Experimental and Theoretical Investigation of a Hybrid Compressor and Ejector Refrigeration System for Automotive Air Conditioning Application

Abstract

Abstract. In this research, performance of a hybrid compressor and ejector refrigeration system for automotive air conditioning application was investigated theoretically and experimentally. Mathematical modeling integrated the 1-dimensional analysis of ejector with the thermodynamic analysis of the hybrid compressor and ejector refrigeration system via EES (Engineering Equation Solver) software was proposed. Also an experimental rig of the hybrid compressor and ejector refrigeration system for automotive air conditioning application was built. This hybrid system has a rated cooling capacity of 3.5 kW. Refrigerant R134a and R141b were used for mechanical vapor compression sub system and the ejector sub system, respectively. The operating conditions are chosen accordingly as, generator temperature between 100 °C and 120 °C, condenser temperature between 30 °C and 40 °C, and evaporator temperature between 0 °C and 10 °C. Theoretical results of the ejector's entrainment ratio (Rm) and COP of the system with variations on operating conditions were compared with the experiment values. From the results, mathematical modeling seems to provide error in COP prediction up to 15.5% when compared with experimental values. Fortunately, modification of the mathematical modeling by applying the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) technique provides less error about 5.5%. It's also found that the COP of the hybrid system can be increased by 10-20% compared to a simple stage ejector refrigeration cycle (EJC). Moreover, estimated power consumption of the automotive air conditioning system can be approximately reduced 20% under the conventional vapor compression cycle.

Modern Dimensional Analysis Involved in Polymers Additive Manufacturing Optimization

“…Dimensional analysis has been developed and applied in numerous fields, where it has proven its usefulness and quasi-universal applicability in Civil Engineering [ 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 ], Aeronautical Science [ 33 , 34 ], Automotive Engineering [ 35 , 36 , 37 ], Mechanical Engineering [ 38 , 39 ], Medicine [ 40 , 41 , 42 ] and other interesting applications.…”

Performance analysis of a two-stage ejector in an ejector refrigeration system using computational fluid dynamics

“…Ejectors are inexpensive devices that can operate using energy sources, for example, solar collectors or heat rejected from industrial processes. They can replace mechanical compressors or can be combined with mechanical compressors in refrigeration systems (Keerlatiyadatanapat et al, 2017).…”