The Starting Characteristics of the Steady Ejector-Diffuser System

The ejector is a simple device which can transport a low-pressure secondary flow by using a high-pressure primary flow. In general, it consists of a primary driving nozzle, a mixing section, and a diffuser. The ejector system entrains the secondary flow through a shear action generated by the primary jet. Until now, a large number of researches have been made to design and evaluate the ejector systems, where it is assumed that the ejector system has an infinite secondary chamber which can supply mass infinitely. However, in almost all of the practical applications, the ejector system has a finite secondary chamber implying steady flow can be possible only after the flow inside ejector has reached an equilibrium state after the starting process. To the authors' best knowledge, there are no reports on the starting characteristics of the ejector systems and none of the works to date discloses the detailed flow process until the secondary chamber flow reaches an equilibrium state. The objective of the present study is to investigate the starting process of an ejector-diffuser system. The present study is also planned to identify the operating range of ejector-diffuser systems where the steady flow assumption can be applied without uncertainty. The results obtained show that the one and only condition in which an infinite mass entrainment is possible is the generation of a recirculation zone near the primary nozzle exit. The flow in the secondary chamber attains a state of dynamic equilibrium at this point.