Krzysztof Banasiak

A comparison of heterogenous and homogenous models of two-phase transonic compressible CO2 flow through a heat pump ejector

This paper presents mathematical model of a two-phase transonic flow occurring in a CO2 ejector which replaces a throttling valve typically used in heat pump systems. It combines functions of the expander and compressor and it recovers the expansion energy lost by a throttling valve in the classical heat pump cycle. Two modelling approaches were applied for this problem, namely a heterogenous and homogenous. In the heterogenous model an additional differential transport equation for the mass fraction of the gas phase is solved. The evaporation and condensation process in this model is described with use of the Rayleigh-Plesset equation. In the homogenous model, phases are traced based on the thermodynamic parameters. Hence the heterogenous model is capable to predict non-equilibrium conditions. Results obtained with both models were compared with the experimental measurements.

R744 ejector technology future perspectives

Carbon Dioxide, CO2 (R744) was one of the first commonly applied working fluids in the infancy of refrigeration more than 100 years ago. In contrast to ammonia it mainly disappeared after the first generation of synthetic refrigerants have been introduced to the market after 1930. One reason was that the transition from low-rpm belt driven compressors towards the direct electrical motor driven compressors (50-60 Hz) was not performed for CO2 compressors before the revival introduced by Gustav Lorentzen in the 90is of last century. Since 1988 an enormous R & D effort has been made to further develop CO2 refrigeration technology in spite of the opposition from the chemical industry. Today CO2 refrigeration and heat pumping technologies are accepted as viable and sustainable alternatives for several applications like commercial refrigeration, transport refrigeration, vehicle air conditioning & heat pumping, domestic hot water heat pumps and industrial applications. For some applications, the current threshold to introduce R744 technology can be overcome when the system design takes into account the advantage of the thermo dynamical- and fluid properties of CO2. I.e. the system is designed for transcritical operation with all it pros and cons and takes into consideration how to minimize the losses, and to apply the normally lost expansion work. Shortcut-designs, i.e. drop in solutions, just replacing the H(C)FC refrigeration unit with an CO2 systems adapted for higher system pressures will not result in energy efficient products. CO2 systems do offer the advantage of enabling flooded evaporators supported with adapted ejector technology. These units offer high system performances at low temperature differences and show low temperature air mal-distributions across evaporators. This work gives an overview for the development possibilities for several applications during the next years. Resulting in a further market share increase of CO2 refrigeration and heat pump systems, as energy efficient alternatives to current systems not applying natural working fluids.

CFD simulations of transport phenomena during transcritical flow of real fluid (CO2) within ejector

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to overview successful approaches to the computational simulation of real fluid (R744 – carbon dioxide (CO2)) flow within an ejector is presented. Important issues such as the ejector geometry and its optimisation, the adapted equations of state and the proposed models of the process, fluid parameters, etc., are examined and critically discussed. Whenever possible, the discussed models are experimentally validated. In the conclusion, some trends in future research are pointed out. Design/methodology/approach – Flow within CO2 ejector is generally transcritical and compressible. Models existing in the literature are shortly described and critically compared. Whenever possible, those models were validated against the experimental data. In a model validation process, the primary and secondary mass flow rates as well as the pressures at the selected points in the mixing section and diffuser were compared, showing a satisfactory agreement between experimental and computat...

Mathematical Modelling of Two‐Phase Transonic Compressible CO2 Flow Through Heat Pump Ejector

In this paper mathematical modelling of a two‐phase flow occurring in an ejector which replaces a throttling valve typically used in a heat pump cycle is numerically considered. The geometry of the model is three dimensional taking one cross‐sectional symmetry plane into account. In such model different discretizations were generated to study an influence of the rapidly changing quantities on the system operation. The density variations are defined using real gas model i.e. Redlich‐Kwong for CO2 and REFPROP databases were employed. Both models produced similar character of the results. In addition, it was observed that the effects of wall roughness value defined as in planned experiments in such high speed systems can be neglected.

A modified homogeneous relaxation model for CO2 two-phase flow in vapour ejector

In this study, the homogenous relaxation model (HRM) for CO2 flow in a two-phase ejector was modified in order to increase the accuracy of the numerical simulations The two- phase flow model was implemented on the effective computational tool called ejectorPL for fully automated and systematic computations of various ejector shapes and operating conditions. The modification of the HRM was performed by a change of the relaxation time and the constants included in the relaxation time equation based on the experimental result under the operating conditions typical for the supermarket refrigeration system. The modified HRM was compared to the HEM results, which were performed based on the comparison of motive nozzle and suction nozzle mass flow rates.

Parallel Work of CO2 Ejectors Installed in a Multi-Ejector Module of Refrigeration System

A performance analysis on of fixed ejectors installed in a multi-ejector module in a CO2 refrigeration system is presented in this study. The serial and the parallel work of four fixed-geometry units that compose the multi-ejector pack was carried out. The executed numerical simulations were performed with the use of validated Homogeneous Equilibrium Model (HEM). The computational tool ejectorPL for typical transcritical parameters at the motive nozzle were used in all the tests. A wide range of the operating conditions for supermarket applications in three different European climate zones were taken into consideration. The obtained results present the high and stable performance of all the ejectors in the multi-ejector pack.