I think you are a confused on numbers your giving on vortex tubes..........You say 90% is cold or can be realize to get 90% cold cooling power out the cold side ,90% of the mass flow goes out the hot side. So you have 10% mass flow providing the 90% cooling power. Its cold air,just not a high volume of it.

I did afew short test with air @ 250psi ~35cfm and reached -30c on the cold side but only ~5cfm was discharged,the other ~30 cfm went out the hot side. Can't recall the maximium temperature delta between the hot & cold sides., and I never calculated the BTU's of the cold side.

The lower the temperature on the cold discharge,the lower the mass flow on the discharge & that equals less cooling power.

I Tested a few with air from 100psi to 500psi (limit of my air compressor) and found that even that my compressor had a refrigerated dryer ,over 150 psi they iced up since my dryer wasn't rated past 17cfm @ 175psi. so all the tests over 200 psi I bypassed the dryer so not split the tubes and the test runs only lasted a few min. before ice froze the outlet.

Previously I only seen them used on air but theorized using a refrigerant like R22 would produce a better COP than air.


They are no miracle device like you think, I was looking @ gaining a few % in performance by using a gas other than air .There not going to justify the cost & added complexity and I think your calculations and understanding of performance is way off.