Experimental Research on Performance of Supersonic Steam-Driven Jet Injector and Pressure of Supersonic Steam Jet in Water

Abstract

An experimental investigation was carried out to find the lifting-pressure performance of a steam-driven jet injector for various configuration parameters. The pressure profiles along the mixing chamber were measured with constant inlet steam and water parameters; the results indicated that the injector had a self-adaptive characteristic and the outlet water mass flow rate had an invariable characteristic. The lifting-pressure coefficient was affected significantly by the area ratio of the secondary nozzle and area ratio of the mixing chamber, and the influences were discussed. Moreover, the pressure distribution characteristic of a supersonic steam jet in water was studied under different steam pressures and water temperatures. The results indicated that the pressure distributions were affected by flow and condensation characteristics that were described by steam pressure and water temperature; the maximum axial pressure ratio was also discussed. Predictions of the distance of the maximum axial pressure by an empirical correlation showed good agreement with the experimental results.

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (50676078) and the National High-Tech Research and Development Program of China (863 Program) (2006AA05Z230).

Junjie Yan is a professor at the School of Energy and Power Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University. He received his Ph.D. from Xi’an Jiaotong University in 1998. He is a committeeman of the multiphase flow committee of the Chinese Society of Engineering Thermophysics. His research interests include enhanced heat transfer, emulation and optimization of thermal system, steam–water two-phase flow, phase-change heat transfer, cogeneration of cooling, heating, and power, and process control.

Xinzhuang Wu is a Ph.D. student at the School of Energy and Power Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China. He is also a joint Ph.D. student at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands. He works on gas–liquid two-phase flow, condensation heat transfer, and thermo-economics diagnosing for power plant.

Daotong Chong is a lecturer at the School of Power and Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China. He is working at University of Tokyo as a postdoctoral research fellow. He received his Ph.D. from Xi’an Jiaotong University in 2008. His research interests include mixed convection in tubes, phase-change heat transfer of multiphase flow, scientific computing, and applications of supersonic ejectors.

Jiping Liu is a professor at the School of Energy and Power Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University. He received his Ph.D. from Xi’an Jiaotong University in 1996. His research interests include computational fluid dynamics, enhanced heat transfer, emulation and optimization of thermal systems, steam–water two-phase flow, and phase-change heat transfer.