Experimental study on performance of a hybrid ejector-vapor compression cycle

Abstract Improving the Coefficient of Performance (COP) of the vapor compression refrigeration cycle (VCRC) is one of the primary objectives in the HVAC&R field. In this paper, a hybrid ejector-vapor compression cycle (EVCC) was presented to improve the COP of the vapor compression sub-cycle (VCSC). That is to say, the sub-cooling degree of the VCSC was improved by using the cooling effect of the ejector refrigeration sub-cycle (ERSC). R134a was employed in both sub-cycles. Specific experimental studies conducted were: (1) seeking the relations between the optimal nozzle exit positions and area ratio of the ejector to improve the performance of the ERSC, (2) investigating the influence of the compressor frequency on the capability of the VCSC, and (3) evaluating the effect of the compressor frequency as well as the evaporation temperature of the ERSC on the characteristics of the EVCC. As a result, two significant findings were obtained: (1) the range of optimal NXPs for higher ARs is quite narrow and vice versa for lower ARs, (2) on average, the COP improvement of the EVCC over the VCSC reaches 19.4%.

[1]  Jacek Kasperski,et al.  Efficiency analysis of alternative refrigerants for ejector cooling cycles , 2015 .

[2]  Jia Yan,et al.  Performance evaluation of a combined ejector-vapor compression cycle , 2013 .

[3]  Mohamed Ouzzane,et al.  Numerical evaluation of ejector-assisted mechanical compression systems for refrigeration applications , 2014 .

[4]  Gopalan Jagadeesh,et al.  Novel supersonic nozzles for mixing enhancement in supersonic ejectors , 2014 .

[5]  Ali Hakkaki-Fard,et al.  A computational methodology for ejector design and performance maximisation , 2015 .

[6]  Xiao Wang,et al.  Comparative studies of ejector-expansion vapor compression refrigeration cycles for applications in domestic refrigerator-freezers , 2014 .

[7]  José Sierra-Pallares,et al.  An experimental and computational study of the flow pattern in a refrigerant ejector. Validation of turbulence models and real-gas effects , 2015 .

[8]  Rubén J. Dorantes,et al.  Mathematical simulation of a solar ejector-compression refrigeration system , 1996 .

[9]  Adriano Milazzo,et al.  Performance analysis of a supersonic ejector cycle working with R245fa , 2015 .

[10]  Bin-Juine Huang,et al.  A combined-cycle refrigeration system using ejector-cooling cycle as the bottom cycle. , 2001 .

[11]  Bin-Juine Huang,et al.  Development of hybrid solar-assisted cooling/heating system , 2010 .

[12]  Ali Kilicarslan,et al.  Exergy analysis of R1234yf and R1234ze as R134a replacements in a two evaporator vapour compression refrigeration system , 2015 .

[13]  Roger W. Haines,et al.  HVAC Systems Design Handbook , 1988 .

[14]  Mohammed R. Ahmed,et al.  Experimental and computational studies on a steam jet refrigeration system with constant area and variable area ejectors , 2014 .

[15]  Sergio Colle,et al.  Simulation and economic optimization of a solar assisted combined ejector–vapor compression cycle for cooling applications , 2010 .

[16]  Jianlin Yu,et al.  Performance evaluation of an ejector subcooled vapor-compression refrigeration cycle , 2015 .

[17]  Min-Hsiung Yang,et al.  Performance and exergy destruction analyses of optimal subcooling for vapor-compression refrigeration systems , 2015 .

[18]  J. García del Valle,et al.  An experimental investigation of a R-134a ejector refrigeration system , 2014 .

[19]  Xinguo Li,et al.  A supercritical or transcritical Rankine cycle with ejector using low-grade heat , 2014 .

[20]  Jorge I. Hernández,et al.  The behaviour of a hybrid compressor and ejector refrigeration system with refrigerants 134a and 142b , 2004 .

[21]  John T. Wen,et al.  Vapor compression refrigeration cycle for electronics cooling – Part I: Dynamic modeling and experimental validation , 2013 .

[22]  Cai Wenjian,et al.  Area ratio effects to the performance of air-cooled ejector refrigeration cycle with R134a refrigerant , 2012 .

[23]  Zhihui Wu,et al.  Design and experimental study of a miniature vapor compression refrigeration system for electronics cooling , 2011 .

[24]  Jianlin Yu,et al.  Theoretical investigation on an ejector–expansion refrigeration cycle using zeotropic mixture R290/R600a for applications in domestic refrigerator/freezers , 2015 .

[25]  Fabio Inzoli,et al.  Ejector refrigeration: A comprehensive review , 2016 .

[26]  Navid Sharifi,et al.  Reducing energy consumption of a steam ejector through experimental optimization of the nozzle geometry , 2014 .

[27]  Jianyong Chen,et al.  A review on versatile ejector applications in refrigeration systems , 2015 .

[28]  Jahar Sarkar,et al.  Ejector enhanced vapor compression refrigeration and heat pump systems—A review , 2012 .

[29]  Chiheb Bouden,et al.  A CFD analysis of the flow structure inside a steam ejector to identify the suitable experimental operating conditions for a solar-driven refrigeration system , 2014 .

[30]  Shuai Deng,et al.  Performance analysis of the ejector-expansion refrigeration cycle using zeotropic mixtures , 2015 .