There are certain applications which are simply ideal for vortex tube type units:

1. In difficult to service areas that are simply too hard to reach, and in areas where perhaps service is even hard to get. The cost of labor to service air conditioners will also go up – not down.  Vortex tube operated units are virtually maintenance free!
2. Very dirty environments that create dust, fumes, etc. that can get into a control panels shorten their life span costing thousands of dollars damage to controls. This is because standard air conditioning systems inevitably draw in the factory atmosphere.  Factories processing rubber, fiber, even food confectionary can have a dusty environment with product in the air that can get into control cabinets and destroy sensitive controls.  But vortex tube operated units actually keep the control panels at a slight positive pressure to keep out the factory environment keeping the air inside clean, protecting your electronics.
3. Very humid and hot environments require higher capacity air conditioners because their performance is very dependent on atmospheric temperature. Vortex tube operated unit performance is only dependent on compressed air temperature.  Typically much lower capacities needed in such environments.
4. Where disposal costs are high and most likely keep going up, where the cost of disposing of filters used with air conditioners increases over time (in addition to replacement cost) the essentially “maintenance free” vortex tube operated unit becomes more advantageous. Even condensate needs to be disposed of from regular air conditioners.  Vortex tube units do NOT produce condensate.
5. In smaller applications for cooling such as cameras used in production in hot areas, often compressed air alone is used to cool or water is used. Water is also costly and causes scaling issues and then more downtime for cleaning.  The vortex tube units reduce the amount of compressed air used because of cooling.  Applications where intermittent cooling is needed such as with variable frequency drives is also ideal because an on-off system with the vortex cooler will turn the air of when not needed.
6. In high vibration areas normal air conditioners lose their working fluid adding damage to the environment and then more of these fluids have to be replaced at higher and higher cost! Vortex tube operated units are not subject to damage from such vibration.  In fact they have a very long life simply because of NO MOVING PARTS.

In summary the Nex Flow^™  Frigid-X^™  Panel Coolers:

1. Keeps control panels purged of any dirty environmental air and humidity
2. No Condensate
3. No External filters to replace
4. No Freon – no HCFC no HC
5. Vibration Resistance
6. Zero maintenance
7. Long Life

Even with increased energy cost of using compressed air the return on investment is high, especially in harsh and high humidity environments because of reduced maintenance and elimination of traditional air conditioning costs such as replacing filters, Freon and HCFC replacement, condensate removal costs and routine repairs and maintenance.

We know the importance of maintaining the operation of electrical and electronic control panels in a factory – if they go down, the factory goes down. The vortex tube operated air conditioning systems offer the most reliable, essentially maintenance free way to cool your panels.

As a bonus……

FREE WITH EVERY Nex Flow^™  Frigid-X^™  Panel Cooler  a  Temperature Warning Sticker is given at ZERO cost to you, to use on any Control Panel that is critical to be monitored for overheating.  This Warning Sticker provides a qualitative, visual warning of possible overheating problems supplementing any routine temperature checks. 

When using a vortex tube or any device made from a vortex tube such as tool coolers, mini coolers, and panel coolers, you need to be aware of certain conditions.   First and foremost is filtration.  The compressed air supply should be clean.  A minimum of 25 micron filtration or less is recommended to remove moisture.  If there is oil in the air lines an oil removal filter is also recommended.   The second factor to consider is back pressure on the cold air exhaust from the vortex tube.   Low back pressure up to 2 PSIG has negligible effect on performance.  If it is up to 5 PSIG it will change performance by raising the outlet temperature about 5 drees F (2.8 C).   Backpressure in supplying the compressed air to the vortex tube or vortex tube operated device is also something to be aware of.  If the supply lines are too small for the input flow, then the vortex tube will be operating at a lower pressure and therefore will produce less of a temperature drop.   For best performance, the line pressure should be 80 to 110 PSIG (5.5 bar to 7.6 bar).   You require a minimum of 20 PSIG (1.4 bar) for any significant cooling to take place.

Any vortex tube or vortex tube operated device produces a temperature drop from the inlet air temperature.  If the inlet air temperature rises, the corresponding outlet temperature will rise approximately the same amount.

The vortex tube was actually discovered by accident in 1928 by George Ranque, a physics student in France.  He was experimenting with a vortex type of pump he had built when he noticed warm air coming from one end, and cold air out the other end.   Noticing these results he started a small company to use this newly discovered effect.   Unfortunately his company failed and the vortex tube disappeared from general knowledge until 1945 when Rudolph Hilsch, a German physicist published a scientific paper on the vortex tube which was widely read.

Long before this time, the 19^th century physicist James Maxwell wrote that since heat involves the movement of molecules, that we might be able to get hot and cold air from the same device with the help of a “friendly little demon” to sort and  separate the hot and the cold molecules of air.  Then came the vortex tube with the mysterious demon inside!!

That is why the vortex tube is also called the Ranque Vortex Tube, the Hilsch Tube and Maxwell’s Demon tube.

Nex Flow^™  Air  Products Corp. strives to inform, educate and improve factory operations related to compressed air use to improve productivity, optimize energy use and enhance safety in the work place.

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