Empirical correlation for ejector designCorrélation empirique pour la conception des éjecteurs

In the present study, two empirical correlations from the test results of 15 ejectors are derived for the performance prediction of ejectors using R141b as the working fluid. The ratio of the hypothetical throat area of the entrained flow to the nozzle throat area A_e/A_t, the geometric design parameter of the ejector A₃/A_t, and the pressure ratios P_g/P_e and P_c*/P_e are used to correlate the performance of the ejector. The prediction of the entrainment ratio ω using the correlations is within ±10% error. A method of calculation for the ejector design using the correlations is also developed. R141b is shown in the present study to be a good working fluid for an ejector. The measured ω for the ejectors used in the present study can reach as high as 0.54 at P_g=0.465 MPa (84°C), P_c^*=0.087 MPa (28°C) and P_e=0.040 MPa (8°C). For P_g=0.538 MPa (90°C), P_c^*=0.101 MPa (32°C) and P_e=0.040 MPa (8°C), ω reaches 0.45.

Résumé

Dans cette étude, on a établi deux corrélations empiriques à partir des résultats expérimentaux obtenus utilisant 15 éjecteurs; ces corrélations ont été utilisées ensuite pour prédire la performance d'éjecteurs utilisant le R141b comme fluide frigorigène. Les rapports A_e/A_t (section de passage du fluide entraîné rapporté à la section théorique du col de l'éjecteur), et A₃/A_t (section de sortie de l'éjecteur rapporté à la section théorique du col de l'éjecteur) et les relations entre pressions P_g/P_e et P_c*/P_e sont utilisés pour trouver la corrélation de la performance de l'éjecteur. La prévision du taux d'entraînement à partir des corrélations est précise à la hauteur de ±10%. Les auteurs ont également développé une méthode de calcul permettant de concevoir des éjecteurs à partir des corrélations. On a montré dans cette étude que le R141b s'avère être un fluide actif efficace pour cette utilisation. Le ω mesuré des éjecteurs utilisés dans cette étude peuvent atteindre 0.54 à P_g=0.465 MPa (84°C), P_c^*=0.087 MPa (28°C) et P_e=0.040 MPa (8°C). Pour P_g=0.538 MPa (90°C), P_c^*=0.101 MPa (32°C) et P_e=0.040 MPa (8°C), ω atteint 0.45.     

Ejector in R410A vapor compression systems with experimental quantification of two major mechanisms of performance improvement: Work recovery and liquid feeding

This paper presents experimental data and analysis comparing the performance of an R410A ejector vapor compression system to those of a liquid-fed evaporator system and a conventional expansion valve system. The objective was to quantify separately two major improvements of the ejector system: work recovery and liquid-fed evaporator. The ejector system was first compared to a system with liquid-fed evaporator at matching cooling capacities and revealed improvements from 1.9% to 8.4% solely due to the work recovery of the ejector. When compared to a conventional expansion valve system at the same cooling capacity, the ejector setup improved COP from 8.2% to 14.8% due to simultaneous benefits of liquid-fed evaporator and work recovery. Overall ejector efficiencies from 12.2% to 19.2% were achieved.     

Performance analysis of a supersonic ejector cycle working with R245fa

A supersonic ejector chiller for industrial use is currently being developed and tested as part of a project cooperation between Frigel s.p.a and DIEF (Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Florence). The refrigerator was built following a “ready to market” setup criterion and is intended for applications on the industrial refrigeration market or in air conditioning. The plant has a nominal cooling power of 40 kW and is powered by low temperature heat (from 90 up to 100 °C). The ejector is equipped with a movable primary nozzle and 9 static pressure probes along the mixing chamber/diffuser duct. The working fluid is R245fa. An extensive numerical campaign was performed to analyze the internal dynamics of the ejector. All the simulations were carried out by accounting for the real gas properties of the refrigerant. Comparison with experimental data resulted in close agreement both in terms of global and local parameters. Analyses showed that in order to achieve an accurate matching with the experimental data, it is necessary to correctly account for the surface roughness of the ejector. This is especially true for off-design operating conditions.     

Numerical investigation of a two-phase CO2 ejector

Using an ejector as an additional component in a vapor compression refrigeration system is a promising way to increase the system efficiency. The efficiency increase of the refrigeration system depends strongly on the ejector. Using CFD simulations, it is possible to obtain a better understanding of two-phase CO₂ ejectors in order to design more efficient ejectors. In this work, a numerical model based on a homogeneous equilibrium approach, which is implemented in OpenFOAM, is used to simulate the CO₂ ejector. The numerical investigation of an ejector operated with and without a suction mass flow is presented and the numerical results are compared to experimental data published in previous works to validate the simulations. If the ejector is operated without a suction flow, no mixing losses occur and the friction losses are one of the main losses affecting the flow. Thus, this operating condition is suitable to validate if the friction losses are determined correctly by the numerical model. Afterwards, an ejector which is operated with a suction flow is simulated in order to validate the accurate prediction of the mixing losses by the numerical model. In the presented data range, the numerical model predicts the driving mass flux within an error margin of 10%. The pressure recovery of the ejector operated without a suction flow is determined with an error of 10%. This error increases to 20% when the ejector is operated with a suction flow.     

Thermodynamic investigation and optimization of novel ejector-expansion CO2/NH3 cascade refrigeration cycles (novel CO2/NH3 cycle)

The present study thermodynamically evaluated the ejector utilization's impact on the performance of the cascade cycle that uses CO₂ and NH₃ as refrigerants. The theoretical analysis on the functional features based on the first and second laws of the thermodynamics illustrates the facts that the maximum cop and the maximum second law efficiency are on average7 and 5 percent higher than the conventional cycle. However, the exergy destruction rates roughly 8 percent lower as compared to the conventional cycle. Therefore, the novel ejector-expansion cascade cycle is a promising refrigeration cycle from the thermodynamically and practical points of view. A linear regression through the terms of T_eva, T_cond, ΔT yields to three useful correlations for maximum COP, maximum second law efficiency, and in accordance with their optimal temperature.     

Investigation of an experimental ejector refrigeration machine operating with refrigerant R245fa at design and off-design working conditions. Part 2. Theoretical and experimental results

The main results of a theoretical and experimental investigation of the performance characteristics of an ejector and an ejector refrigeration machine (ERM) operating with refrigerant R245fa at design and off-design working conditions are presented. The ejector and ERM were explored theoretically using improved 1D model and the calculated results were validated experimentally on ejector test rig that has been assembled and operated at National Taiwan University. For typical cases, the performance characteristics variation with condensing, generating and evaporating temperatures along with performance maps are presented. The theoretical results are compared with the results of a set of experiments and good qualitative and quantitative agreement is observed.     

A study of working fluids for heat driven ejector refrigeration using lumped parameter models

This paper studies the influence of working fluids over the performance of heat driven ejector refrigeration systems performance by using a lumped parameter model. The model used has been selected after a comparison of different models with a set of experimental data available in the literature. The effect of generator, evaporator and condenser temperature over the entrainment ratio and the COP has been investigated for different working fluids in the typical operating conditions of low grade energy sources. The results show a growth in performance (the entrainment ratio and the COP) with a rise in the generator and evaporator temperature and a decrease in the condenser temperature. The working fluids have a great impact on the ejector performance and each refrigerant has its own range of operating conditions. R134a is found to be suitable for low generator temperature (70–100 °C), whereas the hydrocarbons R600 is suitable for medium generator temperatures (100–130 °C) and R601 for high generator temperatures (130–180 °C).     

The effect of operating conditions on the performance of a supersonic ejector for refrigeration

A previously developed one-dimensional model, based on a forward marching solution technique of the conservation equations has been used to study ejector operation and performance in a large range of refrigeration working conditions. Several important features of ejector operation characteristics were simulated. Global parameter values, their local distributions along the ejector including the temperature, the pressure and the Mach number were calculated for design and off design conditions. Operation parameters such as the entrainment ratio ω, compression ratios P_exit/P_ev, P_g/P_exit and the geometric ratio (D/D_c)² were found to significantly affect performance. The impact of the generator, the evaporator, the condenser and related thermodynamic parameters, which have been assessed in this study, are summarized as:

Fluid mixing conditions dictated by the fluid type, the mixing chamber geometry, the inlet and outlet constraints, may lead to off design operation with related stability and performance deterioration

Internal superheat generation, due to inefficient mixing and normal shock waves is very important in off design operation

Some degree of inlet superheat (around 5 °C) is necessary to prevent internal condensation but excess superheat is detrimental to the condenser efficiency at exit

Generator pressure conditions and the evaporator temperature significantly affect ejector performance.

Ejector expansion refrigeration system: Ejector design and performance evaluation

Use of a two-phase flow ejector as an expansion device in vapor compression refrigeration systems is one of the efficient ways to enhance its performance. The present work aims to design a constant-area two phase flow ejector and to evaluate performance characteristics of the ejector expansion refrigeration system working with R134a. In order to achieve these objectives, a simulation program is developed and effects of operating conditions and ejector internal efficiencies on the system performance are investigated using EES software. Comparison between present results and published experimental data revealed that the developed model can predict the system COP with a maximum error of 2.3%. The system COP increased by 87.5% as evaporation temperature changed from −10 °C to 10 °C. Finally, correlations to size ejector main diameters as a function of operating conditions, system cooling capacity and ejector internal efficiencies are reported.     

Thermodynamic analyses on an ejector enhanced CO2 transcritical heat pump cycle with vapor-injection

In this paper, an ejector enhanced vapor injection CO₂ transcritical heat pump cycle with sub-cooler (ESCVI) for heating application in cold regions is proposed. The thermodynamic analysis using energetic and exegetic methods is carried out to predict the performance characteristics of the ejector enhanced cycle, and then compared with those of the conventional vapor injection heat pump cycle with sub-cooler (SCVI). The simulation results demonstrate that the ejector enhanced cycle exhibits better performance than the conventional vapor injection cycle under the specified operating conditions. The improvements of the maximum system COP and volumetric heating capacity could reach up to 7.7% and 9.5%, respectively. Exergetic analysis indicates that the largest exergy destruction ratio is generated at the compressor followed by the evaporator and gas cooler. Additionally, the exergy efficiency of the ejector is introduced to quantify the effectiveness of the exergy recovery process, which may be a new criterion to evaluate the performance of the ejector enhanced vapor compression cycle.