Experimental investigation on the performance of the refrigeration cycle using a two-phase ejector as an expansion device

In the present study, new experimental data on the performance of a never before seen two-phase ejector refrigeration cycle (TPERC) is presented. In this cycle, a two-phase ejector is used as an expansion device. The TPERC enables the evaporator to operate as in a liquid-recirculation system. The results are compared with those of the conventional refrigeration cycle (CRC). The effects of external parameters, i.e., heat sink and heat source temperatures on the system performance are discussed. The results show that the coefficient of performance of the TPERC is higher than that of the CRC over the whole range of experimental conditions. This is due to a higher refrigerant-side heat transfer coefficient in the evaporator, resulting from the higher refrigerant mass flow rate passing through the evaporator. However, the increase becomes relatively smaller as the heat sink temperature increases. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd and IIR. All rights reserved.