Numerical Simulation of R1234ze Ejector-Expansion
Numerical Simulation of R1234ze Ejector-Expansion
Numerical Simulation of R1234ze Ejector-Expansion
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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF
RESEARCH IN COMPUTER
APPLICATIONS AND ROBOTICS
ISSN 2320-7345
NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF
R1234ZE EJECTOR-EXPANSION
REFRIGERATION CYCLE
Ezzaalouni yathreb1, Lakhdher Kairouani 2 & Ezzedine Nahdi3
Email:ezzaalouni.yathreb26@gmail.com
Abstract : - Nowadays, the world faces a lot of challenges, mostly energy and environment crises.
Refrigeration and air conditioning systems share with an enormous part in the world energy consumption.
Reducing this energy consumption will not only contribute to solve energy crisis but also reduce the global
warming by using environmentally friendly refrigerant R1234ze. Using a two phase ejector as an expansion
device is a promising technique to reduce the power consumption of the traditional refrigeration systems.
A computer simulation of the improved cycle is carried out using a one-dimensional model based on mass,
momentum and energy balances. Refrigerant characteristics were evaluated using NIST subroutines for
equations of state solutions. According to the results of simulation of the improved cycle, it has been shown that
the geometric parameters of the ejector design have considerable effects on the system’s performance. The
maximum COP is obtained for Ø opt whose value is around 9.9.Compared with the standard cycle the COP of the
improved cycle shows an increase of about 18%.
1. INTRODUCTION
The vapor compression refrigeration system (VCRS) is the most common used system in refrigeration, many
researchers carried out many investigations to improve its performance. There are several methods to enhance
performance of the vapor compression refrigeration cycle. The use of a heat exchanger for sub-cooling and
superheating is a conventional method.
Recently, several researchers have used an inverter to regulate the motor rotation of the compressor according to
cooling load in the cooled compartment.
However, thanks to no moving parts, low-cost, simple structure and low maintenance requirements, the use of
two-phase ejector is a promising cycle modification. The use of the ejector as an expansion device by replacing
the throttling valve in the vapor compression refrigeration cycle reduces the throttling loss. Moreover, the
ejector also reduces the compressor specific work by raising its suction pressure and consequently increases the
system coefficient of performance. The cycle that uses the two-phase ejector as an expansion device is called
ejector expansion refrigeration cycle (EERC) [2].
Kornhouser in 1990 [1] analyzed the thermodynamic performance of the ejector-expansion refrigeration cycle
using R-12 as a refrigerant using constant mixing pressure model. He showed a theoretical COP improvement of
up to 21% over the conventional cycle with expansion valve. Bilir and Ersoy[3] performed a computational
analysis on the performance improvement of the ejector expansion refrigeration cycle over conventional VCRC
similar to that of Kornhauser[1]. Using refrigerant R134a, the COP improvement of the expansion cycle over
standard cycle was 10-22%. Moreover, the COP improvement increases when the condenser temperature
increases. Hence, the use of the ejector instead of an expansion valve is more advantageous in the air-cooled
condensers than that of water-cooled condensers.
Sarkar [4]-[5] investigated the performance improvement of three natural refrigerants namely, ammonia,
propane and isobutane. The results revealed that a maximum performance improvement by using ejector can be
achieved in the case of isobutane, where as a minimum performance improvement can be achieved for
ammonia. Furthermore, the COP improvement over basic expansion cycle increases due to the increase in
pressure lift ratio with the increase in condenser temperature and the decrease in evaporator temperature. The
performance of the ejector expansion refrigeration cycle was theoretically studied using several synthetic
refrigerants by Nehdi et al [6]. They performed the effect of geometric parameters such as the area ratio and the
ratio of mixing chamber to primary nozzle throat area. The results revealed that maximum COP is obtained
when the optimum area ratio is around 10. For the optimum area ratio, refrigerant R141b achieved the highest
COP improvement over the conventional cycle 22%.
Due to the environmental concerns about ozone depletion and global warming, CFC, HCFC and HFC
refrigerants are now being regulated [7].The new Solstice ze Refrigerant (HFO-1234ze) is the best medium
pressure, low GWP refrigerant on the market when considering the balance of all properties. It is an energy-
efficient alternative to traditional refrigerants in air-cooled and water-cooled chillers for supermarkets and
commercial buildings, as well as in other medium temperature applications like heat pumps, fridges, vending
machines, beverage dispensers, air dryers, CO2 cascade systems in commercial refrigeration, etc.Multi-awarded
by the industry, Solstice ze meets the criteria that are most important to refrigerants customers: Performance,
Cost Effectiveness, Environmental Impact and Safety.
Field tests of air-cooled chillers in similar systems comparing the Solstice ze with the propane (R290) show
significantly lower energy consumption. In addition, compared to traditional refrigerants, the properties and
operating characteristics of Solstice ze are a very good match, but without the environmental penalty of high
GWP HFCs.
According to compressors experts, performance with HFOs can be further improved with the optimization of
compressor design.
Solstice ze exhibits similar performance to medium-pressure refrigerants like 134a, so only minor changes are
required to use Solstice ze. It has lower discharge pressure results in less mechanical stress, thus extending the
life of the compressor. It provides efficient cooling in all global climate zones. It is commercially available and
has a GWP of 6, exceeding existing climate protection goals :
Also, atmospheric life is only 18 days, much lower than the 13 years of 134a.Solstice ze Refrigerant is
significantly safer in use than alternatives such as hydrocarbons and ammonia, which are either extremely
flammable or highly toxic.
Chemical name Trans-1,3,3,3-tetrafluoropro-1-ene
Molecular formula CHF=CHCF3
Molecular Weight 114 g/mol
ODP 0
GWP 6
Critical temperature 109.4°C
Critical pressure 36.36 bar
evaporating and condensing temperature, has been considered. In this study the REFPROP IX thermodynamic
characteristic routines were employed in simulation model to evaluate their performance.
2. THERMODYNAMIC ANALYSIS:
A schematic diagram of the system and its corresponding cycle states on pressure-enthalpy plot are given in
Figures 1 and 2, respectively.
As can be seen in Figure 1, the ejector is installed at the outlet of the condenser, and the motive fluid (liquid
from the condenser) enters into the nozzle at a relatively high pressure. Reduction of the pressure of the liquid in
the nozzle provides the potential energy for conversion to kinetic energy of the liquid. The driving flow entrains
vapor out of the evaporator. The two phases are mixed in mixing chamber and leave it after a recovery of
pressure in the diffuser part of the ejector. The liquid portion is directed to the evaporator through a small-
pressure-drop expansion device while the vapor portion enters the compressor suction.
The ejector process on log P–h chart is shown in Figure 2. The lines from points 4 to 6 is a series process in the
compressor and the condenser. The lines from points 7 to 9 is a series process in the expander and the
evaporator. Points 1 and 2 are the state of the flow at the exit of the primary nozzle and in the mixing area of the
ejector while point 2–3 is a compression process.
Governing equations based on the balance of mass, momentum and energy are derived for components of the
system.
– ( – ) (2)
The density, at the outlet of the motive nozzle, is calculated from h1a and P1
) (2 ’)
The mass flow rate is
̇ (4)
(7)
̇
Where represents the flow entrainement ratio and the density ratio, can be approximated by Chen
̇
(1988) as
(8)
is the refrigerant’s vapour density at the evaporator outlet.
The mixing velocity is defined as
(9)
The velocity at the outlet section nozzle is insignificant.
At the outlet of the mixing section, by conservation of energy
(9’)
The entropy, at the outlet of the mixing section, is calculated from h 2 and P2
(10)
2.1.3. Diffuser flow :
At the outlet of the diffuser, by conservation of energy
(11)
The exit diffuser velocity is insignificant, so the exit diffuser enthalpy is written by
(11’)
The exit diffuser pressure is defined by S2 and h3a
(12)
From P3 and h3, the exit diffuser intensive state is known (x3, r3. . .).
When the geometry parameters of the ejector are known, such as ; the efficiencies of nozzle and diffuser
and the operating conditions, we can determine the outlet diffuser parameters such as P3 and h3.
(18)
Finally, P3 and h3 are known and the COPi and COPr are calculated.
3. MODEL VALIDATION
A computer program in FORTRAN [7] is developed to simulate the thermodynamic performance of the
improved cycle. The refrigerants properties are evaluated by using REFPROP V 9.0. The model is validated by
comparing with the results of improved cycle using propane as a working fluid reported by Sarkar [4]. With Tc
varying from 35 to 55 °C, the comparison for Te = 15 °C, , Ø=6.25 is presented in Fig. 4. It is
found that the values of COPi calculated from the present model agree well with that of Sarkar [4]. Hence, the
validity of the mathematical model is confirmed.
14
COPi calculated
12
10 COPi sarkar
8
COPi
0
35 40 45 50 55
Tc(°c)
Figure 4.Comparison between the present model and Sarkar [2] on propane improvement cycle
Figure 5 shows that for Tc=55°C, Te=5°C and Ø=6.25, the COPi value of the improved system is about 35%
greater than those of the standard system (COPstd=2.3; COPi =3.11; COPr=1.35).
For the improved cycle, an addition of an ejector contributes to reducing the compression ratio. Consequently,
the compressor work decreases(Figure.6) and the evaporator heat decreases(Figure.7)
Figure .8 shows that by increasing condensing temperature, the compression ratio increases and the COPr
increases.
Here, the evaporator temperature varies between -15 and 0 °C with a step of 5 °C. From Figure 9, it can be seen
that as the evaporator temperature increases, the COP decreases. This is in agreement with the previous works
such as [2, 6].
COPstd COPi
4.5
3.5
2.5
2
35 40 Tc(°C)45 50 55
40
30
20
10
0
35 40Tc(°c) 45 50 55
Figure 6.Compressor work for standard and improvedrefrigerationcycle operatingwith R1234ze versus
condensing temperature Ø=6.25and Te = 5 °C.
140
Qe,std(kj/kg) Qe,ej(kj/kg)
120
100
evaporator heat(Qe)
80
60
40
20
0
35 40 45 50 55
Tc(°c)
Figure 7.Comparison between COP for standard and improved refrigeration cycle operating with
R1234ze versus condensing temperature Ø=6.25and Te = 5 °C.
40 5.5
COPr compression ratio
5
30
compression ratio
4.5
COPi
20
4
10
3.5
0 3
35 40 Tc(°c)45 50 55
Figure 8.variation in compression ratio and the COPr of improved refrigeration cycle operating with
R1234ze versus condensing temperature Ø=6.25and Te = 5 °C.
7 COP.std
6.5 COP,ej
6
5.5
5
4.5
4
3.5
3
-15 -10 Te(°C) -5 0
Figure 9.Variation in standard and improved refrigeration cycle COP operating with R1234ze versus
evaporating temperature Ø=6.25and Tc = 35 °C.
40
Wc,std Wc,ej
35
30
25
Wc(kj/kg)
20
15
10
5
0
-15 -10 -5 0
Te(°c)
Figure 10.variation in standard and improved refrigeration cycle COP operating with R1234ze versus
evaporating temperature Ø=6.25and Tc = 35 °C.
6.5 4.5
COPi compression ratio
4.3
6 4.1
compressor ratio
3.9
5.5 3.7
COPi 3.5
5 3.3
3.1
4.5 2.9
2.7
4 2.5
-15 -10 -5 0
Te(°C)
Figure 11.Variation in standard and improved refrigeration cycle COP operating with R1234ze versus
evaporating temperature Ø=6.25and Tc = 35 °C.
Figure 13 shows the variations of the compression ratio with Ø. It appears that the compression ratio decreases
until a minimum value is reached and then increases with increasing area ratio. Therefore, there exists an
optimum area ratio (Ø opt), which means that the system has maximum performance, COP. If the ejector
operates beyond (Ø opt), some energy is wasted and consequently the compression ratio increases and the COP
decreases.
4.8 COPi
4.7
4.6
4.5
4.4
4.3
4.2
4.1
4 4.5 5 5.5 6 6.5 7 8 9 10
Ø
Figure12.Variation of improved cycle COP, versus geometric ratio for R1234ze (Tc=30°C and Te=-15°C).
4.3
4.2
4.1
4
3.9
3.8
3.7
3.6
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Ø
Figure 13.Variation of compression ratio, versus geometric ratio for R1234ze (T c=30°C and Te=-15°C).
5. Conclusion
In the present study, a refrigeration cycle that combines an ejector cycle and compression cycle was described.
Results have been computed for standard and improved cycle by using REFPROP.
It appears that the geometric parameters of the ejector design have considerable effects on the system’s
performance. The maximum COP is obtained for Øopt whose value is around 9 (COPopt=4.7).
Also the study shows that for a given evaporator temperature, the COP of the standard cycle decreases much
more than that of the improved cycle, when the condenser temperature increases, and conversely.
NOMENCLATURE
A = section (m2)
COP = coefficient of performance
h = specificenthalpy (J kg-1)
Subscripts
a = actual
c = condenser
co = compressor
d = diffuser
e = evaporator
i = improved
m = mixture chamber
n = nozzle
opt = optimal
r = ratio, relative
s = standard
v = saturated vapour at the evaporator outlet
’ = primary
’’ = secondary
REFERENCES
[1] J. Sarkar, “Ejector enhanced vapor compression refrigeration and heat pump systems - A review”,
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 16 (9), pp.6647-6659, 2012
[2] A.A Kornhauser, “The use of an ejector as a refrigerant expander”, Proceedings of the USN/IIR-
Purduerefrigeration conference, West Lafayette, IN, USA, pp.10–9, 1990.
[3] N. Bilir, H.K Ersoy, “Performance improvement of the vapour compression refrigeration cycle by a
two-phase constant area ejector”, International Journal of Energy Research 33(5),pp. 469–80, 2009.
[4] J. Sarkar, “Geometric parameter optimization of ejector expansion refrigeration cycle with natural
refrigerants”, International Journal of Energy Research, 34(1), pp. 84–94, 2010.
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Ezzaalouni yathreb: with the diploma of engineer and master specialized engineering energetic at the
national school of engineers of Monastir, I am about to Develop my doctoral thesis at the Tunis National School
of engineers in the unit of energy and Environment research
Lakhdar kairaoueni: Professor at the National School of Tunis engineers and director of the Energy and
Environmental Research unit.