A high efficiency ejector refrigeration system

"December 2010.""A Thesis presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School at University of Missouri--Columbia In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Science."Thesis supervisor: Dr. Hongbin Ma.In a time when efforts to reduce high-grade energy consumption are a necessity, it is useful to develop innovative alternatives to technologies that involve large amounts of power consumption, such as vapor compression refrigeration. The ejector refrigeration system is such an alternative. What makes the ejector so attractive is that the system is heat operated, making the system ideal to be powered from low-grade thermal energy such as solar generated hot water or waste heat, especially when electricity supply is limited or non-existent. A mathematical model has been developed, which considers both the isentropic efficiencies to account for viscous effects, and the potential for a multi-fluid system. At the same time, an experimental investigation of an ejector refrigeration system was conducted to determine the effects of nozzle size, nozzle location, high temperature evaporator temperature, and refrigeration temperature. It was found that an optimum nozzle location which can produce a maximum coefficient of performance (COP) exists. The mathematical model has been verified with good agreement to experimental data. Current investigation demonstrates that the ejector refrigeration system is a very promising alternative to the status quo vapor compression systems.Includes bibliographical references (pages 67-68)