A Study of the Pressure Drop Characteristics of a Vortex Throttle Assembly

The paper presents the results of studies of the pressure drop characteristics of vortex throttles in the pressure-reducing device for coolant samples. Using mathematical modeling in ANSYS CFX, the effect of backpressure on the flow coefficient of the vortex throttles is established, and the flow-drop characteristics of the vortex throttle assembly are determined. The simulation results show that the distance between the vortex throttle elements in the assembly does not affect the total pressure drop, and an equal pressure drop is manifested on each throttle within a 3 % error margin relative to the mean value. The adequacy of the simulation results is confirmed experimentally. The regression curve of the flow- drop characteristic obtained from the experimental data differs from the calculated value by less than 7 % at a flow rate of 1.1 to 1.2 l/min. The results obtained make it possible to determine the number of vortex throttles required to provide the specified pressure drop with the accuracy sufficient for engineering calculations.

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