A New Control Mechanism for Two-Phase Ejector in Vapor Compression Cycles for Automotive Applications Using Adjustable Motive Nozzle Inlet Swirl

Expansion work recovery by two-phase ejector is known to be beneficial to vapor compression cycle performance. However, one of the biggest challenges with ejector vapor compression cycles is that the ejector cycle performance is sensitive to working condition changes which are common in automotive applications. Different working conditions require different ejector geometries to achieve maximum performance. Slightly different geometries may result in substantially different COPs under the same conditions. The ejector motive nozzle throat diameter (motive nozzle restrictiveness) is one of the key parameters that can significantly affect ejector cycle COP. This paper presents a new two-phase nozzle restrictiveness control mechanism which is possibly applicable to two-phase ejectors used in vapor compression cycles. It utilizes an adjustable swirl at the nozzle inlet to control the nozzle restrictiveness on the two-phase flow without changing the physical dimensions of the nozzle geometry. This new control mechanism has the advantages of being simple and potentially less costly. It can possibly also avoid additional frictional losses of previously proposed ejector control mechanisms using an adjustable needle. An adjustable nozzle based on this new control mechanism was designed and manufactured for experiments with R134a. The experimental results showed that, without changing the nozzle geometry, the nozzle restrictiveness on the two-phase flow can be adjusted over a wide range. Under the same inlet and outlet conditions, the mass flow rate through the nozzle can be reduced by 36% of the full load. This feature could be very useful for the future application of ejectors in automotive systems under changing working conditions.