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Energy and exergy analysis of various ejector-assisted two-stage compression heat pumps applied in various conditions

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Abstract

Compared with the single-stage compression, the two-stage compression cycle shows high efficiency and application potential under both severe heating and refrigerating conditions. Therefore, to improve the performance of the two-stage vapor-compression cycle furtherly, this study introduces three ejector-assisted two-stage compression cycles (E1, E2, and E3), and a conventional two-stage vapor-compression cycles (C1) also selected as the comparison. The energetic and exergetic efficiency of the systems using various refrigerants (R152a, R1234yf, R32 and R290) is investigated and compared based on the validated theoretical model for both the severe refrigerating and heating application. The result shows that the ejector improves the system’s performance significantly. Under the refrigerating mode, System E3 using R32 is recommended to be applied. Compared with Systems C1, E1, and E2, the maximum refrigerating coefficient of performance (COPR) of System E3 using R32 is improved by 16.1, 12.4, and 9.1%, respectively, with the evaporation temperature of −40 °C and condensation of 30 °C. Systems E2 and E1 using R152a are recommended under the heating mode. Compared with Systems C1 and E3, the heating coefficient of performance (COPH) of Systems E1 and E2 using R152 is improved by 3.0 and 4.5%, respectively, with the condensation temperature of 70 °C and evaporation temperature of −5 °C. The result provides a deep understanding of the potential advantages of the ejector-assisted two-stage compression cycle applied in the refrigerating and heating field.

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Abbreviations

\(a\) :

Circulation area, m2

C :

Conventional two-stage vapor-compression cycle

COP H :

Heating coefficient of performance

C OP R :

Refrigerating coefficient of performance

E :

Ejector-assisted two-stage compression cycle

EJ:

Ejector

E x d :

Exergy loss, kW

Ėx d :

System exergy loss per unit, kW kW−1

FT:

Flash tank

GWP :

Global warming potential

H:

Heat exchanger

h :

Enthalpy, kJ kg−1

HPC:

High-pressure stage compressor

IHX:

Inter heat exchanger

LPC:

Low-pressure stage compressor

ṁ :

Mass flow rate, kg s−1

N :

The ratio of high-pressure stage compression ratio to the low-pressure stage compression ratio

O DP :

Ozone depletion potential

P :

Pressure, MPa

Q :

Load demand, kW

s :

Entropy, kJ (kg K)−1

T :

Tee valve

T :

Temperature, °C

TV:

Throttle valve

u :

Velocity, m s−1

W :

Power consumption, kW

η d :

Efficiency of the diffusion process in ejector

η m n :

Efficiency of the motive process in ejector

η s :

Isentropic efficiency of the compressor

η s n :

Efficiency of the suction process in ejector

ƞ II :

System exergy efficiency

μ :

Entrainment ratio

ρ :

Density, kg m−3

0 :

Dead state temperature of the environment

1,2,3..:

State point of the system

comp:

Compressor

cond:

Condensing

evap:

Evaporating

exh:

Exhausting

H :

Heating

i :

Component of system

is :

Isentropic

R :

Refrigerating

sub:

Sub-cooling

sup:

Superheat

sys:

System

∆:

Increment

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Acknowledgements

The work described in this paper is supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Jiangsu Province fundamental research project (Grant No. BK20230846) and Jiangsu Province innovation capacity project (Grant No.BM2023013-3)

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Energy and Environment, Southeast University, Nanjing, China

    Jian Liu, Jihao Shi & Xiaosong Zhang

  2. A.O.Smith (China) Water Heater Co., Ltd., Nanjing, China

    Bu Qiu

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  1. Jian Liu
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Correspondence to Jian Liu.

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Appendix A: Models of system components

Appendix A: Models of system components

figure a

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Liu, J., Shi, J., Qiu, B. et al. Energy and exergy analysis of various ejector-assisted two-stage compression heat pumps applied in various conditions. J Therm Anal Calorim 149, 3331–3345 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-024-12908-z

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