Experimental and computational analysis of a R744 flashing ejector

Abstract

In this paper we present a set of experimental data acquired on a CO2 flashing ejector designed for expansion loss recovery applications. Experimental results are compared with CFD simulations obtained using a Homogeneous Equilibrium Model (HEM) and a recently developed mixture model that treats both the liquid and vapour phases as compressible and metastable materials. The models are implemented within a commercial CFD software via user defined subroutines. Pro and cons of each of the two approaches are critically discussed in order to understand the relative performances in terms of numerical stability and accuracy. From this comparison, it can be shown that while the HEM is faster and intrinsically stable, the mixture model has the potential to better reproduce the experimental data, especially in terms of mass-flow rates predictions.