Applied Thermal Engineering: F. Wang, D.Y. Li, Y. Zhou
Applied Thermal Engineering: F. Wang, D.Y. Li, Y. Zhou
Applied Thermal Engineering: F. Wang, D.Y. Li, Y. Zhou
Research Paper
H I G H L I G H T S
A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T
Article history: An ejector was used in a compression refrigeration cycle for improving its efficiency. A constant-
Received 5 October 2015 pressure mixing model was adopted to simulate the ejector. Whether or not the entrained flow would
Accepted 21 November 2015 be choked at the outlet of the suction nozzle and whether or not a condensation shock would happen
Available online 9 December 2015
at the end of the mixing chamber were both considered. The effect of the mixing pressure on the per-
formances of the ejector and the hybrid system was evaluated. The mixing pressure was finally determined
Keywords:
by using the optimization method. The performances of the ejector and the hybrid system at different
Two-phase ejector
operating conditions were studied. Lastly, the performances of the ejector with fixed geometry and the
Mixing pressure
Condensation shock corresponding hybrid system at off-design operating conditions were also theoretically studied. The results
Choking indicate that the optimum ejector mixing pressure is a little lower than the entrained fluid’s pressure,
Off-design but far larger than its critical pressure. No condensation shock happens before it flows into the diffuser.
The theoretical performances of the hybrid compression refrigeration system with fixed geometry ejector
at off-design conditions are very close to that with the optimum geometry ejector.
© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2015.11.095
1359-4311/© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
F. Wang et al./Applied Thermal Engineering 96 (2016) 576–582 577
w 22b
2.1. Analysis of the ejector at design condition h2b = h2 − (8)
2
The schematic diagram of ejector is shown in Fig. 1. The ejector
v 2b = f (h2b , P2b ) (9)
is mainly made up of a supersonic nozzle, a suction chamber, a
mixing chamber and a diffuser. It is assumed that the mixing process
ω gl m 1v 2b
happens in the constant cross section of the ejector mixing chamber A 2b = (10)
with an identical pressure when they first interact in the constant- w 2b
area mixing chamber. So the ejector schematized in Fig. 1 is not only
The suction chamber of the ejector is converging, so the en-
a constant-pressure mixing ejector, but also a constant-area mixing
trained flow’s velocity at the outlet of the suction chamber cannot
ejector. The model of ejector is set up based on the balance of mass,
be higher than sonic, that is, the outlet pressure of the entrained
momentum and energy. To simplify the analysis, the other assump-
flow must not be lower than its critical pressure. The critical pres-
tions are made as follows:
sure of the entrained flow is calculated by:
(1) The flow in every part of the ejector except the mixing k
⎛ 2 ⎞ k −1
chamber is considered as a one-dimensional homogeneous P2,cr = P2 ⎜ (11)
equilibrium flow. ⎝ k + 1⎟⎠
578 F. Wang et al./Applied Thermal Engineering 96 (2016) 576–582
2.1.3. Mixing process in the mixing chamber 2.1.6. The ejector area ratio
When the two streams first interact in the constant area mixing The primary flow is choked at the throat of the convergent-
chamber with an identical pressure, they begin to mix together, and divergent nozzle. The throat area is the smallest, so the mass flow
at the end of the mixing chamber, the mixing is completed. The gov- rate per unit area at this position is the biggest. The ejector throat
erning equations of the balance of mass, momentum and energy area can therefore be calculated out according to this principle. The
for the mixing process can be derived as: cross section of the mixing chamber is the total of the primary nozzle
exit cross section and the suction nozzle exit cross section. The
P1b = P2b = Pb (12) ejector area ratio is defined as the ratio of the mixing chamber cross
section area to the nozzle throat area:
m 1w 1b + m 2w 2b + Pb ( A1b + A 2b ) = (m 1 + m 2 )w 3ma + P3ma ( A1b + A 2b )
(13) Am
φm = (28)
⎛ w2 ⎞ At
m 1h1 + m 2h2 = (m 1 + m 2 ) ⎜ h3ma + 3ma ⎟ (14)
⎝ 2 ⎠
Am = A1b + A 2b (29)
w 3ma ( A1b + A 2b )
(m 1 + m 2 ) = (15) 2.2. Performance of the vapor compression ejection refrigeration
v 3ma
cycle with ejector
v 3ma = f (h3ma, P3ma ) (16)
Fig. 2a and b is the schematic of vapor compression refrigera-
tion cycle with ejector and its schematic in P-h diagram respectively.
The cycle performance coefficient is defined as the ratio of the re-
2.1.4. The judgment for the shock and governing equations frigerating output to the compression work of the compressor:
Affected by the high back pressure of the ejector, the mixture
fluid at the inlet of the diffuser should be a stream of subsonic flow. Q m (h − h7 ) h − h7
COPej = e = e 2 = ω gl 2 (30)
If not, a shock wave would happen. The sonic in the two-phase fluid W com m c (h5 − h 4 ) h5 − h 4
can be derived as:
h5,is − h 4
xk g T g h5 = + h4 (31)
agl = (17) ηcom
⎡ R gT g ⎛ cT ⎞ ⎤
k g ⎢1 − 2− g ⎟⎥
⎣ h gl ⎜⎝ h gl ⎠ ⎦ The isentropic efficiency of the compressor is calculated by the
following empirical correlation proposed by Brunin et al. [19]:
1− x
c = c pg + c pl (18)
x
(a)
The governing equations of the balance of mass, momentum and
energy for the shock can be derived as:
w 32ma w2
h3ma + = h3mb + 3mb (21)
2 2
2.1.5. Diffuser
The pressure of the mixing fluid restores by flowing through the
diffuser. (b)
h1 + ω gl h2
h3 = (22)
1 + ω gl
x 3 = f (h3, P3 ) (26)
1
x3 = (27) Fig. 2. (a) Schematic of vapor compression refrigeration cycle with ejector. (b) Sche-
1 + ω gl matic of vapor compression refrigeration cycle with ejector in P-h diagram.
F. Wang et al./Applied Thermal Engineering 96 (2016) 576–582 579
Pc 100
ηcom = 0.874 − 0.0135 (32)
P4
90
The performance improvement ratio of the improved cycle over
80
the basic one is calculated by:
Tc=45 [ C]
COPej − COPb 70 Te=5 [ C]
COPi = × 100% (33)
m
COPb 60
area ratio
50
3. Results and discussion
40
In the literature [3], the performance of the vapor compression
cycle using ejector as an expander with several refrigerants was ana- 30
lyzed, and the results indicated that R141b obtains the best
performance. Therefore, R141b was selected for study here. The soft- 20
ware Refprop was used to calculate the thermophysical parameters
of the refrigerant. The isentropic efficiencies of the primary nozzle, 10
2.1 2.3 2.5 2.7 2.9 3.1 3.3 3.5
the suction nozzle and the diffuser are respectively taken as 0.9, 0.9
mixing pressure ( 104) [Pa]
and 0.8.
Fig. 4. The area ratio of ejector under different mixing pressure.
3.1. The effect of the mixing pressure
The effects of the mixing pressure on the ejector entrainment optimum mixing pressure is a little lower than the entrained fluid
ratio, the ejector exit pressure and the hybrid system perfor- pressure, but far larger than its critical pressure.
mance were shown in Fig. 3. It can be seen that the bigger the ejector Fig. 4 presents the area ratios of ejector versus mixing pres-
entrainment ratio is, the higher the ejector exit pressure and the sures. It can be seen that when the mixing pressure is lower than
system performance are. The reason can be explained as: the en- the optimum value, the area ratio of ejector increases slowly with
trained fluid is saturated vapor, and its specific enthalpy is higher the increasing of the mixing pressure. The reason for this is with
than that of the primary flow, which is saturated liquid. According the increasing of the mixing pressure, the entrainment ratio of ejector
to energy conservation, the larger the ejector entrainment ratio is, increases, and at the same time, the velocity of the entrained flow
the higher the specific enthalpy and the pressure of ejector exit fluid decreases as the pressure difference of the suction chamber is de-
are. So, the power of the compressor is decreased and the hybrid creased. However, when the mixing pressure is higher than the
system performance is improved when the ejector entrainment ratio optimum value, the area ratio of ejector increases abruptly, as the
is increased. From Fig. 3, it can be seen that there exists an optimum inlet velocity of the entrained flow is too low.
value for the mixing pressure, with which the entrainment ratio and Fig. 5 presents the pressure distribution along the ejector at
the exit pressure of the ejector and the system performance all reach various mixing pressures. It can be seen that the pressure of the well
their maximum values. When the mixing pressure changes from 21 mixed flow at the end of the mixing chamber always equals to that
to 35 kPa, the performance of the hybrid system varies in the range at the inlet of the diffuser at any mixing pressure, which proves that
of 4.8–5.4, the rate of increase is 11.8%. So it can be concluded that no condensation shock happens at the end of the mixing chamber.
the mixing pressure is a very important parameter when optimiz- The reason for this is the velocity of the mixture at the end of the
ing the ejector geometry, which is controlled by the outlet area of mixing chamber is not higher than the sonic of the two-phase flow
the primary nozzle of the ejector. It can also be seen that the and the flow is subsonic.
4
6 0.84 T = 45 [ C] P =3.5123 e+4 [Pa]
COPej c 2
gl T =5 [ C] P2,cr =2.0523e+4 [Pa]
P e
3
3.5
COPej or P3( 104) [Pa]
5 0.82
3
gl
4 0.8
2.5
Fig. 3. Effect of mixing pressure on system performance, the entrainment ratio and Fig. 5. Diagram of pressure change trends in two-phase ejector at various mixing
exit pressure of ejector. pressures.
580 F. Wang et al./Applied Thermal Engineering 96 (2016) 576–582
(P −P ) T =40 [°C] ω
Te=5 [ C] e b opt c
3 0.86 (Pe−Pb)opt
( )
gl opt
(P −P ) [kPa]
[kPa]
2.5 0.84
gl opt
e b opt
2 0.85
b opt
)
(P −P )
ω
(
2 0.82
e
1.5 0.8
1 0.8
−5 0 5 10
1 0.78 evaporation temperature [°C]
35 40 45 50
condensation temperature [ C]
Fig. 8. Effect of evaporation temperature on optimum pressure drops in the suction
chamber and the ejector entrainment ratios.
Fig. 6. Effect of condensation temperature on optimum pressure drops in the suction
chamber and the ejector entrainment ratios.
seen that the higher the condensation temperature is, the lower the
optimum performance coefficient of the hybrid refrigeration system
From Fig. 5, it can be seen that the ejector exit pressure in- is, but the higher the corresponding performance improvement ratio
creases with the increasing of the mixing pressure commonly, but is. When the condensation temperature increases from 35 °C to 50 °C,
when the mixing pressure exceeds the optimum value, the ejector the corresponding performance improvement ratio increases from
exit pressure declines instead. The reason may be explained as: when 5.29% to 9.62%. The reason may be explained as with the increas-
the mixing pressure is higher than the optimum value, the en- ing of the condensation temperature, the pressure difference between
trained flow expands little through the suction nozzle, so only a small the evaporator and the condenser increases, thus the expansion work
amount of thermal energy is converted into dynamic energy. Thus recovered by the hybrid compression refrigeration system grows.
the energy that can be converted into pressure energy is less.
3.3. The effect of evaporation temperature
3.2. The effect of condensation temperature
The variations of the optimum pressure drop in the suction
The variations of the optimum pressure drop in the suction chamber and the corresponding ejector entrainment ratio with the
chamber and the corresponding ejector entrainment ratio with the increasing evaporation temperatures were shown in Fig. 8. It can
increasing condensation temperature were shown in Fig. 6. It can be seen that the optimum pressure drop in the suction chamber de-
be seen that the optimum pressure drop in the suction chamber in- creases with the increasing of the evaporation temperature. When
creases with the increasing of the condensation temperature. When the evaporation temperature increases from −5 °C to 10 °C, the
the condensation temperature increases from 35 °C to 50 °C, the optimum pressure drop decreases from 2.3 kPa to 1.6 kPa, and the
optimum pressure drop increases from 1.2 kPa to 3.1 kPa, and the corresponding ejector entrainment ratio increases from 0.8 to 0.86.
corresponding ejector entrainment ratio decreases from 0.86 to 0.8. The variations of the optimum system performance coefficient
The variations of the optimum system performance coefficient and the corresponding performance improvement ratio with the in-
and the corresponding performance improvement ratio with the in- creasing evaporation temperature were shown in Fig. 9. It can be
creasing condensation temperature were shown in Fig. 7. It can be seen the higher the evaporation temperature is, the higher the
8 10 8 10
8 8
COPi [%]
COP [%]
COPej
COPej
6 6
i
6 6
5 5
4 4 4 4
35 40 45 50 −5 0 5 10
condensation temperature [ C] evaporation temperature [ C]
Fig. 7. Effect of condensation temperature on the optimum system performance co- Fig. 9. Effect of evaporation temperature on the optimum system performance co-
efficient and the corresponding performance improvement ratio. efficients and the corresponding performance improvement ratios.
F. Wang et al./Applied Thermal Engineering 96 (2016) 576–582 581
0.83 3.31
0.825 3.6
Pb( 10 ) [Pa]
P ( 10 ) [Pa]
0.825 3.3
gl
gl
4
0.82 3.4
0.82 3.29
b
0.815 3.2
0.815 3.28
Fig. 10. The entrainment ratios and the mixing pressures of ejector at deviated con- Fig. 12. The entrainment ratios and the mixing pressures of ejector at deviated evap-
densation temperatures. oration temperatures.
optimum performance coefficient of the hybrid refrigeration system geometry ejector. The reason may be explained as the optimum area
is, but the lower the corresponding performance improvement ratio ratios of ejector at different condensation temperatures are very close.
is. When the evaporation temperature increases from −5 °C to 10 °C, When the evaporation temperature deviates from the design
the corresponding performance improvement ratio decreases from value, the performance of the ejector with fixed geometry and the
9.46% to 5.34%. corresponding hybrid system are respectively presented in Figs. 12
and 13. By comparing the values shown in these two figures with
3.4. The performances at off-design conditions Figs. 8 and 9, it can be seen that these characteristic values at off-
design conditions are very close to those at the design condition
The ejector area ratio is calculated with the optimum mixing pres- with optimum geometry ejector. The reason may be explained as
sure, which provides the optimum system performance under the the optimum area ratios of ejector at different evaporation tem-
design condition. When the system condensation temperature or peratures are very close.
the evaporation temperature deviates from the design value in the
following section, the performances of the system with fixed ge- 4. Conclusions
ometry ejector at off-design conditions are evaluated by recomputing
the mixing pressure and the entrainment ratio until the cycle con- An ejector is used in a compression refrigeration cycle for im-
tinuity equation is satisfied. proving its efficiency. A constant-pressure mixing model was adopted
When the condensation temperature deviates from the design to simulate the ejector. Whether or not the entrained flow would
value, the performances of the ejector with fixed geometry and the be choked at the outlet of the suction nozzle and whether or not a
corresponding hybrid system are respectively presented in Figs. 10 condensation shock would happen at the end of the mixing chamber
and 11. By comparing the values shown in these two figures with were both considered. The effects of the mixing pressure on the
Figs. 6 and 7, it can be seen that these characteristic values at performances of the ejector and the system were evaluated and the
off-design conditions are very close to those with the optimum optimum value was finally determined. The performances of
6 8.5 6 8.5
COP COP
ej ej
=25.95 =25.95
m COP m COPi
i
8 8
5.5 5.5
COPi [%]
COP [%]
ej
COPej
COP
7.5 7.5
i
5 5
7 7
Fig. 11. The performance coefficients of the hybrid system and the corresponding Fig. 13. The performance coefficient of the hybrid system and the corresponding
performance improvement ratios at deviated condensation temperatures. performance improvement ratio at deviated evaporation temperature.
582 F. Wang et al./Applied Thermal Engineering 96 (2016) 576–582
the ejector and the hybrid system at different operating condi- n The primary nozzle of ejector
tions were studied, and lastly, their performances with fixed opt Optimum value
geometry ejector at off-design operating conditions were also the- p Constant pressure
oretically studied. The main conclusions are the following ones: s The suction nozzle of ejector
t The primary nozzle throat of ejector
1. The ejector mixing pressure has an optimal value, with which 1 Positions in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2; the primary flow
the hybrid system performance, the entrainment ratio and exit 1b The exit face of primary nozzle
pressure of ejector all achieve their highest values. 2 Positions in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2; the entrained flow
2. The optimum mixing pressure is a little lower than the en- 2b The exit face of suction chamber
trained fluid pressure, but far larger than its critical pressure. 3 Positions in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2; the discharged flow from
3. The mixed fluid at the end of the ejector mixing chamber is a ejector
stream of subsonic flow, and no condensation shock happens 3ma The end of ejector mixing chamber
before it flows into the diffuser. 3mb The inlet of ejector diffuser
4. The theoretical performances of the ejector with fixed geome- 4-7 Positions in Fig. 1
try and the corresponding hybrid compression refrigeration
system at off-design conditions are respectively very close to the Greek symbols
ejector with the optimum geometry and the corresponding hybrid η Efficiency
system. The reason is that the differences between the optimum ρ Density (kg m−3)
area ratios of ejector at different operating conditions are very φm Ejector area ratio
small.
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