Ranque-Hilsch Vortex Tube in 2D: Energy Separation Cross-Section

The Ranque-Hilsch vortex tube is one of thermodynamics' most counter-intuitive devices: a plain metal tube with a tangential nozzle at one end and an adjustable valve at the other, with absolutely no moving parts, that turns a single stream of compressed air into a hot stream and a cold stream. Because the tube is axisymmetric, its entire mechanism is captured by one radial slice along the axis — this simulator draws exactly that cross-section: an outer stream spiraling toward the hot-end valve and an inner core reversing direction to exit through the cold orifice — and drives the split with a real energy balance: an isentropic-expansion temperature drop scaled by an empirical cold-side efficiency correlation, combined with an exact first-law energy balance that derives the hot outlet temperature. Adjust inlet pressure, inlet temperature and the cold-fraction valve, or drag directly on the live μ-sweep graph, and watch both outlet temperatures and the total temperature separation respond in real time.