Design and Thermodynamic Analysis of a Steam Ejector Refrigeration/Heat Pump System for Naval Surface Ship Applications

Abstract: Naval surface ships should use thermally driven heating and cooling technologies to continue the Navy’s leadership role in protecting the marine environment. Steam ejector refrigeration (SER) or steam ejector heat pump (SEHP) systems are thermally driven heating and cooling technologies and seem to be a promising technology to reduce emissions for heating and cooling on board naval surface ships. In this study, design and thermodynamic analysis of a seawater cooled SER and SEHP as an HVAC system for a naval surface ship application are presented and compared with those of a current typical naval ship system case, an H2O-LiBr absorption heat pump and a vapour-compression heat pump. The off-design study estimated the coefficient of performances (COPs) were 0.29–0.11 for the cooling mode and 1.29–1.11 for the heating mode, depending on the pressure of the exhaust gas boiler at off-design conditions. In the system operating at the exhaust gas boiler pressure of 0.2 MPa, the optimum area ratio obtained was 23.30.