Effect of Flow Directions on Multiphase Flow Boiling Heat Transfer Enhanced by Suspending Particles in a Circulating Evaporation System

A circulating fluidized bed evaporator (including down-flow, horizontal, and up-flow beds) was constructed to study the effect of flow directions on multiphase flow boiling heat transfer. A range of experimental investigations were carried out by varying amount of added particles (0–2%), circulation flow rate (2.15–5.16 m 3 /h) and heat flux (8–16 kW/m 2 ). The comparison of heat transfer performance in different vertical heights of the horizontal bed was also discussed. Results reveal that the glass bead particle can enhance heat transfer compared with vapor–liquid two-phase flow for all beds. At a low heat flux ( q = 8 kW/m 2 ), the heat-transfer-enhancing factor of the horizontal bed is obviously greater than those of the up-flow and down-flow beds. With the increase in the amount of added particles, the heat-transfer-enhancing factors of the up-flow and down-flow beds increase, whereas that of the horizontal bed initially increases and then decreases. However, at a high heat flux ( q = 16 kW/m 2 ), the heat-transfer-enhancing factors of the three beds show an increasing tendency with the increase in the amount of added particles and become closer than those at a low heat flux. For all beds, the heat-transfer-enhancing factor generally increases with the circulation flow rate but decreases with the increase in heat flux.