EFFECT OF PRESSURE RATIO ON COP OF THE VORTEX TUBE REFRIGERATION ON DIFFERENT MASS FRACTIONS OF THE AIR STREAMS

Abstract

Environment degradation is enhancing by using the chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HFCs) as refrigerants in the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems.Vortex Tube (VT) refrigeration is one of the cheapest techniques used for producing refrigeration effect. VT is a simple device (does not have any moving part) that generates the cold and hot streams of air/gas simultaneously when the pressurized air/gas is injected through it.  Recently, studies have been carried out to improve the Co-efficient of Performance (COP) of the VT Refrigerator. There are many parameters, as literature shows, that effect the COP of VT. Pressure Ratio (Ratio of the pressure at which air/gas is injected to the VT to the outside Pressure where the compressor is placed), which is an important parameter of thermodynamics and plays an essential role when energies change from pressure to velocity, has not been discussed yet in the literature. This paper discusses the effect of pressure ratio on different air streams affecting the COP of VT Refrigeration. In conclusion, this research shows, as the pressure ratio increases the COP decreases on the different mass fractions of air/gas and the Regional effect of pressure ratio is also shown in the Result and Discussion section.