Jet Ejectors
Jet Ejectors
AND
VACUUM SYSTEMS
TABLE OF CONTENT
3 INSTALLATION PAG. 21
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1. GENERAL DESCRIPTION
- The nozzle
- The suction and mixing chamber
- The diffuser
Since the steam jet ejector is the unit most commonly used
for many process applications, it will be discussed in the
greatest detail.
Fig. 1 Pressures-velocities diagram
With reference to fig. 2 we can follow the transformations operated by an ejector that entrains
water vapor from the P3 pressure and discharges to the P5 pressure and operates with a motive
steam pressure of P1.
During operation the high pressure steam enters the steam chest and expands passing through
the steam nozzle where the pressure decreases while the velocity encreases, then leaving the
nozzle at the nozzle exit the motive steam reaches the maximum velocity and the minimum
pressure (point 2). With compressible fluids the velocity is usually many times the local sound
velocity.
Air, gas or vapors, or liquid mixture enter the ejector through the suction nozzle, passing into the
suction chamber. Here the water vapor or air or other mixture are entrained by and into the high
velocity steam.
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From the above it can be understood how, not
whitstanding the machine building and its
operating simplicity, up till now it has not been
possible to acheive a complete theoretical
analysis of the laws describing physical
phenomena. This is due to the extremely high
number of parameters both fluidodynamic and
thermodynamic involved in the process.
Therefore for the ejector's design we use only
an approximate theory supported by many
experimental data.
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Fig. 4 Some possible arrangement of steam jet ejectors
The over head or the last stage of multistage distilling units vapors are condensed in a unit
designed to operate at a pressure little lower than the operating pressure of the top column or last
stage, (the difference is only due to the pressure drop in the interconnecting piping). Then only the
non condensables and vapor remaining after condensation pass to the ejector system.
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Intercondensers are used to condense the steam from a preceeding ejector stage, thus reducing
the inlet quantity of vapor mixture to the following stage. This is a means of increasing steam
economy.
Aftercondensers operate at atmospheric pressure. They do not affect the steam economy or
ejector performance, normally they are used because of the following reasons:
The selection between surface or direct contact type condensers is related to the advantage of one
type in the respect to the other.
The direct contact type condensers, usually barometric, have the following advantages:
- The process and cooling fluids are not mixed together, the condensed steam can be
recovered and cooling water is not contaminated by process fluids.
- This type of condensers may be less expensive during operation if environmental problems
are to be taken into account.
Ejectors have the following features which make them good choices for continuously producing
economical vacuum conditions:
1.4 MATERIALS
Since the ejector is basically simple in construction it is available in many materials suitable for
handling high corrosive vapors. Standard materials include iron, and stainless steels, bronzes, high
nickel alloys.
Other construction materials include porcelain, synthetic resins. Nozzles are generally made of
S.S. or monel, condensers are sometimes made of the same materials.
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2. PERFORMANCE FACTORS
Motive steam design pressure must be selected at the same level as the lowest expected pressure
at the ejector steam nozzle. The unit will not operate stably on steam pressures below the design
pressure.
It is recommended to keep as design value the minimum expected line pressure at ejector nozzle
minus 0.5 BARa.This design basis allows for stable operation under minor pressure fluctuations.
An increase in steam pressure over design will not increase vapor handling capacity for the usual
"fixed capacity" ejector. Increased pressure usually decreases capacity due to the extra steam in
the diffuser. The best ejector steam economy is attained when the steam nozzle and the diffuser
are proportioned for a specified performance.
This is the reason for the difficulty in keeping so-called standard ejectors in stock and expecting to
have the equivalent of a custom designed unit. The "throttling type" ejector has a family of
performance curves depending upon the motive steam pressure. This type has a lower
compression ratio across the ejector than the fixed-type. The fixed-type unit is of the most
concerned in this presentation.
In the units that are designed for very small suction capacity the use of high pressure steam is not
a good choice because of the difficulty of nozzle throat machining. In these units the motive steam
consumption is increased to obtain a nozzle throat diameter over 1 mm.
If the discharge pressure is lower, as in multistage units, steam pressure at the inlet can be lower.
Single stage ejectors designed for pressures below 0.25 BARA cannot operate efficiently on
motive steam pressures below 3 BARA.
The first stages of a multistage system can be designed to operate with motive steam pressures
below 1.5 BARA. This is possible because of the low suction pressure and it is convenient when
motive steam from process (at low cost) is available.
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To insure stable operations steam pressure must be over a minimum value. This minimum is
called the motive steam pickup pressure and it differs from one ejector to the other.
To find the motive steam pickup pressure, after the motive steam pressure is reduced until the
ejector breaks, the pressure is increased: the pressure at which the ejector becomes stable
operating is the pickup pressure.
Figure 6 indicates qualitatively the above and shows the effect of extra steam in the diffuser.
As pressure is reduced along line e-c-a, the operation is stable until point a is reached. At this point
the ejector capacity falls off rapidly along line a-b. As steam pressure is increased, stable operation
is not resumed until point d is reached and the capacity rises along line d-c. With further increases
it rises along c-e. This is the stable region. Operation in region c-a is unstable and the least drop in
pressure can cause the system to lose vacuum.
The relative location of points c and a can be controlled to some extent by ejector design; and the
points may not even exist for ejectors with low ratios of compression.
If the motive steam pressure is expected to be not stable the use of a steam pressure controller is
recommended.
A few degrees of superheat are recommended (from 3 up to 8 DEG. C), but if superheated steam
is to be used, its effect must be considered in the ejector design. A high degree of superheat is of
no advantage because the increase in available energy is offset by the decrease in steam density.
With surface condensers a high degree of superheat causes an increase of surfaces, and
therefore an increase in cost.
Wet steam erodes the ejector nozzle and interferes with performance by clogging the nozzle with
water droplets. The effect on performance is significant and it is usually reflected in fluctuating
vacuum.
When only wet steam is available it is absolutely necessary to utilize an efficient water separator
before the steam enters the nozzles.
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Fig. 7 Two stage ejector system with surface inter and after condensers section
Because the motive steam consumption of an ejector system increases exponentially as the
suction pressure decreases, care should be taken to avoid as far as possible pressure drops.
The length of the interconnecting piping should be reduced to the minimum value, the presence of
bellows or other devices that cause pressure drops should be avoided.
The piping diameter shall be larger or at least equal to the ejector system inlet diameter.
For the same reason excessive margin on suction pressure specification should be avoided.
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Fig. 8 Two stage ejector with barometric inter and after condensers section
For design purposes it is necessary to use absolute pressure. In plant operation pressures are
used as "vacuum". It is important to eliminate confusion before making a proper performance
analysis.
The capacity of an ejector is expressed as kilograms per hour total of non condensables plus
condensables to the inlet flange of the unit. For single stage the total flow rate and the mean
molecular weight of the mixture may be specified, for multistage units the total capacity must be
separated into kg/h of each non condensable with the molecular weight of each element, and Kg/h
of condensables with the physical property of each component. In some cases the condensation
curves of the mixture at different pressures may be necessary.
Few vacuum systems are completely airtight, although some may have extremely low leakage
rates. For the ideal system the only load for the ejector is the non-condensables of the process
(absorbed gases, air, etc.) plus the saturated vapor pressure equivalent of the process fluid.
Practice has proven what allowance must be made for air leakage.
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In an under vacuum system the following fluids are to be removed:
Air leakage occurs at piping connections (flanges, screwed fittings, valves), stuffing boxes,
mechanical equipment seals, etc... Whenever possible a system should be tested to determine air
leakage.
For new design and in situations where tests cannot be made, the recommended values of the
heat exchange institute should be followed. These are minimum safe values but a very tight
system will show better performances.
HEI give these values for ejectors serving surface condensers and the maximum air leakage
values for commercially tight process systems which do not enclose any agitator equipment. For
design purposes the ejector is usually purchased to operate on a load at about twice these values.
For systems with agitators and ordinary shaft seals, the system leakage should be increased by 2
kilograms of air per hour per agitator. If special seals are used this value may be reduced to 0.5.
The greater the number of rotating shafts which must be sealed to the outside atmosphere, the
more likely there will be the possibilities for increased leakage.
An alternate design for air inleakage used by some process engineers is H.E.I. curves for
commercially tight systems plus the summation obtained by examining the process system using
the factors in Table 1.
This method is considered to be conservative, however, as in general the incremental cost may be
a very small one between a unit hardly large enough and one with ample capacity to take surges in
air leakage.
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TABLE 1
______________________________________________________________________________
Petcocks 0.1
Safety valves and vacuum breakers, per inch of nominal size 0.5
______________________________________________________________________________
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Since the determination of air inleakage involves considerable knowledge of vacuum systems and
judgment, no empirical method can be expected to yield exact and correct values. Most
manufacturers use one of the methods presented here, together with a factor to account for the
basic type of plant, maintenance practices, operational tecniques of the production personnel, and
other related items. Thus, for a tight and efficient plant, the leakage values of H.E.I. may
sometimes be reduced to 0.5 - 0.75 of the values read, while for a sloppy, looserun plant the
values might be multiplied by 1.5 or 2 or the alternate method using table 1 may be checked or
even multiplied by 1.5 or 2.
It is necessary to point out that the lower the operating pressure of the plant the higher must be the
attention in the seal type selection in order to avoid as far as possible air inleakage. The above to
increase the steam economy.
When ejectors pull non-condensables and other vapors from a direct contact water condenser
(barometric, low level jet, deareator) there is also a release of dissolved gases, usually air, from
water.
This air must be added to the other known load of the ejector. Figure 16 presents the data for the
amount of air that can be expected to be released when cooling water is sprayed or otherwise
injected into open type barometric or similar equipment.
Due to the uncertainty in the air inleakage determination, generally the capacity is overdesigned,
this means that steam consumption may be higher than the necessary.
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Fig. 11 Performance curves in different operating conditions
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Because the steam consumption of the ejector system is independent from the flow rate of the
entrained fluids, but is only dependent from nozzle throat, the steam consumption is always
constant.
For this reason, when the air inleakage is difficult to extimate, it may be convenient to have for
each stage two ejectors in parallel designed for 1/3 and 2/3 of the maximum expected load. These
ejectors shall be isolated by valves on the motive steam inlet and on the suction. At the first start
up of the plant, if the mixture to handle is less than the maximum expected, one of the two ejectors
will be isolated. The steam and water economy so realised during only one year operation is often
greater than the extra costs due to the double ejectors.
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Fig. 14 System variation by varying motive steam pressure and back-pressure
Fig. 15 Effect of high discharge pressure Fig. 16 Released air from water
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2.5 SUCTION PRESSURE VERSUS CAPACITY RELATIONSHIP
Fig. 11 shows the variation in suction pressure caused by the variation of entrained fluids flow rate
in the hypothesis that all the other parameters are unchanged.
Figure 13 illustrates three different multistage ejector designs, 1, 2, and 3, which indicate that
design 1 is quite sensitive to changes in load above the design point. Designs 2 or 3 are less
sensitive. The curve extending towards point 4 shows the primary or first stage capacity when all
the vapor is condensed in the inter-condenser; or otherwise it shows the performance of the
system when it handles air or an air vapour mixture, in this case it shows the over capacity of the
secondary jet to take off all the non-condensables.
The curve labeled 1 indicates performance at overload when air-handling capacity of the
secondary stage is limited. This condition arises as a result of design for steam economy. If the
capacity of the secondary jets is larger, the performance along curve 2 or 3 can be expected.
When the secondary jet capacity is limited as curves 1, 2, or 3 indicate, a capacity increase brings
a rise in suction pressure when the load increase is mainly air or non - condensables.
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Fig. 18 Vacuum range guide
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2.6 DISCHARGE PRESSURE
The ejector systems with surface or barometric condensers shall be designed to operate with the
maximum expected cooling water temperature.
River or sea water or water cooled in a cooling tower are generally utilized for this service. All the
above types of waters have temperatures varying with the seasons.
Motive steam consumption and cooling water flow rate required by an ejector system is strongly
dependent on cooling water temperature.
If the entrained fluids are condensables this has a greater influence. In some cases motive steam
consumption can be double when operating with a cooling water at 30 °C instead of 15 °C.
Because the vacuum system is designed to operate with the higher expected coolant temperature,
when this temperature is lower, steam consumption can be reduced (within some limitations) by
reducing motive steam pressure.
Cooling water flow rate must be held constant, reduction can cause a lower vacuum. The
maximum water temperature at the outlet of a vacuum system is a function of the type of water.
This is mainly due to the presence in the water of carbonates, then in this case, above 40 °C, the
scaling may become a problem.
The fig. 18 is a guide for the number of stage selection. It is advisable to try to accomplish the
specific operation with as few ejectors as possible, since this leads to the most stable operation
and lowest first cost in the majority of cases.
By keeping into account suction pressure, discharge pressure, cooling water and steam cost,
we can perform an analysis in order to find the most economical system.
In some case it is convenient to use as a last stage a water ring pump. This is a way to reduce
energy costs.
The selection between a system with only ejectors or a mixed system must be analyzed for any
particular application because many parameters have influence on the energy and cost saving.
The emptying time i.e. the time necessary to make the vacuum in a system starting from
atmospheric pressure is related to:
- System volume
- Ejector capacity
- Final pressure
- Air inleakage from atmosphere and non condensables released by process fluids
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Usually in the continuous under vacuum operating systems the emptying time is not a problem and
the vacuum is reached by using the operating ejector system.
But if necessary an evacuation or hogging ejector is used to remove air from a system on start up.
Its capacity is set to bring the system pressure down to near operating condition before the
continuous operating ejector system takes over.
Usually the steam consumption of this type of ejector is considerably high but this is not a problem
because their operation is limited to a maximum of 1 or 2 hours.
2.10 NOISE
The ejectors directly exausting into the atmosphere without a final condenser produce a high noise
level.
This noise can reach 130/140 dB(A) at 1 m of distance.
A silencer can reduce this noise to 85 dB(A) at 1 m of distance.
The noise arising from a condenser equipped vacuum system can reach 90/95 dB(A) at 1 m of
distance.
But noise prediction is impossible because it is also dependent on the installation.
(i.e. a concrete support structure is better from this point of view than a steel support structure).
After installation, if the noise is over the maximum specified, the ejector system can be insulated
by rock wool and sometimes by reducing the induced vibrations to the support structure by means
of antivibration supports.
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3. INSTALLATION
When erecting a steam ejector unit it is essential to ensure that the condensers, when of the direct
contact type, are in the true vertical position (check with spirit level).
A distance of at least 1 m should be allowed above the upper part of the unit towards the roof or
ceiling to avoid difficulties in any possible dismantling. Furthermore the unit should always be
freely accessible.
It is important to allow enough space for removal of the water distributor parts of the condensers
and the changing of steam ejector driving nozzles. If large diameter steam pipelines are used up to
the individual ejectors then a short section of pipe should be inserted to facilitate the removal of the
driving nozzle when necessary (see Fig. 20).
This is also valid for the removal of water distributor parts in direct contact condensers (see Fig.
21).
When connecting the steam pipeline to the ejector itself ensure that the gaskets are in the correct
place.
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All pipelines connected to the unit must be clearly
arranged without any stress. The pipelines must
have at least the same inside diameter as the
connection on the unit. Gaskets must not under any
circumstance restrict the cross section of the pipe.
Wherever possible, the steam ejector unit should be
installed at a such height that the condensate
formed will flow from the condensers (which are
under vacuum) by its own weight.
This kind of installation is called barometric and has
the advantage that a water extraction pump is not
necessary.
Barometric installation requires a height of at least
11 m between the cooling water outlet flange of the
direct contact condenser and the water level of the
barometric warm water collector (see Fig. 23).
The barometric legs should lead vertically down to
the warm water collector. If this is not quite possible,
any deviation should be gradual and not exceed an
angle of 45°. Bends should be given the largest
possible radius.
Fig. 21 Cooling water pipe
Moreover it is advisable to have the warm water collector fitted with a drain cock at the lowest point
to allow complete emptying and cleaning.
The barometric warm water collector must not be made airtight or welded up, and if a lid is fitted, it
has to be provided with a sufficiently large vent connection and also this lid should be easily
removable for inspection purposes.
At short distance above the collector, each barometric leg should be fitted with a flange joint so
that it can be blanked off easily if it is necessary to make a pressure test.
In order to adjust the separate condensers for the most economic water consumption, the cooling
water outlet temperature must be measured. Thermometers should be fitted to the outlet pipes for
this purpose and care must be taken to avoid any restriction in these lines.
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Fig. 23 Barometric condensers installation
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