Georges-Joseph Ranque was born on February 7, 1898, in Ambérieu-en-Bugey, France, to Léon-Joseph Ranque, a railroad engineer. This familial background naturally fostered his passion for physics. He attended the esteemed Lycée Saint-Louis, a selective post-secondary institution, where he furthered his understanding of the subject. Subsequently, he gained admission to École Polytechnique, continuing his academic journey. During his work on an industrial pump, Ranque became intrigued by the Pantone carburetor and discovered what is now referred to as the Ranque effect. This phenomenon serves as the foundational principle behind industrial vortex tubes, where the tangential injection of compressed gas at high velocity results in the creation of two distinct streams: one hot and one cold.
This cold airflow is effectively employed in various industrial applications for spot cooling and enclosure cooling, thanks to its straightforward and dependable nature. The only requirement is a source of compressed air. In 1931, Georges patented his vortex tube, but it did not gain much traction until physicist Rudolf Hilsch revisited the concept. Hilsch enhanced the design, which he referred to as the “Wirbelrohr,” or “whirl pipe” in English. Consequently, the term “Ranque-Hilsch tube” is often used interchangeably with “vortex tube” due to Hilsch’s contributions.
Compressed air enters the tube and flows through a series of nozzles positioned tangentially to the internal counter bore. This nozzle configuration induces the air to rotate in a vortex at speeds reaching up to 1,000,000 RPM. As the air spins, it makes a 90° turn, where a valve at one end permits a portion of the heated air to escape. The remaining air continues down the tube in the inner stream, losing heat before exiting as cold air at the opposite end.
Both streams in a vortex tube rotate in the same direction and at an identical angular velocity. According to the principle of conservation of angular momentum, the rotational speed of the inner vortex is expected to increase. This phenomenon can be effectively illustrated through Olympic figure skating: when a skater extends her arms, her spinning slows down, but as she pulls them in, her rotational speed increases significantly. In the case of a vortex tube, however, the inner vortex maintains a constant speed as it has lost angular momentum. The energy dissipated during this process is released as heat from the hot side of the tube. This heat loss facilitates the cooling of the inner vortex, enabling it to be harnessed for various industrial applications.
The theory behind Vortex Tubes is applied in standard Vortex Tubes as well as in a range of other products designed with specific features tailored to various applications. EXAIR offers a selection that includes Cabinet Coolers, Cold Guns, Adjustable Spot Coolers, Mini Coolers, and Vortex Tubes, all of which function based on this fundamental principle.
If you have any questions about Vortex Tubes, or anything regarding EXAIR and our products, please do not hesitate to reach out. We would love to hear from you!
Jason Kirby
Application Engineer
Email: jasonkirby@exair.com
Twitter: @EXAIR_jk
