This draws the secondary flow into the primary flow interstices behind the vanes, whereby pressure-exchange takes place. Because the flow is supersonic as it passes over the rotor, the pressure level is much lower than in the previous configurations, thereby facilitating the management of thrust loading, and facilitating the use of gas radial and thrust bearings. The design is not sensitive to tolerances. The design has the potential to exploit the advantages of pressure-exchange, while maintaining extreme simplicity and reduced manufacturing costs. A preliminary test rig was fabricated to roughly evaluate the relative importance of some key parameters.
Preliminary data are encouraging.
Nevertheless, optimal gas bearings to provide nearly frictionless rotation are needed. An industrial team agreement has been established with a leader in gas bearing design for turbomachinery, and preliminary meetings have provided assurance that the bearing design requirements can be met. It is expected that once the gas bearings are perfected, optimization of the ejector will proceed rapidly and we will be able to move onto the next phase of the program, which is the study of two-phase operation as appropriate for refrigeration. Garris CA, Hong WJ, Mavriplis CM, Shipman J. An environmentally friendly pressure-exchange ejector refrigeration system. Garris CA, Hong WJ, Mavriplis CM, Shipman J. An experimental and numerical study of the pressure-exchange ejector.