EJECTORS

 INTRODUCTION

 Various types of Ejectors can be used in combination with liquid ring vacuum pump
in order to Boosting Liquid ring vacuum pump performance.
 Many types of injectors are available for that purpose. But two of them that are widely
use in vacuum system is as below: -

 Steam jet Ejector

 Atmospheric Air Ejector.

 Ejector is mostly preferred against vacuum booster because of their lower

maintenance.
 However Steam jet Ejectors are economical to use for industry having boiler as one of
their product.
 Otherwise it results in higher Initial cost because higher cost is require to produce
steam for steam ejectors.

 STEAM JET EJECTOR

 Steam Ejector is widely used in the industry for boosting performance of liquid ring
vacuum pump.
 Steam Ejector is preferred when it is necessary to reduce maintenance cost and also
improve performance of the liquid ring vacuum pump.
 But it is suitable when there is sufficient steam available for the inlet of steam jet
ejector.
 Otherwise there will be increasing in initial cost.

 Types of Steam jet Ejectors: -

 There are basically two types of steam ejectors:

 Single-stage.
 Multi-stage.

 Single-stage ejectors typically discharge at or near atmospheric pressure and are used
for suction pressures ranging from atmospheric pressure to around 100 bar.
 Multi-stage ejectors are typically used when lower suction pressures are necessary.
 Steam consumption in multistage steam ejectors is relatively high as each stage must
handle the load and motive steam of the stage ahead of it.
 Principle of Operation: -

 The Standards for Steam Jet Vacuum Systems states “The operating principle of a
steam ejector stage is that the pressure energy in the motive steam is converted into
velocity energy in the nozzle, and, this high velocity jet of steam entrains the vapour
or gas being pumped.
 The resulting mixture, at the resulting velocity, enters the diffuser where this velocity
energy is converted to pressure energy so that the pressure of the mixture at the
ejector discharge is substantially higher than the pressure in the suction chamber.”

 PROCESS: -

 A steam ejector basically comprises of three elements: a nozzle, a mixing chamber

and a diffuser.
 A high pressure motive fluid, typically steam, enters the steam ejector and passes
through the nozzle.
 Through this nozzle, its velocity increases and consequently low pressure exists at
that point on nozzle.
 This low pressure draws the suction fluid, typically air, into the mixing chamber
where it mixes with the motive fluid.
 The mixture then passes through the diffuser.
 There, the mixed fluid expands, its velocity is reduced and its pressure is increased,
resulting in recompressing the mixed fluids by converting velocity energy back into
pressure energy
 Steam ejector can use in combination with vacuum pump; this combination is called
Hybrid Ejector system.
 In the hybrid, a steam jet or air ejector can be used as the first stage of the unit. The
ejector discharges into an inter condenser which is followed by a one or two stage
liquid ring vacuum pump
 The first stage ejector boosts the interstage pressure to the vacuum pump, thus a
smaller pump is required than if the entire compression was to be done by a vacuum
pump.
 Condensate from the intercondenser can be discharged directly into the liquid ring
vacuum pump. Thus no barometric leg or special pumping device is needed for
condensate discharge.
 Cavitation can be a maintenance problem for standalone liquid ring vacuum pump
systems, which must operate at pressures close to the vapour pressure of the pump
service liquid.
 This problem is minimized when a hybrid system is used, as the vacuum pump
operates at a higher interstage pressure. Note that cavitations may still occur if air
leakage is near zero.
 The first stage ejector boosts the pressure, and the intercondenser condenses the
majority of the motive steam and water vapor load, greatly reducing the load to the
vacuum pump.
 Thus a smaller vacuum pump can be used. Hybrid units may be more energy efficient,
and can be optimized to account for low cost steam or electric utilities, and can be
optimized to achieve the best balance between steam and power usage.
 Air motivated ejectors may be utilized, in which case, the intercondenser is not
necessary, but will require a larger vacuum pump.
 Cooling is by condensate and/or closed cycle cooling water. No raw water is required
for the hybrid system
 By using steam injector we can Boost performance of the vacuum pump as per
requirement and can eliminate their limitation.

 ADVANTAGES: -
1. Ideal for large loads

2. Reliable operation

3. Handles slugs of liquid/particles without damage.

 Atmospheric Air Ejectors: -

 Atmospheric Air Ejectors are preferred where steam is not available for steam
jet Ejectors.
 So Atmospheric Air Jet Ejectors used to extend the operating range of Liquid
Ring Vacuum Pumps.
 The inlet pressure of a Liquid Ring Pump is limited to approximately 30 mbar
abs because of the vapour pressure of its seal liquid (usually water).
 The addition of an Atmospheric Air Jet Ejector enables the Liquid Ring
Vacuum Pump to operate outside its cavitation range allowing operation down
to nearly 4 mbar abs.
 PROCESS: -

In operation an Atmospheric Air

Jet Ejector uses the energy available from the
expansion of atmospheric air to the Liquid Ring Pump
inlet pressure to drive the Ejector.
Atmospheric air enters the Ejector and passes through
the nozzle where the pressure energy is converted into
kinetic energy.
On leaving the nozzle at high velocity a region of low
pressure is created in the suction chamber which
entrains the process fluid.
The two streams then combine within the throat of the
Ejector before being decelerated in the outlet cone to
recover pressure to suit the Liquid Ring Pump inlet
capability.

 ADVANTAGES: -

 Using Atmospheric Ait Ejectors in combination with liquid ring vacuum pump
has following advantages: -
1. Allows operation at higher vacuum than the liquid Ring Pump can achieve
alone.
2. Simple Operation.
3. Robust Design.
4. No Moving parts.