The vortex tube (the Ranque-Hilsch tube) is a device that enables the separation of hot and cold air as compressed gas flows tangentially into the vortex chamber through inlet nozzles. The paper describes on investigation of the effectiveness of the vortex tube as a refrigerator. Engineering and environmental advantages of such systems were discussed. The basic types of constructions of the vortex tubes were given and described. The paper also reviews the experimental investigations and numerical simulations presented in previous studies on temperature separation in the vortex tubes.