Energy and exergy analysis of an ejector-compression refrigeration cycle with double IHX

Abstract

This paper shows an energy and exergy analysis of an ejector-compression refrigeration cycle, in which two heat exchangers are included to the system: 1) between the condenser and liquid separator (IHX-1) and 2) between the condenser and the evaporator (IHX-2), which is an alternative configuration proposed and this configuration is defined as ERC+IHX-1+IHX-2. The effect of evaporation temperature and the heat exchanger effectiveness on the energy and exergy efficiencies and the irreversibilities of each component of the cycle have been analyzed for refrigeration and air conditioning applications. The results show that for the alternative configuration and an effectiveness of IHX-1=80%, it results slightly with a higher COP than when the configurations work with an effectiveness of IHX-2=80%. However, the exergy efficiency increases when the evaporation temperature decreases. The components that show the highest contribution to the irreversibilities in the ERC+IHX-1+IHX-2 configuration are: the condenser, the compressor and the evaporator; whereas that the lowest contribution is due to the expansion valve and IHX-1. In addition, the alternative configuration proposed presents a higher exergetic efficiency and lower irreversibilities than the configurations ERC+IHX-1 y ERC+IHX-2 reported in the literature.