Accepted Manuscript

Configuration Optimization of an Enhanced Ejector Heat Exchanger Based on an

Ejector Refrigerator and a Plate Heat Exchanger

Fangtian Sun, Xu Chen, Lin Fu, Shigang Zhang

PII: S0360-5442(18)31731-6

DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2018.08.194

Reference: EGY 13670

To appear in: Energy

Received Date: 31 May 2018

Accepted Date: 27 August 2018

Please cite this article as: Fangtian Sun, Xu Chen, Lin Fu, Shigang Zhang, Configuration
Optimization of an Enhanced Ejector Heat Exchanger Based on an Ejector Refrigerator and a Plate
Heat Exchanger, Energy (2018), doi: 10.1016/j.energy.2018.08.194

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 ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT

1 Configuration Optimization of an Enhanced Ejector Heat Exchanger

2 Based on an Ejector Refrigerator and a Plate Heat Exchanger

3 Fangtian Suna,b*, Xu Chena, Lin Fub, Shigang Zhangb

4 a Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Beijing 100044, China

5 b Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China

7 ABSTRACT:

8 Ejector heat exchanger has good performance in heat transfer, but its regulating

9 characteristics are poor, and to improve its regulating characteristics, an enhanced

10 ejector heat exchanger (EHE) with a pressure booster is presented. According to the

11 difference in location of the pressure booster, the enhanced ejector heat exchangers

12 are divided into two types. One is EHE-MF with its pressure booster located in the

13 pipeline between outlet of ejector and refrigerant inlet of the condenser. The other is

14 EHE-SF with its pressure booster located in the pipeline between secondary fluid inlet

15 of ejector and refrigerant outlet of the evaporator. The two enhanced ejector heat

16 exchangers have been analyzed from the perspective of thermodynamics. The results

17 show that the location of pressure booster in the pipeline between outlet of ejector and

18 refrigerant inlet of the condenser contributes to decreasing boosted pressure and

19 power and increasing product exergy efficiency. The EHE-MF has higher

20 thermodynamic performance, and its system configuration is optimal from the

21 perspective of thermodynamics.

22 Keywords：System configuration; Regulating characteristics; thermodynamic

23 performance; Industrial waste heat; District heating; Enhanced ejector heat exchanger
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25

Nomenclature

EHE enhanced ejector heat exchanger con condenser

PHN primary heating network eva evaporator

SHN secondary heating network eje ejector

HEE heat exchanger effectiveness, W/W noz nozzle of ejector

PEE product exergy efficiency in inlet

EDR exergy distribution ratio, W/W out outlet

η isentropic efficiency, W/W o outdoor air temperature

h specific enthalpy, J/kg 0 referred state point

t,T temperature, ℃,K r refrigerant

P pressure, Pa w1 water in primary heating network

μ entrainment ratio, kg/kg w2 water in secondary heating network

u velocity, m/s j,n number

N power, W pb pressure booster

m mass flow rate, kg/s rp refrigerant pump

e specific exergy, J/kg g generating temperature

E exergy flow, W c condensing temperature

I exergy destruction, W e evaporating temperature

Q heat transfer rate, W pn primary nozzle

U heat transfer coefficient, W/(m2.K) mix mixing chamber

A heat transfer area, m2 dif diffuser

△tm logarithmic mean temperature difference,℃ iat indoor air temperature

s specific entropy, J/(kg.K) p power

Sub indexes cv control volume

ehe enhanced ejector heat exchanger pro product exergy

wex water-to-water heat exchanger inp input exergy

gen generator

26
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28 1. Introduction

29 In China, more than 50% of the total energy consumed by industry is directly

30 discharged into the ambient atmosphere in the form of waste heat [1]. Low-

31 temperature (30-60℃) industrial waste heat accounts for about 30% of total industrial

32 energy consumption [2]. Low temperature industrial waste heat used as a part of

33 heating sources would realize significant benefits of energy saving [3]. Therefore,

34 using the industrial waste heat for district heating is an effective solution to recover

35 low temperature industrial waste heat, and it has become a major topic of the focused

36 area.

37 The bottleneck of development for the conventional way of using the industrial

38 waste heat for district heating systems is the shorter economical heat transmission

39 distance of the primary heating network (PHN). Fangtian Sun et al. [4] pointed out

40 that low temperature return water of PHN contributes to transmitting heat through

41 PHN over long distance and recovering low temperature waste heat. Hao Fang et al.

42 [5] showed that lower temperature of return water of PHN is crucial for using the

43 industrial waste heat for district heating on a large scale. In a heating substation, for a

44 conventional heat exchanger, the temperature of return water of PHN is limited by

45 that of the secondary heating network (SHN) which depends on both the type and size

46 of the existing radiators on the side of the heat users. Therefore, determining how to

47 decrease the temperature of return water of PHN is a fundamental issue for current

48 heat users in heating substations of district heating systems.

49 In order to solve the above problem, Lin Fu et al. [6] presented a new way to

50 decrease the temperature of return water of the PHN and developed an absorption heat
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51 exchanger (AHE) based on the absorption heat pump cycle [7]. The AHE can

52 decrease the temperature of return water of PHN to 25℃, and it has been applied in

53 several large-scale district heating systems based on waste heat recovery from power

54 plants in northern China [8]. Because of its complex structure and larger specific

55 volume of refrigerant (low-pressure steam), the AHE has a larger cubage, and it is

56 difficult to be applied in a large number of existing heating substations with small

57 space. Fangtian Sun et al. [9] put forward an ejector heat exchanger (EHE) based on

58 an ejector refrigerator and a plate heat exchanger. The EHE could decrease the

59 temperature of the return water of the PHN to 35℃ which is 10 ℃ lower than that

60 of the SHN [10]. The heat transfer performance and regulating characteristics of the

61 EHE are greatly affected by the performance of the ejector refrigerator in the EHE.

62 Compared with the AHE, the EHE has a simpler structure and smaller cubage.

63 However, the EHE has lower heat transfer performance and poorer regulating

64 characteristics than those of the AHE [11], and it needs to be improved.

65 At present, the main shortcomings of the ejector refrigerator are lower coefficient

66 of performance and poorer regulating characteristics [12]. The performance of the

67 ejector, condensing pressure and evaporating pressure are three main factors which

68 have a great influence on the performance of the ejector refrigerator [13]. The design

69 of ejector is the key to improving performance of the ejector refrigerators [14]. An

70 increase in the primary nozzle diameter could result in double improvement of the

71 overall ejector efficiency [15]. The operating parameters also have significant impacts

72 on the entrainment ratio of the ejectors [16], and the change of condensing pressure

73 and evaporating pressure contributes to improving performance of ejector in the

74 ejector refrigerators [17]. Thus, adjusting condensing pressure and evaporating

75 pressure by using a pressure booster would contribute to improving the performance

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76 and regulating characteristics of the ejector refrigerators.

77 All above factors considered, two system configurations of the enhanced ejector

78 heat exchanger are presented to improve the regulating characteristics and the heat

79 transfer performance.

80 2. System description

81 Compared with the ejector heat exchanger, the enhanced ejector heat exchanger

82 has more than one pressure booster. In the first enhanced ejector heat exchanger, the

83 pressure booster is installed in the pipeline between the refrigerant outlet of

84 evaporator and the secondary fluid inlet of ejector to increase inlet pressure of

85 secondary fluid, and it is named as EHE-SF. In the second enhanced ejector heat

86 exchanger, the pressure booster is installed in the pipeline between the mixed fluid

87 outlet of ejector and the refrigerant inlet of condenser to decrease backpressure of

88 ejector, and it is named as EHE-MF.

89 2.1 System of EHE-SF

90 The sketch of the EHE-SF is shown in Fig.1.

Supply water o PHN

Generator Supply water of SHN
3
2
Refrigerant

5'
Ejector

Pressure booster
pump

Plate heat
exchanger
Throttling valve

1 6
Condenser

4 5 Return water og SHN

Evaporator
Return water of PHN
91

92 Fig.1. Sketch of the EHE-SF

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93 The EHE-SF consists of a plate heat exchanger and an ejector refrigerator which

94 mainly comprises a generator, a condenser, an evaporator, an ejector, a refrigerant

95 pump, a pressure booster and a throttling valve.

96 In the EHE-SF, the supply water of PHN is served as a driving heat source, a

97 heating source, and a low temperature heat source, and it enters into the generator, the

98 plate heat exchanger, and the evaporator in turn. Thus thermal energy in the supply

99 water of PHN is utilized by cascade utilization principle of energy. The return water

100 of SHN is firstly divided into two parts at the inlet of the EHE-SF. One part enters

101 into the plate heat exchanger where it is heated by circulating water in PHN. The

102 other part enters into the condenser where it is heated by gaseous refrigerant. Finally,

103 the two parts of heated circulating water in SHN are converged at the outlet of the

104 EHE-SF.

105 In the EHE-SF, the liquid refrigerant is divided into two parts at the refrigerant

106 outlet of the condenser. One part enters into the evaporator by going through the

107 throttling valve, and it is heated into gaseous refrigerant whose pressure is increased

108 by using the pressure booster. The other part enters into the generator where it is

109 heated to be a high level pressure gaseous refrigerant. The high pressure gaseous

110 refrigerant serving as the primary fluid enters into the ejector to entrain the secondary

111 fluid. In the ejector, the primary fluid and the secondary fluid exchange momentum,

112 kinetic energy, and internal energy, and then they become one stream with almost a

113 uniform pressure and speed. The mixed refrigerant from the ejector enters into the

114 condenser and is cooled to be liquid refrigerant. When the pressure of the secondary
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115 fluid is increased, the entrainment ratio of the ejector becomes larger, and the heat

116 transfer performance of the EHE-SF is improved.

117 2.2 System of EHE-MF

118 The sketch of the EHE-MF is shown in Fig.2.

Supply water o PHN

Generator Supply water of SHN
3
2
Refrigerant

Ejector
pump

Plate heat
exchanger
6
Throttling valve

Pressure booster
1
Condenser 6'

4 5 Return water og SHN

Evaporator
Return water of PHN
119

120 Fig.2. Sketch of the EHE-MF

121 System composition of the EHE-MF is the same as that of the EHE-SF. The

122 difference between the EHE-MF and EHE-SF is the location and capacity of the

123 pressure booster. The operating principles of PHN and SHN in the EHE-MF are the

124 same as that in the EHE-SF. However, due to differences in location and capacity of

125 the pressure boosters, the thermodynamic performances are different between the

126 EHE-SF and the EHE-MF.

127 2.3 Refrigerant selection

128 EHEs with high-capacity are currently installed in the heating substations of a

129 large scale district heating system, and they are close to residential buildings. Hence,

130 refrigerants with flammability or toxicity are prohibited to be applied in the ejector

131 refrigerator of the EHE.

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132 Comparing with the current ejector refrigerator, the ejector refrigerator in the EHE

133 has higher operating temperature and wider range of operating temperature. R134a,

134 R717, R290 and R152a are not suitable to the ejector refrigerator with high operating

135 temperature [18]. Compared with R245fa and R600a, R141b results in higher

136 thermodynamic performance of an ejector refrigerator driven by low temperature

137 heat source [19]. The operating temperature zone of the ejector refrigerator in the

138 EHE is covered within the high efficient operating temperature zone of R141b [20].

139 Besides, the one dimension model of the ejector with R141b is more reliable [21].

140 All above factors considered, in this paper, R141b is selected to be refrigerant of

141 the ejector refrigerator in the EHE.

142 3. Thermodynamic model and evaluation indicators

143 S. He et al [22] analyzed the features of different mathematical models, and

144 discussed applications of mathematical model in different operation and design

145 conditions. Over the past 20 years, one dimension model has been improved, and it

146 has been widely used to predict performance of single phase ejector [23]. Thus, one

147 dimension model is adopted for the ejectors in the EHE-SF and the EHE-MF.

148 3.1 Thermodynamic model

149 Main information related to the EHE is given as follows:

150 (1) Capacity of the enhanced ejector heat exchanger is 1,000,000 W.

151 (2) Flow inside the ejector is steady and one-dimensional.

152 (3) The heat loss or water leakage is neglected.

153 (4) Isentropic efficiency of the pressure booster is 0.75 [24].

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154 (5) Design temperature of supply water and return water are 130 ℃ and 35 ℃

155 for PHN, 60 ℃ and 45 ℃ for SHN.

156 (6) Mass flow rates of circulating water in PHN and SHN are 2.503 kg/s and

157 15.950 kg/s respectively.

158 (7) Meteorological parameters of heating in Beijing, China are adopted, and they

159 are attached in the Appendix A.

160 The P-h diagrams of the ejector refrigerators in the EHE-SF and EHE-MF are

161 shown in Fig.3.

162

108 108
R141b R141b

107 107
P（Pa）

P（Pa）

106 2 3 106 2 3
1 6 1 6'
6
105 5' 105
4 5 4 5

104 104

1013 1013
0.25 0.75 1.25 1.75 2.25 2.75 3.25 3.75 4.25 0.25 0.75 1.25 1.75 2.25 2.75 3.25 3.75 4.25
h（×105 J/kg） h（×105 J/kg）
163
164 (a) EHE-SF (b) EHE-MF

165 Fig.3. P-h diagrams of the ejector refrigerators in the EHE-SF and the EHE-MF

166 The pressure booster contributes to improving thermodynamic performance and

167 regulating characteristics of the ejectors in the EHE-SF and the EHE-MF. But it

168 would consume a certain amount of electricity.

169 The main design parameters of the EHE are listed in Table 1.

170 Table 1

171 Main design parameters of the EHE

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Item Generator Condenser Evaporator Plate heat exchanger

Area (m2) 27.897 84.535 22.201 202.500

Capacity (W) 275,700 391,500 114,100 608,500

172 The main parameters of the ejector in the EHE are listed in Table 2.

173 Table 2

174 Main parameters of the ejector in the EHE

Item Throat of nozzle Outlet of nozzle Mixing chamber

Area (m2) 4.0×10-4 7.5×10-4 2.1×10-3

Entrainment ratio μ 0.518

175 The meteorological parameters of heating in Beijing, China are attached in the

176 Appendix A. The temperatures of the supply water and the return water of PHN or

177 SHN decrease as the outdoor air temperature rises, and they are affected by the

178 outdoor air temperature.

179 For a specific outdoor air temperature, the temperature of the supply water and the

180 return water of SHN are calculated as follows [25]:

t w 2,out (to )  tiat  0.5t w 2,out  t w 2,in  2tiat Rehe  0.5t w 2,out  t w 2,in Rehe
1 1 0.3 
181

182 （1）

t w 2,in to   tiat  0.5t w 2,out  t w 2,in  2tiat Rehe  0.5t w 2,out  t w 2,in Rehe
1 1 0.3 
183

184 （2）

185 Rehe is the ratio of the actual heating load to the designed heating load.

186 Energy conservation equations of the generator in the EHE are given as follows:

187 
Qehe, gen to   mw1 hw1,in to   hw1, gen,out to  
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188 （3）

Qehe, gen to   mr , gen hr , gen,out  hr , gen,in 

189

190 （4）

191 Qehe, gen to   UAgen  tm , gen

192 （5）

t m, gen 
tw1,in  t g  - t w1, gen,out  t g 
193 lnt w1,in  t g / t w1, gen,out  t g  
194 （6）

195 Energy conservation equations of the plate heat exchanger in the EHE are given as

196 follows:

197
 
mw 2, wex hw 2, wex ,out to   hw 2,in to   mw1 hw1, gen ,out to   hw1, wex ,out to 

198 （7）

199

Qehe, wex to   mw1 hw1, gen ,out to   hw1, wex ,out to  
200 （8）

201 Qehe,wex to   UAwex  tm ,wex

202 （9）

t m,wex 
tw1, gen ,out  t w 2,wex ,out  - t w1,wex ,out  t w 2,in 
203 lnt w1, gen ,out  t w 2,wex ,out / t w1,wex ,out  t w 2,in  
204 （10）

205 Energy conservation equations of the evaporator in the EHE are given as follows:

Qehe,eva to   mw1 hw1, wex ,out to   hw1,out to 

206

207 （11）

Qehe,eva to   mr ,eva hr ,eva ,out  hr ,con ,out 

208
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209 （12）

210 Qehe,eva to   UAeva  tm ,eva

211 （13）

t m,eva 
t w1, wex ,out  te  - t w1,out  te 
212 lnt w1, wex ,out  t e / t w1,out  t e 

213 （14）

214 Energy conservation equations of the condenser in the EHE are given as follows:

Qehe,con to   mw 2,con hw 2,con ,out to   hw 2,in to 

215

216 （15）

Qehe,con to   mr ,con hr ,con ,in  hr ,con ,out 

217

218 （16）

219 Qehe,con to   UAcon  tm ,con

220 （17）

t m,con 
t  t
c w 2 ,con ,out  - t  t 
c w 2 ,in

221 lnt  tc w 2 ,con ,out / t  t 

c w 2 ,in

222 （18）

223 The energy conservation equation of the refrigerant pump in the EHE is given as

224 follows:

mr , gen hgen ,in  mr , gen hcon ,out  N r to 

225

226 （19）

227 The power formula of the refrigerant pump in the EHE is described as follows:

228
 
N rp to   mr , gen pgen to   pcon to  / con,outrp 

229 （20）
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230 The power formula of the pressure booster in the EHE is described as follows:

N pb to   mr , pb h pb ,out ,is  h pb ,in / pb

231

232 （21）

233 The entrainment ratio of the ejector in the EHE is defined as follows:

mr ,eva

mr , gen
234

235 （22）

236 The mass conservation equation for the ejector in the EHE is given as follows:

mr , gen  mr ,eva  mr ,con

237

238 （23）

2 pn hr , gen ,out  hr , ms ,in   2hr ,con ,in  heje, ms ,out /  dif  mix 

2hr ,con ,in  heje, ms ,out /  dif  mix   2hr ,eva ,out  hr , noz ,out 
239

240 （24）

241 Jianyong Chen et al [19], Giorgio Besagni et al [26], Payam Haghparast et al [27]

242 and Hailun Zhang et al [28] present semi-empirical formulas of efficiencies of the

243 nozzle, mixing chamber, and the diffuser. There are larger differences in values of

244 efficiencies calculated by different semi-empirical formulas of efficiencies for the

245 same case of ejector. It indicates that an ejector operating at different conditions and

246 ejectors with different geometries result in different values of ejector component

247 efficiencies. Huang et al [29] conducted an experimental study on different ejectors

248 using R141b as the working fluid under different operating conditions. For the

249 specific ejector using R141b as the working fluid, variations of component

250 efficiencies are very small under different operating conditions, and their impacts on
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251 the heat transfer performance of the EHE are almost neglected. The R141b adopted in

252 the ejector refrigerator of the EHE and distributions of different component

253 efficiencies considered, efficiencies of the nozzle, mixing chamber and the diffuser

254 are determined to be 0.95, 0.85 and 0.90.

255 The energy conservation equation for the ejector in the EHE is given as follows:

mr , gen hgen ,in  mr ,eva heva ,out  mr ,con heje,out

256

257 （25）

258 In the EHE, the mass conservation equation of circulating water in the SHN is

259 given as follows:

mehe ,w 2  mehe ,w 2,con  mehe ,w 2,wex

260

261 （26）

262 In the EHE, the energy conservation equation of the circulating water in the SHN

263 is given as follows:

mehe ,w 2 hw 2,out  mehe ,w 2,con hw 2,con ,out  mehe ,w 2,wex hw 2,wex ,out
264

265 （27）

266 The energy conservation equations of the EHE are given as follows:

Qehe, gen to   Qehe,eva to   N r to   N pb to   Qehe,con to 

267

268 （28）

Qehe to   Qehe,con to   Qehe,wex to 

269

270 （29）

mehe, w1 hw1,in to   hw1,out to   N r to   N pb to   mehe, w 2 hw 2,out  hw 2,in 
271

272 （30）
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Qehe,con to   Qehe, wex to   mehe, w 2 hw 2,out to   hw 2,in to 
273 （31）

274 Specific exergy is calculated as follows [30]:

275
e  h  h0   T0 s  s0 

276 （32）

277 The mass conversation equation is expressed as follows:

n n

 min, j   mout , j  0
j 1 j 1
278

279 （33）

280 The exergy conservation equation is given as follows:

n
 T0  n n n n


j 1
Qcv , j  1    p , j  in , j in , j  out , j out , j  I j

 T  j 1
E 
j 1
m e 
j 1
m e 
j 1
281

282 （34）

283 The computational procedure is shown in Fig.4.

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Input: t0, m_w1, m_w2

Eqns.1-2:
Output:t_w2_out, t_w2_in, Q_ehe0

Guess:t_w1

Guess:t_w1_gen_out
Eqns:3,5,6
Output:t_g, Q_ehe_gen0

Eqns:7-10
Output:t_w1_wex_out, t_w2_wex_out, Q_ehe_wex

Eqns:30-31
Output:t_w2_con_out

Guess:t_w1_out
Eqns:11,13,14
Output:t_e, Q_ehe_eva0

Eqns:15,17,18
Output:t_c, Q_ehe_con, m_r_con
No

Eqns:22-29 Abs(Q_ehe_eva-
Output:u, m_r_eva, Q_ehe_eva Q_ehe_eva0)<ε

Yes

No Abs(Q_ehe_gen- Eqns:22-29
Q_ehe_gen0)<ε Output:u, m_r_gen, Q_ehe_gen

No
Yes
Abs(Q_ehe- Eqns:20,21,33
Q_ehe0)<ε Output:Q_ehe, t_w1_out

Yes
Output:t_w1_in, t_w1_out, t_w2_in, t_w2_out, Q_ehe, u, N_pb, N_r
284

285 Fig.4. Calculation flow diagrams of the enhanced ejector heat exchanger

286 3.2 Evaluation indicators

287 To better illustrate thermodynamic performance of the EHE-SF and the EHE-MF,

288 three evaluation indicators are introduced.

289 Heat transfer effectiveness (HEE) is defined as the ratio of the actual heat transfer

290 rate to the maximum possible heat transfer rate under the given inlet conditions:
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hw1,in  hw1,out
HEE 
291 hw1,in  hw 2,in

292 （35）

293 Exergy distribution ratio (EDR) is defined as the ratio of the input exergy of the

294 WWHE to the input exergy of the EHE, and it is calculated as follows:

Exi ,WWHE
295 EDR 
Exi ,EHE

296 （36）

297 The input exergy of the WWHE is the exergy difference between the inlet and

298 outlet of the circulating water in PHN. The input exergy of the EHE is the exergy

299 difference between the supply water and return water of PHN.

300 The product exergy efficiency (PEE) is defined as the ratio of the product exergy

301 to the input exergy [31], and it is calculated as follows:

Ex pro
302 PEE 
Exinp

303 （37）

304 The product exergy is defined as the exergy difference between the supply water

305 and the return water of SHN. The input exergy is the sum of the exergy difference

306 between the supply water and the return water of PHN, the electricity exergy of the

307 refrigerant circulating pump, and the electricity exergy of the pressure booster.

308 4. Results and discussion

309 Configuration optimization of the EHE should be analyzed from the perspective

310 of a heating season. The regulating curves of PHN and SHN are shown in Fig.5.
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140

Temperature of circulating water（℃）

130 Supply water of SHN
120 Return water of SHN
110 Supply water of PHN
100 Return water of PHN
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
-9 -8 -7 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5
Outdoor air temperature（℃）
311

312 Fig.5. Regulating curves of PHN and SHN during a heating season

313 Fig.5 indicates that the temperatures of both supply water and return water of

314 PHN and SHN decrease as the outdoor air temperature rises. The temperature of the

315 return water of PHN is always lower than that of SHN. Thus, the EHE is significantly

316 different from the conventional heat exchanger.

317 The variation curve of heat transfer effectiveness of the EHE is shown in Fig.6.
Heat transfer effectiveness（W/W）

1.4
1.2

1.0

0.8
0.6

0.4

0.2

0.0
-10 -8 -6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6
318 Outdoor air temperature（℃）

319 Fig.6. Variation curve of heat transfer effectiveness of the EHE

320 Fig.6 indicates that heat transfer effectiveness of the EHE increases as the outdoor
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321 air temperature rises. Besides, the heat transfer effectiveness of the EHE is higher

322 than 1 which is upper limit of heat transfer effectiveness of the conventional heat

323 exchanger. It is impossible for any conventional heat exchanger to achieve this. This

324 is the result of the fact that more available energy in the supply water of the PHN is

325 utilized by using the ejector refrigerator in the EHE. The EHE can decrease

326 irreversible loss in the process of heat transfer, and its heat transfer performance is

327 improved.

328 In order to regulate the temperatures of PHN and SHN, the pressure boosters in

329 the EHE-SF and the EHE-MF start to work. The relationships between pressure

330 boosted and outdoor air temperature are shown in Fig.7.

1.4
Pressure boosted（×105 Pa）

1.2 EHE-SF
EHE-MF
1.0

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0.0
-9 -8 -7 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5

331 Outdoor air temperature（℃）

332 Fig.7. Relationships between pressure boosted and outdoor air temperature

333 The Fig.7 shows that the pressure boosted increases as the outdoor air temperature

334 rises, and the pressure boosted of the EHE-SF is larger than that of the EHE-MF.

335 Higher outdoor air temperature results in larger pressure difference between the

336 pressure boosted in the EHE-SF and that in the EHE-MF. With the rising of outdoor
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337 air temperature, the temperature of supply water and return water of PHN and SHN

338 all decrease. Compared with temperature of supply water of SHN, the temperature

339 drop rate of supply water of PHN is much higher. When outdoor air temperature

340 reaches -4 ℃, a new critical mode of the designed ejector is built for the ejector in

341 the EHE-SF and EHE-MF. This phenomenon has been found by analyzing

342 experimental data [32]. When outdoor air temperature ranges from -6 ℃ to -4 ℃,

343 the rate of pressure rise is much higher due to far away from the original efficient

344 operation zone. When outdoor air temperature ranges from -4 ℃ to 1 ℃, the rate of

345 pressure rise is much lower due to close to the new efficient operation zone.

346 Therefore, there are points of inflection in the boosted pressure for the EHE-SF and

347 the EHE-MF.

348 The variation curves of power of the pressure booster in the EHE-SF and the

349 EHE-MF are showed in Fig.8.

3.0
Power of pressure booster（×10 W）

EHE-SF
4

2.5
EHE-MF

2.0

1.5

1.0

0.5

0.0
-9 -8 -7 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5
Outdoor air temperature（℃）
350

351 Fig.8. Variation curves of power of pressure booster

352 The Fig. 8 shows that the power of pressure booster increases as the outdoor air
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353 temperature rises. When the outdoor air temperature is higher than -7.3 ℃, the power

354 of the pressure booster of the EHE-SF is larger than that of the EHE-MF. When the

355 outdoor air temperature is higher than -4 ℃, the power difference between the

356 pressure booster in the EHE-SF and that in the EHE-MF becomes much larger. This

357 indicates that the EHE has poorer regulating characteristics when operating

358 temperature is far away from the designed operating temperature. At this time, the

359 pressure booster starts to work to improve regulating characteristics of the EHE. The

360 power of pressure booster only accounts for 0.6% and 2.5% of heat transfer rate for

361 the EHE-MF and the EHE-SF.

362 Exergy distribution ratios of the EHE-SF and the EHE-MF are showed in Fig.9.
1.0
Exergy distribution ratio（W/W）

0.9
EHE-SF
0.8
EHE-MF
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0.0
-9 -8 -7 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5
Outdoor air temperature（℃）
363
364 Fig.9. Variation curves of exergy distribution ratio

365 It can be seen from Fig.9 that exergy distribution ratios of the EHE-SF and the

366 EHE-MF firstly increase and then decrease as the outdoor air temperature rises. The

367 exergy distribution ratio of the EHE-SF is lower than that of the EHE-MF when the

368 outdoor air temperature is higher than -8 ℃. Due to more power input of the pressure
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369 booster, available energy in the supply water of PHN can be utilized more in the

370 generator, and thermodynamic performance of ejector becomes higher in the EHE-SF.

371 Thus the exergy distribution ratio of the EHE-SF becomes lower.

372 More power input would affect its product exergy efficiency. The relationships

373 between product exergy efficiency and outdoor air temperature are showed in Fig.10.

1.0
Product exergy efficiency（W/W）

EHE-SF
0.9 EHE-MF
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0.0
-9 -8 -7 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5

374 Outdoor air temperature（℃）

375 Fig.10. Variation curves of product exergy efficiency

376 The Fig.10 shows that product exergy efficiency of the EHE-SF is almost the

377 same as that of the EHE-MF when the outdoor air temperature is lower than 0 ℃.

378 When the outdoor air temperature is higher than 0 ℃, the difference of product

379 exergy efficiency between the EHE-MF and the EHE-SF becomes larger.

380 All above factors considered, the EHE-MF has higher thermodynamic

381 performance than that of the EHE-SF. Therefore, it is better for the pressure booster to

382 be installed in the pipeline between outlet of the ejector and refrigerant inlet of the

383 condenser in the EHE.

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384 5. Conclusions

385 The two enhanced ejector heat exchangers have been analyzed from the

386 perspective of thermodynamics. The following conclusions are drawn:

387 （1）The pressure booster helps to improving heat transfer performance and

388 regulating characteristics of the ejector heat exchanger and obtaining lower

389 temperature of the return water of PHN.

390 （2）Power consumption of the pressure booster in the EHE-MF is much lower

391 than that in the EHE-SF.

392 （3）Thermodynamic performance of the EHE-MF is higher than that of the

393 EHE-SF for the same regulating temperature. From the perspective of

394 thermodynamics, the configuration of the EHE-MF is better than that of the EHE-SF.

395 （4）The EHE-MF can obtain lower temperature of return water of PHN which

396 contributes to greatly increasing economical heat transmission distance of PHN and

397 efficiently recovering low temperature waste heat for the district heating systems

398 based on low temperature industrial waste heat.

399 （5）The EHE-MF would be promising application in the district heating systems

400 based on the industrial waste heat with longer heat transmission distance of PHN.

401

402 Acknowledgements

403 The authors wish to acknowledge the supports provided by the Natural Science

404 and Technology Support Plan of the People’s Republic of China (No.

405 2012BAJ04B03), Project of Science and Technology Program of Beijing Education

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406 Committee (No.Z18030), the Beijing Key Laboratory of Heating, Gas Supply,

407 Ventilating and Air Conditioning Engineering, and the Beijing Engineering Research

408 Center of Sustainable Energy and Buildings.

409

410 Appendix A. Meteorological parameters of heating in Beijing, China

Average daily Average daily
Date Date
temperature (℃) temperature (℃)
November 15th 4.70 January 15th -7.83
November 16th 7.26 January 16th -8.01
November 17th 8.87 January 17th -8.84
November 18th 7.46 January 18th -10.00
November 19th 9.97 January 19th -8.54
November 20th 9.14 January 20th -3.95
November 21st 8.43 January 21st -4.36
November 22nd 6.05 January 22nd -1.74
November 23rd 5.69 January 23rd -6.45
November 24th 8.25 January 24th -5.40
November 25th 1.69 January 25th -4.62
November 26th 1.75 January 26th -4.07
November 27th -0.08 January 27th -3.76
November 28th 1.18 January 28th -2.78
November 29th 4.07 January 29th -4.22
November 30th 1.45 January 30th 0.61
December 1st 0.59 January 31st -1.79
December 2nd 1.95 February 1st -7.59
December 3rd 1.79 February 2nd -5.98
December 4th 3.02 February 3rd -3.60
December 5th 0.97 February 4th -4.11
December 6th 1.31 February 5th -2.92
December 7th 0.63 February 6th -1.20
December 8th 3.32 February 7th -1.23
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December 9th 3.63 February 8th -5.41

December 10th 5.71 February 9th -4.45
December 11th 0.05 February 10th -2.44
December 12th 2.23 February 11th 1.06
December 13th -1.31 February 12th -0.07
December 14th -1.37 February 13th -0.54
December 15th -4.32 February 14th -2.45
December 16th -1.28 February 15th -2.58
December 17th -2.95 February 16th -2.93
December 18th -4.72 February 17th -2.51
December 19th -7.15 February 18th -3.10
December 20th -6.19 February 19th 0.58
December 21st -5.73 February 20th -0.52
December 22nd -2.42 February 21st -0.93
December 23rd 2.64 February 22nd 0.66
December 24th 1.15 February 23rd 2.10
December 25th -0.54 February 24th -0.27
December 26th -2.96 February 25th 1.01
December 27th 1.55 February 26th 3.22
December 28th 1.43 February 27th 4.08
December 29th -2.85 February 28th -0.64
December 30th 0.53 March 1st 1.64
December 31st -3.38 March 2nd 4.63
January 1st -1.32 March 3rd 3.89
January 2nd 0.55 March 4th 5.95
January 3rd -2.34 March 5th 8.51
January 4th -5.58 March 6th 9.95
January 5th -2.13 March 7th 9.35
January 6th -0.44 March 8th 9.69
January 7th -0.97 March 9th 7.52
January 8th -2.34 March 10th 8.74
January 9th -1.18 March 11th 7.49
January 10th -1.51 March 12th 7.14
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January 11th -3.30 March 13th 7.44

January 12th -2.42 March 14th 10.24
January 13th -3.09 March 15th 7.30
January 14th -6.75

411

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Highlights

> Heat transfer effectiveness of EHE-MF is much higher than 1. > Pressure booster
can improve regulation performance of the ejector heat exchanger. > Product exergy
efficiency of EHE-MF is higher than that of EHE-SF. > Power consumption of the
pressure booster in EHE-MF is lower than that in EHE-SF. > Configuration of EHE-
MF is better than that of EHE-SF due to higher performance.