Numerical modeling of two-phase supersonic ejectors for work-recovery applications

An ejector is a fluid pumping device that uses the energy of a high pressure motive fluid to raise the pressure of a secondary lower-pressure fluid. Motive pressure is converted into momentum through a choked nozzle creating a high velocity jet which entrains the surrounding low-momentum suction flow. The two streams mix and finally pressure is recovered through a diffuser. There has been little progress on high fidelity modeling of the expanding supersonic two-phase flow in refrigerant expansion work recovery ejectors due to rather complex physics involving nonequilibrium thermodynamics, shear mixing, and void fraction-dependent speed of sound. However, this technology can be applied to significantly increase the efficiency of space cooling and refrigeration devices. The approach developed in this study integrates models for real-fluid properties, local mass and energy transfer between the phases, and two-phase sonic velocity in the presence of phase change into a commercial CFD code. The intent is to create a practical design tool with better fidelity than HEM CFD models yet with tractability lacking in current boundary tracking phase change CFD models. The developed model has been validated through comparison of key performance metrics against test data under certain operating conditions.