Simulation of Steam Ejector Refrigeration System: Analytical Approaches for Real and Ideal Gas Behavior
Author(s):
Shakir J. Jasim, Akram W. Ezzat
Affiliation(s):
Mechanical Engineering Department, Baghdad University, Iraq
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
This paper provides a thermodynamic analysis of a steam jet refrigeration system. Two models were used to estimate the entrainment ratio and critical back pressure at different operation conditions and ejector geometry based on constant pressure mixing one-dimensional theory with losses in all sections of the ejector. The first model treated the working fluid (steam) as a real gas, and the mathematical model was solved using continuity, momentum, energy equations, and thermodynamic state relations. The second model treated the working fluid (steam) as an ideal gas, and the mathematical model solved it by using the equation of state and ideal gas relations in addition to the continuity, momentum, and energy balance equations. The results of the two models were compared with experimental work, and it was found that the entrainment ratio of the two models was very close to the experimental work, while the critical back pressure of the first model was closer to the experimental work than the second model. In addition, the effect of the operating conditions and ejector area ratio on both the entrainment ratio and critical back pressure for both models was studied.