424 Thread Guard® detailed Page

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VOR.609 Adjustable Hot Air Gun Spot Heating Systems

Use filtered compressed air to produce air temperatures up to250°F

(121°C) for spot preheating of parts & processes.

Intrinsically safe, it is ideal when moderate heat levels are required for
applications including preheating and softening

link to Model VOR.609 Hot Air Gun detailed Page

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click here to link to see how vortex tube works

Operation
Any fluid that flows and rotates about an axis such as a tornado, is called
a vortex. A vortex tube creates a vortex and separates it into two air
streams-one hot and one cold. Figure 1 shows how a vortex tube works.
Compressed air enters a cylindrical generator which is proportionately
larger than the hot (long) tube. The generator causes the air to spiral.
The spiraling air is forced down the inner walls of the hot tube at speeds
reaching 1,000,000 rpm. At the end of the hot tube, a small portion of
this air exits through a needle valve as hot air. The remaining air is forced
back through the center of the incoming air stream but at a slower speed.
The heat in slower moving air is transferred to the faster moving incoming
air. This super-cooled air flows through the center of the generator and
exits through the cold air exhaust port.

Temperature Separation Effects

The Vortex Tube Creates two types of vortices: free and forced. In a free
vortex (like a whirlpool) the angular velocity of a fluid particle increases
as it moves toward the Center of the vortex-that is, the closer a particle
of fluid is to the center of a vortex, the faster it rotates. In a forced
vortex, the velocity is directly, proportional to the radius of the vortex-the
closer the center, the slower the velocity.

In a vortex tube, the outer (hot) air stream is a free vortex. The inner
(cold) air stream is a forced vortex. The rotational movement of the
forced vortex is controlled by the free vortex (hot air stream). The
turbulence of both the hot and cold air streams cause the layers to be
locked together in a single, rotational mass.

The inner air stream flows through the hollow core of the outer air stream
at a slower velocity than the outer air stream. Since the energy is
proportional to the square of the velocity, the cold air stream loses its
energy by heat transfer. This allows energy to flow from the inner air
stream to the outer air stream as heat creating a cold inner air stream.

Cold Fraction
The percentage of total input air volume released through the cold air
exhaust of a Vortex Tube is called the Cold Fraction. A valve located in the
hot air exhaust of the Vortex Tube controls the Cold Fraction. For
example, if the total compressed air input is 15 SCFM (424.5 SLPM) and
the Cold Fraction is 70%, the amount of air exiting the cold end wilt be
10.5 SCFM (297.2 SLPM); 4.5 SCFM (127.4 SLPM) exits the hot end.

Cold Fractions of 60-80% produce maximum efficiency-greatest power

(BTUH) output- and are ideal for cooling machining operations, electrical
controls and enclosures, liquid baths and workers. Low Cold Fractions
(less than 50%) have reduced airflows and produce the lowest
temperatures for cooling glass, laboratory experiments and for testing
electronic components.

Table 1. Humidity Effects

Temperatu
110(43 100(38
re 90(32) 80(27) 70(21) 60(16) 50(10)
) )
° F(° C)
Saturation
, 375(82 295(65 217(47 154(33 111(24 77(17 54(11
gr/lb(gr/k 7) 0) 8) 9) 5) 0) 9)
g)
Temperatu
-10(- -20(- -30(-
re 40(4) 30(-1) 20(-7) 10(-12) 0(-18)
23) 29) 34)
° F(° C)
Saturation
, 37(8
24(53) 15(33) 9(20) 5.5(12) 3.2(7) 1.8(4) 1.0(2)
gr/lb(gr/k 2)
g)

Table 2. Saturation Moisture Content

Temperat
110(4 100(3 90(3 80(2 70(2 60(16 50(10 30(- 20(-
ure 40(4)
3) 8) 2) 7) 1) ) ) 1) 7)
° F(° C)
Saturation
, 48(10 38(84 28(6 20(4 14(3 9.8(2 6.9(1 4.7(1 3.1( 1.9(
gr/lb(gr/k 6) ) 2) 4) 1) 2) 5) 0) 7) 4)
g)

Humidity Effects
A Vortex Tube does not separate humidity between hot and cold air-it
remains the same as the compressed air input. If the dew point of the air
is higher than its temperature, the moisture will condense and/or freeze.
The table above shows the amount of moisture in grains (1 grain =
0.000143 pound) that one pound of air can hold in the saturated vapor
state as a function of air temperature at one atmosphere, 14.7 PSIG (1 D
Bar). Table 1 shows when condensation will begin at various
temperatures and moisture contents. For example, if the moisture content
is 14 gr/lb (31 gr/kg), condensation will begin when the temperature of
the cold air falls below 19 ° F(-7.2° C) At 5 gr/lb (11 gr/kg), condensation
will begin at -1° F (-18° C).

If you compare Tables 1 and 2, you can predict the amount of moisture in
the compressed air and the temperature at which the moisture will begin
to precipitate or freeze in the cold air. For example, if the compressed air
is after-cooled to 80° F (27° C) after compression and the precipitated
water is drained off, Table 2 shows that the air will hold 20 grains of
water vapor per pound of dry air. When this expands in the Vortex Tube,
Table 1 shows that precipitation begins in the cold air when the
temperature falls below 26° F (-3.3° C) when the pressure is 14.7 PSIG
(1.0 Bar)

If the compressed air is cooled under pressure by a chiller to 40° F (4.4°

C), it will then hold 4.7 gr/lb of water vapor (see Table 2). When
expanded in the Vortex Tube, precipitation will occur at -3° F (-19° C) at
14.4 PSIG (1 .0 Bar).

If some moisture precipitates in the cold air, the temperature of the cold
air will rise about 0.75° F (0.4° C) for each grain of moisture precipitated.
This is because some of the sensible (apparent) refrigeration of the cold
air is consumed in producing latent refrigeration of the moisture. This
refrigeration is not lost, but reappears in the cold air as it warms after
leaving the Vortex Tube when the precipitated moisture evaporates.

For example, if a VOR.208-15-H Vortex Tube is operating at 100 PSIG

(6.9 Bar), it will achieve a cold end temperature of approximately -15° F
(-26° C) at a dew point of -40° F (-40° C) and a cold end flow rate of
10.3 SCF (291.5 SLPM). But if the compressed air supply was not dried,
and only after-cooled to 80° F (27° C), it would contain 20 gr/lb of
moisture. But once the cold air reaches -15° F (-26° C), Table 1 shows
that the air can only hold 2.5 grains of moisture and 17.5 grains (20 -
2.5) of moisture would precipitate out. This would cause a temperature
rise of over 13° F (7.2° C) causing a loss of 144 BTUH (36 kcal/H).

Tables 1 and 2 show that condensation will not normally occur at

moderately cold temperatures. When temperatures are below freezing,
the condensation is in the form of snow. This snow has a sticky quality
from oil vapor and will eventually collect and block air passages. For
continuous operation at low temperatures, use an air dryer or inject an
antifreeze mist into the input air. When selecting a dryer, do not use
chemical desiccant dyers such as silica-gel or molecular sieve types. They
tend to heat the compressed air and cause refrigeration losses.

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Stittsville, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K2S 1E7
Phone: 1-613-836- 6776 or 1-800-465-1384
Fax: 1-613 -836 -9070 or 1-800-605-2442
Newman Tools Inc.
151 New Park Avenue
Hartford, CT 06106, USA
Phone: 1-800-465-1384
Fax: 1-800-605-2442

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