Journal ArticleDOI

# Flow transients in un-started and started modes of vacuum ejector operation

23 May 2016-Physics of Fluids (AIP Publishing)-Vol. 28, Iss: 5, pp 056105

TL;DR: In this paper, an experimental study has been carried out to investigate the nature of transients in vacuum ejector flows during start-up and the dynamics in flow characteristics, and the results show that the secondary stream induction progresses with non-uniform rates with the ramping primary jet pressure during startup.

AbstractAn experimental study has been carried out to investigate the nature of transients in vacuum ejector flows during start-up and the dynamics in flow characteristics. The results show that the secondary stream induction progresses with non-uniform rates with the ramping primary jet pressure during start-up. The initial evacuation period is subjected to gradual and highly perturbed secondary fluid entrainment. In this phase, the secondary stream induction by the shear layer is asymmetric leading to an un-even vacuum generation in the secondary chamber. In the second phase, the secondary pressure fluctuations are found to be ceased for a critical primary jet pressure followed by a rapid induction of the secondary fluid till the primary jet expands to the diffuser wall. The transition from the first phase to the second phase is caused by the secondary stream flow choking in the diffuser. Following the second phase, a stable stage exists in the third phase in which the vacuum pressure decreases only marginally. Any further attempt to increase the secondary chamber vacuum level beyond the third phase, by increasing the primary jet total pressure, results in flow reversal into the secondary chamber, spoiling the already achieved vacuum level. In the fourth phase of start-up, a complicated shock interaction transformation from a Mach reflection (MR) to regular reflection (RR) occurs within the diffuser. It is also observed that the primary jet pressures for the minimum secondary chamber pressure, the minimum secondary pressure, and the primary pressure for MR-RR transformation decrease initially with increase in diffuser length and then increase. It is found that the decreasing and increasing trends are caused by the pressure recovery and Fanno effects, respectively.

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15 Oct 2018-Energy
TL;DR: In this article, a low area ratio rectangular supersonic gaseous ejector is subjected to parametric evaluation to calculate the performance parameters like stagnation pressure ratio, compression ratio, entrainment ratio and the mixing parameter known as non-mixed length.
Abstract: A low area ratio rectangular supersonic gaseous ejector is subjected to parametric evaluation to calculate the performance parameters like stagnation pressure ratio, compression ratio, entrainment ratio and the mixing parameter known as non-mixed length for a wide range of operating conditions by varying the secondary flow rate. The operating conditions are achieved by varying the design Mach number of the primary flow nozzle, the total pressure of the primary flow and the secondary flow rate. Air is used as the working fluid in both the primary and secondary flow. The ejector is operated in the mixed regime. Mach number ratio is used as the non-dimensionalization parameter, and fully-expanded jet height is used as the scaling variable to collapse the huge set of obtained data for parametric studies. With variation in the secondary flow rate, staging is observed in the compression ratio, entrainment ratio, and also in the non-mixed length. Variation in the entrainment ratio and non-mixed length are observed to be linear, and it scales well with the fully-expanded jet height when there is a deficit in the secondary flow. Also, when there is no secondary flow, the non-mixed length is observed to be 80% lower in comparison with the case, where the secondary flow is uncontrolled. Schlieren visualization and wall static pressure measurements supplement the findings.

21 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigate the secondary flow characteristics and the associated vacuum generation caused with an increase in the primary pressure ramping in zero-secondary flow ejectors, and they find that with the jet expansion reaching a critical level, the fluid supply from the reverse flow is suddenly entrained back into the main jet at the maximum jet expansion point.
Abstract: This paper aims to investigate the secondary flow characteristics and the associated vacuum generation caused with increase in the primary pressure ramping in zero-secondary flow ejectors. The sudden expansion of the primary jet into the diffuser during the ejector start-up results in flow separation from the shear layer formed between the primary and inducted flows and produces large recirculation bubbles in the top and bottom sides of the jet. These recirculation bubbles cause an induced flow from ambient air into the diffuser duct as well. The fluid supply from the reverse flow due to the shear layer separation and the induced flow from ambient air provide a counter momentum against fluid entrainment from a vacuum chamber. As a result of this, the initial vacuum generation process progresses in a slow rate. Thereafter, the primary jet expansion reaches a critical level and a rapid vacuum generation can be seen. It is found that with the jet expansion reaching a critical level, the fluid supply from the reverse flow is suddenly entrained back into the main jet at the maximum jet expansion point. This suddenly reduces the counter-momentum which has been prohibiting the entrainment of fluid from the vacuum chamber and results in rapid evacuation. This is followed by a stage in which the vacuum chamber pressure is increasing due to the attainment of a constant Mach number at the diffuser inlet and the jet pressure ramping. It is found that the secondary flow dynamics and the vacuum generation processes in rectangular and round ejectors show a close resemblance.

10 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated the shock transformation in an underexpanded jet in a confined duct when the jet total pressure is increased, and they found that the Mach reflection in the fully undereexpanded jet transforms to a regular reflection (RR) at a certain pressure.
Abstract: This study investigates the shock transformation in an underexpanded jet in a confined duct when the jet total pressure is increased. Experimental study reveals that the Mach reflection (MR) in the fully underexpanded jet transforms to a regular reflection (RR) at a certain jet total pressure. It is observed that neither the incident shock angle nor the upstream Mach number varies during the MR–RR shock transformation. This is in contradiction to the classical MR–RR transformations in internal flow over wedges and in underexpanded open jets. This transformation is found to be a total pressure variation induced transformation, which is a new kind of shock transformation. The present study also reveals that the critical jet total pressures for MR–RR and RR–MR transformations are not the same when the primary pressure is increasing and decreasing, suggesting a hysteresis in the shock transformations.

7 citations

Journal ArticleDOI

5 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the impinging shock of varying strengths on the free shear layer in a confined supersonic cavity flow is studied numerically using the detached-eddy simulation, and the resulting spatiotemporal variations are analyzed between the different cases using unsteady statistics, spectral analysis, and modal decomposition.
Abstract: The impinging shock of varying strengths on the free shear layer in a confined supersonic cavity flow is studied numerically using the detached-eddy simulation. The resulting spatiotemporal variations are analyzed between the different cases using unsteady statistics, $x-t$ diagrams, spectral analysis, and modal decomposition. A cavity of length to depth ratio $[L/D]=2$ at a freestream Mach number of $M_\infty = 1.71$ is considered to be in a confined passage. Impinging shock strength is controlled by changing the ramp angle ($\theta$) on the top-wall. The static pressure ratio across the impinging shock ($p_2/p_1$) is used to quantify the impinging shock strength. Five different impinging shock strengths are studied by changing the pressure ratio: $1.0,1.2,1.5,1.7$ and $2.0$. As the pressure ratio increases from 1.0 to 2.0, the cavity wall experiences a maximum pressure of 25% due to shock loading. At [$p_2/p_1]=1.5$, fundamental fluidic mode or Rossiter's frequency corresponding to $n=1$ mode vanishes whereas frequencies correspond to higher modes ($n=2$ and $4$) resonate. Wavefronts interaction from the longitudinal reflections inside the cavity with the transverse disturbances from the shock-shear layer interactions is identified to drive the strong resonant behavior. Due to Mach-reflections inside the confined passage at $[p_2/p_1]=2.0$, shock-cavity resonance is lost. Based on the present findings, an idea to use a shock-laden confined cavity flow in an enclosed supersonic wall-jet configuration as passive flow control or a fluidic device is also demonstrated.

1 citations

##### References
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a 1D analysis for the prediction of ejector performance at critical-mode operation is carried out, where constant pressure mixing is assumed to occur inside the constant-area section of the ejector and the entrained flow at choking condition is analyzed.
Abstract: A 1-D analysis for the prediction of ejector performance at critical-mode operation is carried out in the present study. Constant-pressure mixing is assumed to occur inside the constant-area section of the ejector and the entrained flow at choking condition is analyzed. We also carried out an experiment using 11 ejectors and R141b as the working fluid to verify the analytical results. The test results are used to determine the coefficients, h p, h s, f p and f m defined in the 1-D model by matching the test data with the analytical results. It is shown that the1-D analysis using the empirical coefficients can accurately predict the performance of the ejectors. q 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd and IIR. All rights reserved.

726 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the spectral distributions of the fluctuations in velocity are quantitatively related to the dimensions of the two unequal regions of flow recirculation, and it is shown that the intensity of fluctuating energy in these low Reynolds number flows can be larger than that in corresponding turbulent flows.
Abstract: Flow visualization and laser-Doppler anemometry have been used to provide a detailed description of the velocity characteristics of the asymmetric flows which form in symmetric, two-dimensional, plane, sudden-expansion geometries. The flow and geometry boundary conditions which give rise to asymmetric flow are indicated, and the reason for the phenomenon is shown to lie in disturbances generated at the edge of the expansion and amplified in the shear layers. The spectral distributions of the fluctuations in velocity are quantitatively related to the dimensions of the two unequal regions of flow recirculation. It is also shown that the intensity of fluctuating energy in these low Reynolds number flows can be larger than that in corresponding turbulent flows.

333 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A literature review on ejectors and their applications in refrigeration can be found in this article, where a number of studies are grouped and discussed in several topics, i.e. background and theory of ejector and jet refrigeration cycle, performance characteristics, working fluid and improvement of jet refrigerator.
Abstract: This paper provides a literature review on ejectors and their applications in refrigeration. A number of studies are grouped and discussed in several topics, i.e. background and theory of ejector and jet refrigeration cycle, performance characteristics, working fluid and improvement of jet refrigerator. Moreover, other applications of an ejector in other types of refrigeration system are also described.

313 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a numerical study of laminar incompressible flows in symmetric plane sudden expansions was carried out, and the results revealed that the flow remains symmetric up to a certain Reynolds number depending on the expansion ratio, while asymmetries appear at higher Reynolds numbers.
Abstract: A numerical study of laminar incompressible flows in symmetric plane sudden expansions was carried out. Computations were performed for various Reynolds number and expansion ratios. The results revealed that the flow remains symmetric up to a certain Reynolds number depending on the expansion ratio, while asymmetries appear at higher Reynolds numbers. The computations indicated that the critical Reynolds number of the symmetry‐breaking bifurcation reduces when increasing the expansion ratio while the flow regains symmetry downstream of an initial channel length. The flow asymmetries were verified by comparing several discretization schemes up to fourth order of accuracy as well as various iterative solvers.

205 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, velocity measurements and numerical predictions are presented for the flow through a plane nominally two-dimensional duct with a Symmetric sudden expansion of area ratio 1:2.
Abstract: Detailed velocity measurements and numerical predictions are presented for the flow through a plane nominally two-dimensional duct with a Symmetric sudden expansion of area ratio 1:2. Both the experiments and the predictions confirm a symmetry-breaking bifurcation of the flow leading to one long and one short Separation zone for channel Reynolds numbers above 125, based on the upstream channel height and the maximum flow velocity upstream. With increasing Reynolds numbers above this value, the short separated region remains approximately constant in length whereas the long region increases in length.The experimental data were obtained using a one-component laser-Doppler anemometer at many Reynolds number values, with more extensive measurements being performed for the three Reynolds numbers 70, 300 and 610. Predictions were made using a finite volume method and an explicit quadratic Leith type of temporal discretization. In general, good agreement was found between measured and predicted velocity profiles for all Reynolds numbers investigated.

185 citations