The Complete Performance Map of Gas Wave Ejector and Analysis on the Variation Laws and Limitation of Performance

Abstract

The gas wave ejector (GWE) is an efficient gas wave equipment using pressure waves to realize energy exchange. In this paper, a theoretical analysis of the limitation of application range and the factors affecting the performance of GWE was carried out by numerical simulation. And a complete experimental system including an adjustable GWE was employed to obtain the specific performance values in various working conditions. Such theoretical analysis showed that the device became inapplicable with a relatively high driving pressure ratio, resulting from the generation of supersonic flow at the outlet end of the passages. A relatively high supercharging ratio also limited the equipment application because of the weakening of the reflected expansion waves and the enhancement of the reversed compression wave. Furthermore, the mixing, vortex, viscosity, and other flow losses could also affect the equipment performance. Then, a complete performance map indicating the specific performance values in the application range was obtained by plenty of experiments. The performance map proved that GWE had excellent efficiency and broad applicability especially as the driving pressure ratio was lower than 2.6. The results are significant for practical application and performance improvement of GWE.