Thermodynamic analyses of a flash separation ejector refrigeration cycle with zeotropic mixture for cooling applications

This study presents a flash separation ejector refrigeration cycle (FSRC) using zeotropic mixture refrigerant for cooling applications. The proposed cycle can improve the cycle performance due to the composition shift effect of the zeotropic mixture during the flash separation process. The system behaviors of FSRC are investigated theoretically and compared with those of the basic ejector refrigeration cycle (BERC) by the energy and exergy analysis. The simulation results show that the FSRC achieves significant performance improvement in COP and entrainment ratio of ejector for all operation conditions. The maximum COP of FSRC with R290/R600a and R134a/R236fa can be improved by 26.7% and 18.6% compared with BERC, respectively. Furthermore, the FSRC can achieve higher performance improvement compare with BERC at lower generation temperature or lower condensation temperature. The results of the proposed cycle reveal a better understanding for the potential advantages of FSRC and make contribution to the development of ejector refrigeration technology using mixture refrigerant.