A novel thermally driven rotor-vane/pressure-exchange ejector refrigeration system with environmental benefits and energy efficiency

The latest results of an ongoing coordinated experimental and computational program on the design and performance of a novel supersonic rotor-vane/pressure-exchange ejector for thermally driven ejector refrigeration systems are presented. For the supersonic rotor-vane/pressure-exchange ejector, careful management of the entropy rise through the oblique shocks and boundary layers is required for obtaining an advance in ejector performance. Since the invention of this new ejector is quite recent, understanding its aerodynamics, with the consequent optimization of performance, is in the formative stage. This paper shows how the supersonic aerodynamics is managed to provide the desirable flow induction characteristics through computational study and, in parallel, experimental results including flow visualization showing actual behavior with different-shaped rotor vanes. The importance of the existence of the tail part with a long expansion ramp, the sharp leading edge such as knife-edge, the proper height of leading edges, for the overall shape of rotor vane, were observed. Also the larger spin-angle rotor vane produces better flow induction and mixing between primary flow and secondary flow.