CFD optimization study of high-efficiency jet ejectors

Research was performed to optimize the high-efficiency jet ejector geometry by varying motive velocities from Mach 0.50 to 3.25, and mass flow ratio from 0.02 to 100.0. The high-efficiency jet ejector was simulated by Fluent Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software. A conventional finite-volume scheme was utilized to solve two-dimensional transport equations with the standard k-ε turbulence model. In the optimization study of the constant-area jet ejectors, all parameters were expressed in dimensionless terms. The objective of the study was to investigate the optimal length, throat diameter, and optimal nozzle diameter at any operating conditions. Also, the optimum compression ratio and efficiency were calculated. By comparing simulation results to an experiment, CFD modeling has shown high-quality results. The overall deviation was 8.19%, thus confirming the reliability of the modeling results. The results from the optimization study indicate that the jet ejector efficiency improves significantly compared to a conventional jet-ejector design. In cases with a subsonic motive velocity, the efficiency of the jet ejector is greater than 90%. A high compression ratio can be achieved with greater motive velocity and mass flow ratio. The ejector performance between the optimal jet ejectors and conventional jet ejectors provided by Graham Corporation was compared. The results show that substituting a single optimal jet ejector for a single conventional ejector reduces the motive stream consumption by about 10% to 30%, which could decrease operating costs tremendously. Dimensionless group analysis reveals that the research results are valid for any fluid, operating pressure and geometric scale for a given motive-stream Mach number and momentum ratio. The explanation of how to implement the optimization results and selecting the best operating conditions to minimize the motive stream consumption was included at the end of the dissertation