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Procedia
Procedia Engineering00
Engineering00 (2017)
(2017) 000–000
000–000

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Procedia Engineering 205 (2017) 2208–2214

10th International Symposium on Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning, ISHVAC2017, 19-
22 October 2017, Jinan, China

The application analysis of jet pump in heating system

Xuelai Liua,b,c,
a,b,c, **, Qunqun Zhan aa, Yongan Liabb

aaSchool of Thermal Engineering, Shandong Jianzhu University, Jinan,250101 China

School of Thermal Engineering, Shandong Jianzhu University, Jinan,250101 China
bb
Key
Key Laboratory
Laboratory ofof Renewable
Renewable Energy
Energy Technologies
Technologies for
for Buildings,
Buildings, Ministry
Ministry of
of Education,
Education, Jinan,
Jinan, 250101China
250101China
cc
Shandong
Shandong Key Laboratory of Renewable Energy Technologies for Buildings, Jinan, 250101China
Key Laboratory of Renewable Energy Technologies for Buildings, Jinan, 250101China

Abstract
Abstract

With
With the
the more
more and
and more
more extensive
extensive application
application of
of jet
jet pump
pump inin heating
heating system,
system, the
the research
research of
of jet
jet pump
pump is
is becoming
becoming more
more and
and
more
more important.
important. This
This paper
paper studies
studies the
the occasions
occasions of
of jet
jet pump
pump inin the
the heating
heating system
system and
and takes
takes aa heating
heating pipe
pipe network
network of
of Ji'nan
Ji'nan city
city
as
as an
an example
example toto analyze
analyze the
the energy
energy saving
saving effect
effect of
of jet
jet pump,
pump, the
the jet
jet pump
pump has
has obtained
obtained good
good economic
economic benefit
benefit and
and energy
energy
saving application in heating system.
saving application in heating system.
© 2017
© 2017 The Authors.
Authors. Published
Published byby Elsevier
Elsevier Ltd.
Ltd.
© 2017 The
The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Peer-review under
Peer-review under responsibility
responsibility of
of the
the scientific
scientific committee
committee of of the
the 10th
10th International
International Symposium
Symposium on on Heating,
Heating, Ventilation
Ventilation and
and Air
Air
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the 10th International Symposium on Heating, Ventilation and
Conditioning.
Conditioning.
Air Conditioning.
Keywords:
Keywords: Jet
Jet pump;
pump; Heating
Heating system;
system; Application;
Application; Energy-saving
Energy-saving

Preface

G.Zeuner, a German scholar, proposed the jet theory and theoretical basis of jet pump’s design in 1860s. Then
the jet pumps had been widely developed and were being used more and more in practice. In recent years, with the
rapid development of central heating system, jet pump has been widely used because of its simple structure, reliable
operation and less power consumption. Therefore, it is necessary to make a thorough study of the structural property
and operating principle of the jet pump.

1 Principle and characteristics of jet pump

*
* Corresponding
Corresponding author.
author.
E-mail
E-mail address:
address: liuxuelai@sdjzu.edu.cn
liuxuelai@sdjzu.edu.cn

1877-7058
1877-7058 ©© 2017
2017 The
The Authors.
Authors. Published
Published by
by Elsevier
Elsevier Ltd.
Ltd.
Peer-review
Peer-review under
under responsibility
responsibility ofthe
ofthe scientific
scientific committee
committee of
of the
the 10th
10th International
International Symposium
Symposium on
on Heating,
Heating, Ventilation
Ventilation and
and Air
Air Conditioning.
Conditioning.

1877-7058 © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the 10th International Symposium on Heating, Ventilation and
Air Conditioning.
10.1016/j.proeng.2017.10.050
 Xuelai Liu et al. / Procedia Engineering 205 (2017) 2208–2214 2209
2 X.L Liu et al. / Procedia Engineering00 (2017) 000–000

A jet pump is a device that doesn’t directly consume mechanical energy. It uses the jet of high-pressure working
fluid to transport low-energy jet fluid. The structure of the jet pump is shown in Figure 1, it consists of a nozzle, a
water intake chamber, a mixing chamber and a diffusion tube.

Fig. 1 Structure drawing of jet pump

Jet pump uses a high pressure working fluid energy to transport low energy driving fluid, different pressure of
two fluids mixes in the mixing chamber and exchange the energy, finally mixes in a mixed fluid between the two
fluid pressure discharged from the diffusion chamber.

2 Several applications of jet pump in heating system

2.1 Jet pump is installed at the thermal entrance

In heating system, if the jet pump installed at the thermal entrance, its function is similar to the mixing pump, a
heating way that mixing with high temperature water supply and low temperature backwater. It uses the increasing
speed at the nozzle to reduce the pressure, then the low temperature backwater is drawn into the water diversion
chamber and mixed with the water supply, the mixed fluid is supplied to each heat user after reach a suitable
temperature. But when the jet pump is installed at the entrance of the heat, it is necessary to ensure that the pressure
of the water supply can reach the operating conditions of the injection pump, and only when the external network
pressure meets the requirements the jet pump can operate under the design efficiency.
Water jet pump not only has a very simple structure, but also installed in the heating system of the pipe network
program is very simple, and it is also convenient to connect with other equipment. Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a
jet pump in a distributed heating system.
But the jet pump is rarely installed at the thermal inlet in practical applications, because the jet pump needs
greater pressure, about 80~120kPa, the heating radius of the two stage network is smaller generally, and the supply
and return water pressure is not easy to meet the requirements of jet pump pressure, thereby limiting the application
of jet pump in heating system.
2210 Xuelai Liu et al. / Procedia Engineering 205 (2017) 2208–2214
XL Liu et al. / Procedia Engineering 00 (2017) 000–000 3

Fig. 3 Schematic diagram of a distributed heating system with a jet pump

2.2 Jet pump installed in high and low area direct connection system

In recent years, with the increasing of building height, the problems of high and low area pipe network should be
considered in the same heating system, when the system heating for high area users, usually installs pressurized
water pump in the water supply pipe to increase pipe’s pressure, the pressure pump provides a small part of the
pressure to overcome resistance of uses, which will make the high area’s return water pressure is relatively large, in
order to make the heating pipe network operate steadily, it is necessary to install a throttle on the return pipe to drain
out the excess pressure head, resulting in a waste of energy in vain. In order to use this part of energy efficiently, we
can install jet pump on the return pipe of high area system, so that increasing the hydraulic stability of the whole
pipe network without consuming other extra energy, using the energy wasted in throttle valves originally to achieve
energy-saving effect.
As shown in Figure 4, the jet pump is installed at the intersection of the return pipe of high system and the water
supply pipe (low users’ entrance).Using return water of high area with heavy pressure to mix with water supply of
pipe network for low area users. This system has the effect of throttle to return water of high area, while the user of
low area utilize the energy of high area return water in directly .It can improve the stability of heating pipe network
and the energy-saving effect is obvious. The pressure diagram is shown in Figure 5.

Fig. 4 A system diagram of a jet pump Fig. 5 A pressure diagram of a jet pump
installed at the entrance of a low area user installed at the entrance of a low area user

As shown in Figure 5, after installing pressure pump in the water supply pipe network of high area and
 Xuelai Liu et al. / Procedia Engineering 205 (2017) 2208–2214 2211
4 X.L Liu et al. / Procedia Engineering00 (2017) 000–000

overcoming the network and high user pressure head, the pressure drops to a point. The pressure drops to B points
after installing jet pump, then the system supplies water to the lower users and overcomes pipe network resistance
and user pressure head, the pressure drops to C points and backs to the main return water pipe.

2.3 Jet pump installed in the heating system with radiator and ground radiation

Nowadays, more and more users adopt comfortable ground radiation heating, which the temperature of water
supply and return is 60/50℃,but the temperature of water supply and return of radiator heating is 85/60℃.If the two
terminal forms exist in one heating system, the users with floor heating can be solved by jet pump. As shown in
Figure 6.

Fig. 6 Schematic diagram of heating system with radiator and ground radiation

As shown in Figure 6, installing jet pump at the entrance of floor heating users and the temperature of water
supply and return designs by demand of radiator users, which pumping ground return water by water supply of two
nets, then supplying to users after mixing. For the heating system with radiator and ground radiation, after the jet
pump is installed, not only the flow rate of the pipe network of the ground heating user is reduced, the pipe material
is saved, but also the system can be operated without rebuilding the whole pipe network and the initial investment is
saved.

3 Energy saving analysis of jet pump in distributed heating system

Because of the heat exchanging station, there are many problems appear such as poor heat transfer effect and
large heat loss, affect the heating effect seriously. Therefore, we can use jet pump instead of the heat exchanger and
the user circulating water pump by making use of the large pressure difference between primary and two networks.
It can not only improve the temperature difference between supply and return water of the primary network, but also
increase the heat exchange effect, which solves the problem that the heat demand of the heat user can not be
satisfied fundamentally.
In order to analyze the energy saving effect of jet pump in heating system, this paper takes a distributed heating
network in a boiler room in Ji'nan city as an example, assuming that the network has 5 equal distance distribution
cell users, and each thermal user needs equal pressure head,100kPa, and fifth thermal users are the most
disadvantaged users. A network of supply and return water pipe network total length is 5000m, two network supply
and return water pipe network is 500m, pipe friction resistance is 60 Pa/m, local resistance is 30% of the along
resistance, the pump efficiency is 70%.
According to the laws of Herb Roots, the theoretical shaft power of circulating water pump in traditional heating
mode can be calculated by formula (1):
2212 Xuelai Liu et al. / Procedia Engineering 205 (2017) 2208–2214
XL Liu et al. / Procedia Engineering 00 (2017) 000–000 5

N0 QH
N= = （1）
η ⋅ 367 η ⋅ 367
where Q is flow rate of circulating pump of heat source, m3/h; H is the head of the circulating pump of heat source,
m; η is water pump efficiency, 70%; N 0 is shaft power of circulating water pump calculated by the law of Herb

Roots，kW; N is shaft power of circulating water pump, kW.

H = ΔH s + ΔH z + ΔH y + ΔH j （2）

where ΔH s is internal pressure loss of heat source, 15m; ΔH z is pressure head of user, 10m; ΔH y is total along

resistance loss of the most adverse loop, m; ΔH j is local resistance loss, m.

This article sets up three schemes to analysis, scheme 1 is indirect connection system by using plate heat
exchanger, the supply and return water temperature of a network is 120/70 ℃ ,the supply and return water
temperature of two nets is 85/60℃, designed total circulating water is 150t/h, each cell corresponds to a heat
exchanger station.
According to formula (1) and (2) calculates the shaft power of the first stage circulating water pump (heat source
pump):
150t / h × (15 + 3 × 1.3) m
N= = 11.04 KW
0.7 × 367
Because of the existence of the heat exchanger, the resistance loss of the 8~10m must be considered. Each grade
circulating water pump’s shaft power is shown in the following table:

Table 1 grade circulating water pump shaft power of indirect connection system with heat exchanger
user 1 2 3 4 5 Total power
Grade circulating water pump
1.39 2.3 3.21 4.12 5.03 16.05
shaft power/kW

The shaft power of two grade network heat user circulating water pump is:

30t / h × (10 + 3 × 1.3) m

N= = 1.62 kW
0.7 × 367
So the total energy consumption of circulating water pump of scheme 1 is:
11.04+16.05+1.62×5=35.19kW
Scheme 2 is direct connection system by using mixing pump, the supply and return water temperature of a
network is 120/70℃,the supply and return water temperature of two nets is 95/70℃, each user corresponds to a
mixing station.
Q
It is known by the formula Q = cmΔt , the flow is m = G = , in the same amount of heating, the greater
cΔt
the temperature difference, the smaller the flow. So the total circulating water of scheme 2 is 120t/h.
The shaft power of the first stage circulating water pump (heat source pump) is:
 Xuelai Liu et al. / Procedia Engineering 205 (2017) 2208–2214 2213
6 X.L Liu et al. / Procedia Engineering00 (2017) 000–000

120t / h × (15 + 3 × 1.3) m

N= = 8.83 kW
0.7 × 367
Each grade circulating water pump’s shaft power is shown in the following table:
Table 2 grade circulating pump shaft power of direct connection system with mixing water
user 1 2 3 4 5 Total power
Grade circulating water pump
0.46 1.37 2.28 3.19 4.1 11.4
shaft power/kW

The shaft power of two grade network heat user circulating water pump is:

24t / h × (10 + 3 ×1.3) m

N= = 1.3 kW
0.7 × 367
So the total energy consumption of circulating water pump of scheme 2 is:
8.83+11.4+1.3×5=26.73kW
Scheme 3 is direct connection system by using jet pump, the supply and return water temperature is
120/95/70℃,the energy is no need to set two level network heat user circulating water pump because of the
existence of jet pump, so the total energy consumption of circulating water pump of scheme 3 is
8.83+11.4=20.23kW.
From the above analysis we can see that, the total energy consumption of circulating water pump of direct
connection system by using jet pump is smaller than two other systems. Moreover, the heat exchanger will appear
the circumstances of occlusion during the actual operation, so as to increase the local resistance and reduce the heat
exchange efficiency. Therefore, the jet pump applies in the heating system can not only avoid the heat loss caused
by the heat exchange of the heat exchanger, but also eliminate the energy consumption of the circulating water
pump of the two network heat users, which playing a role of energy saving.

4 Conclusion

In the heating system, the jet pump has remarkable energy-saving benefits compared with the heat exchanger and
water mixer, and it is no need to set two level network heat user circulating water pump, so this system can reduce
the initial investment and have good economic benefits.
The jet pump is especially suitable for the pipe network system with high and low district. Under the premise of
not consuming any additional energy, the energy consumption of the throttle valve is effectively utilized, and the
stability of the whole heating system is improved. Also it suitable for the heating system with radiator heating and
floor heating, it improves the heating capacity of network and save energy consumption. At the same time, this
system can also avoid the troubles of the overall reconstruction of the pipe network and save the pipe consumption.
On the other hand, the jet pump’s access direction is same with the trend of pipe network in the heating system, so
we don’t need to consider the problem because of connection and it will not bring extra trouble to the construction.
There for, the jet pump is applied more and more widely in the heating system.

Acknowledgement

Thanks to the ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural science and technology development plan (2014 - K1-039)
and Shandong Jianzhu university doctor fund project (XNBS1221) support

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