Abstract
To look for new refrigerants replacing R134a, environmentally friendly refrigerants R1234yf and R1234ze(E) were chosen as the alternatives in an ejector refrigeration system. The tested system contained a single-phase ejector, and numerical analysis regarding the performance of the ejector was done by CFD. The entrainment ratio, static pressure and Mach number were chosen as indicators revealing the ejector performance. Changes of the indicators of ejector utilizing a given refrigerant under varying operating temperature conditions were analysed. With the increasing condenser temperature, the shocking position moved upstream until it combined with the first series of oblique shocks. With the increasing generator temperature, the entrainment ratio increased firstly and decreased subsequently. With the increasing evaporator temperature, the primary-fluid jet expansion weakened. Comparisons of the indicators of ejector utilizing three working fluids (R134a, R1234yf and R1234ze(E)) under a given operating temperature condition were also made. The results showed that R1234yf had a greater entrainment ratio than R134a and R1234ze(E). But the shocking position of R1234yf was also closer to the upstream than the other two refrigerants, which caused the smaller critical mode region. Compared with the entrainment ratio close to 1.4 times, the critical temperature difference of only 3 °C could not weaken the advantages of R1234yf. Besides, heat transfer inside the ejector was considered and not much different trends with the three working fluids were found. Therefore, R1234yf could be the better candidate for R134a in the ejector refrigeration system.
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Abbreviations
- E :
-
Total energy, [J]
- e :
-
Difference of the mass flow rate between two grides, [kg/s]
- F :
-
Safety factor, [-]
- GCI :
-
Grid convergence index, [-]
- ṁ :
-
Mass flow rate, [kg/s]
- P :
-
Pressure, [Pa]
- p :
-
Order of the convergence, [-]
- q :
-
Volume flow, [m3/s]
- r :
-
Refinement ratio, [-]
- t :
-
Temperature, [°C]
- T :
-
Static temperature, [K]
- u :
-
Velocity vector, [m/s]
- x :
-
Cartesian coordinates, [-]
- ω :
-
Entrainment ratio, [-]
- η :
-
Ejection efficiency, [-]
- ρ :
-
Density, [kg/m3]
- δ ij :
-
Kronecker delta, [-]
- κ eff :
-
Thermal conductivity, [W/(m⋅K)]
- μ eff :
-
Dynamic viscosity, [(N⋅s)/m2]
- c:
-
Condenser
- CFD:
-
CFD model
- con:
-
The entrance of the constant-area
- e:
-
Evaporator
- exit:
-
The Nozzle exit
- exp:
-
Experiment
- g:
-
Generator
- out:
-
Outlet
- pri:
-
The primary fluid
- sec:
-
The secondary fluid
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Funding
This work is supported by the [National Natural Science Foundation of China] under Grant [51705288], [Shandong Provincial Natural Science Foundation] under Grant [ZR2017QEE001, ZR2018BEE026]; [Shandong Provincial Key R&D Program Foundation] under Grant [2018GHY115006, 2019GSF109051]; and [National Key R&D Program of China] under Grant [2016YFE0205700].
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by [Shizhen Li], [Jingzhi Zhang], [Yingxin Liu] and [Yanjun Liu]. The first draft of the manuscript was written by [Yingxin Liu] and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Li, S., Liu, Y., Liu, Y. et al. Performance comparison of ejectors in ejector-based refrigeration cycles with R1234yf, R1234ze(E) and R134a. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 57166–57182 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-14626-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-14626-7