DESALINATION

ELSEWIER

Investigation flow patterns model flash

evaporation chamber PIV measurement

W.X.Jin”, SC Low
School of ~e~~ni~~~ and Prodwtiort Engineering Naqyang TechnoIo~cffl Universi fy, Singapore 639798
email: mwxjin@ntu.edu.sg

Received 18 May 200 1; accepted 10 January 2002

Abstract
An e~r~en~ system with a assent flash elision chamber was set up in this work to simulate the single
phase seawater flow inthe flash stage in the multi-stage flash (MSF) deviation preps. The flash evaporation chamber
is 300 mm in height x 823.8 mm in length x 40 mm in width and was designed to be able to nm under flash evaporation
flow conditions. The whole field fluid flow velocity vectors in the chamber were measured using a particle image
velocimetry (PIV) system to study the effects of main flow parameters such as water level and flow rate on flow patterns.
The fluid flow in the chamber was also numerically simulated using a two-dimensional k-epsilon turbulent flow model.
The measured f&e surface profiles and inlet gate velocity distributions were used as the boundary conditions. The
streamlines were generated directly fiorn the velocity vectors using the TECPLOT software package. The simulated
results were compared with the measured data. The results show that a large recirculation region with several vortices
embedded would be generated at a higher water level or at a larger flow rate.

K&W&K h4SF desaliition; Flash evaporation; PIV; Numerical simulation; Flow pattern

1. Introduction
The multi-stage flash (MSF) desalination
process is one of the most widely used methods
to produce fresh water for both industrial and
domestic usage. The flashing chamber is a key
element in the MSF process, and it runs on the
*Co~esponding author.
principle of distillation [l]. The seawater is
firstly heated by water vapor inside the heat
recovery section and by steam in the heat-input
section. Then, the seawater flows into the flash
stages with temperature higher than its boiling
temperature because of the lower vacuum
pressure in these stages. A typical MSF flash
chamber is shown in Fig. 1. In each flash stage,

001 l-9164/02/% See iiont matter 0 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved
PII:SOO11-9164(02)00929-3
 W.X. Jin. S. C. Low/Desalination
Brim
Fiow-out
- a
Fig. 1. A typical MSF flash chamber.
the flash evaporation process occurs. Bubbles
grow and move rapidly in the brine and burst on
the free surface to generate water vapor. The
generated vapor flow passes the demister and
condenses in the tube bundles, The left brine
flows to the next flash stage. So the fluid flow
inside the chamber is a very complex heat and
mass transfer process involving open-channel
turbulent flow, two-phase liquid-vapor flow and
bubble dynamics.
The flash evaporation flow in the MSF flash
stage is normally developed from the non-
flashing single-ph~e flow by decreasing the
pressure, and its ilow pattern will affect the
thermal performance of the flash stage. When the
liquid superheat is small, the effect of the bubble
generation on the flashing flow pattern is limited.
Many experimental and numerical studies on
single-phase flow patterns inside the flash
evaporation chamber have been reported. Flow
visualization and measurement of temperature
and pressure showed that the flow pattern inside
the flash chamber is essentially a kind of an
open-channel submerged hydraulic jump with a
wavy free surface and recirculation region near
the inlet gate [2,3]. The local velocities of the
non-flashing water flow in a flash chamber were
measured using a photographic technique, and
the single-phase flow was simulated with a
mixing length turbulence model [4]. Besides the
visualization of the flow patterns, a two-phase
turbulent flow model was developed to study the
bubble trajectories inside the chamber [5,6].
150 (2002) 51-63
Because of the complexities involved in the heat
and mass transfer process during the flash evapo-
ration, detailed measu~ment of the entire flow
field, including the velocity vectors and bubble
behaviors, was beyond the scope of many pre-
vious works.
In this study, a model flash evaporation
chamber was designed and built to simulate the
typical MSF flash chamber flow. The field velo-
city vectors were measured using particle image
velocimetry (PIV) to study the effects of the flow
parameters on the single-phase flow patterns in
the chamber. The main p~~eters included the
flow rate and water level. The fluid flow in the
chamber was also simulated with a two-dimen-
sional k-epsilon turbulent model, and the simu-
lated results were compared with the measured
data.
2. Experimental set-up
This is the first part of the experimental work
to investigate the fluid flow in a model flash
evaporation chamber. This flash evaporation
chamber was designed to experimentally simulate
both the non-flashing (single-phase) water flow
and the flash evaporation (multi-phase) flow in a
MSF process. The experimental set-up is shown
schematically in Fig. 2. It was designed such that
it is able to run at a flow rate of 1.Okg/s and at a
temperature of 60°C and at a absolute pressure of
200 mbar. To allow easier optical access, the
flash chamber was consorted from 1.O”-thick,
clear and ~~sparent PERSPEX sheets. The
dimensions of the flash chamber are 300 mm
(height) x 823.8 mm (length) x 40 mm (width).
The designed test rig is operated at two different
pressure levels. In the single-phase experimental
test, the pressure inside the flash chamber is at
atmospheric conditions. In the multi-phase
experiment, the whole system is in sub-atmos-
pheric pressure controlled by a vacuum pump.
 W.X. Jin, S.C. Low /Desalination I50 (2002) 51-63
CI
Fig. 2. Schematic of the experimental set-up (including the arrangement for the particle image velocimetry).
The PIV is the Dantec Flow~ap system. It
consists of four family groups: the illumination
system, CCD camera, PIV 2000 processor, and
FlowManager software. In the illumination sys-
tem, a green laser light beam at a = 532 nm is
generated by a double pulsed (at 500 mJ)
Continuum Nd:YAG laser. The laser light beam
is tr~sfo~ed into a laser light sheet through a
cylindrical lens. The laser light path is designed
to come from the top of the flash chamber
through a reflective mirror.
The velocity of the seeding particle in the
flow can be calculated using the following
equation after PIV analyzed the two images taken
by the CCD camera:
v= As
MxA$
where V is the seeding particle velocity, AS is the
seeding particle displacement during the time
interval, At is the time intervat between two
images, and Mis the magnification of the images.
53
CyIindrical lens
So the accuracy of velocity measurement depends
upon the accuracy in measuring the image dis-
placement and the magnification of images by the
PIV optical components and the accuracy in
determining the time interval between successive
images. There are three agencies that cause the
magnification in an experiment to vary. The first
is design imperfection in the lens. The second is
refraction caused by anything, including windows
and fluid interfaces, that lies between the object
plane in the illuminating light sheet and the
image plane. The third is misalignment of the
image recording plane with respect to the object
plane. The errors in measuring the magnification
and determining the time interval are typically
al%. The image displacement is usually
computed using the cross-correlation or auto-
(1)
correlation method by the PIV image analysis
software. PIV evaluation errors were found to be
extremely small given very high image quality.
The accuracy of the measured liquid velocity
also depends on the accuracy with which particle
displacements are equal to fluid displacements.
When using effective seeding particles, the
measured seeding particle velocity can be
assumed to be equal to the fluid flow velocity. In
this measurement, a polystyrene sphere was
selected as the seeding particles. The range of the
seeding particle size is 125 pm to 400 pm; the
material density is 1050 kg/m3.
The PIV system should be properly set in
order to obtain high-resolution, high-contrast
particle images and good me~u~ng results. It
includes the software of system parameters and
the hardware arrangement between the test rig,
the illumination system and CCD camera. In this
experimental measurement, the width of the laser
light sheet in the water was constant by fixing the
distance between the flash chamber and the PIV
cylindrical lens. But the laser line mirror and the
PIV cylinder lens can move along the horizontal
position to illuminate the different regions. Main
PIV settings were the scale factor and time
between two laser pulses. The scale factor of a
CCD camera is equal to object size over chip
size. In this PIV measuring system, the resolution
of the CCD chip is 768 by 484, and the size is
8.9 mm by 6.6 mm. So if the object height is
117 mm, the scale factor S is equal to 17.775.
The time difference between pulses is one of
the most important PIV system parameters. It
controls the quality of the particle images and the
effectiveness of the image processing software.
The image size of a particle is determined by two
factors: the geometric magnification and the
diffraction in the optical aperture of the camera.
The effective diameter of the particle image is
given by
de=/= (2)
where dg =M x dputiclcand d, = 2.44 (M+l) Fh,
where M= l/S is the magnification, F = ffDA is
the F-number calculated from the focal length of
the camera lensfand the diameter of the camera
aperture DA.
The time difference between pulses tbpshould
in general be long enough to let the particle move
a few particle-diameter distances (or a few pixels
for autocorrelation).
3.5 xd,
tbp ’ (3)
&tidexM
At the same time, the maximum particle image
displacement on the CCD chip should be less
than a quarter of the interrogation size Zintcrrogation
(32 x 32 pixels size used in this experiment).
t < x4lwrogafi*n
o-25
bp (4)
xM
J&tidi?
For dpticlc= 250 pm, Vpticle= 1.Om/s, M= l/18,
d, is equal to 15.9 l&and the range of the time
difference between pulses is from 1.Oto 1.67 ms.
The original PIV measurement data are the
image maps taken by CCD camera. They are
saved as picture files in the database. After
obtaining the image maps, the raw velocity vector
maps can be produced immediately using auto-
correlation or gross-~o~elation processing
methods. The last step is to present the experi-
mental results in a comprehensible form by
selecting data analysis methods in the PIV
system. The data analysis methods include the
validation, filtering, and derivation for vorticity,
strain, and streamlines.
3. Mathematical method
The single-phase flow patterns in the model
flash evaporation chamber were also simulated
with numerical methods. A two-dimensional
steady state standard k-s turbulent flow model
was used to calculate the distribution of fluid
flow parameters [5]. The liquid parameters of
two velocities, turbulence kinetic energy, dissi-
pation rate of turbulence kinetic energy, temp-
 W.X. Jin, S.C. Low /Desalination 150 (2002) 51-63

erature, and pressure were solved by the Table 1

following equations of continui~ equation, two Constants of the R-Emulct flow model
momentum equations, k-equation, e-equation.
and an energy equation:
l Continuity equation:
I.44 1.92 0.09 1.0 0.5 0.41

a@uJ
= 0
(5) where
ax, k2
P,=PC,T
l Two momentum equations:

(6)
=(c2-&y
Oe (12)

atij
+-a
axj
cr
i c”iq 1 , (i=irl’) The constants of the turbulent flow model are
listed in Table 1.
The effect of the static hydraulic pressure was
l k-equation: included in the pressure term in the momentum
equations. There are three main boundaries: inlet
and outlet gates, free surface, and solid walls.
The log-law was used for the boundary layer near
the walls. The “dynamic boundary condition” and
(7) “kinematic boundary condition” were applied for
the free surface boundary. The “kinematic bound-
ary condition” can be explained that the vertical
to horizontal liquid velocities on the free surface
l a-equation: must be equal to the ratio of the slope of the free
surface. In this study, the free surface shape

+, ay k t axj
obtained from the experimental measurement was
introduced as a boundary condition.

(8)
a2_++atij e2 4. Results and discussion

i
- -C’Pt
axj axi I 4.I. Experimental
In this experimental test rig, the water flow
l energy equation: from the submerged inlet gate into the chamber
forms a hydraulic jump near the inlet gate. This
kind of hydraulic jump can be a free jump, a
a(puiJT)a --kff aT =.
(9) submerged jump, or a plane turbulent wall jet,
i3Xj -q at axj depending on its inlet gate height, inlet velocity,
i i
56 W.X. Jin, S.C. Low /Desalination
Fig. 3. Original PIV image map (above) and velocity
vectors (below).
and tailor water depth [7]. So the water level,
inlet gate height and flow rate were selected as
the independent variables in this project to study
the velocity distributions and flow patterns of the
single-phase water flow in the model flash evapo-
ration chamber. Due to the limitation of the laser
light sheet width and the m~imum object size
that the CCD camera can capture, the flash
chamber was divided into five measuring regions
along its longitudinal direction. For each experi-
ment, ail five regions were measured. The main
direct measurement results from the PIV system
are PIV image maps and velocity vectors. The
free surface curves at different flow conditions
were obtained from the original PIV image maps
that were captured by the CCD camera. The velo-
city vectors for the five regions were calculated
150 (2002) 51-43
by the PIV system from the original image maps.
The streamlines of the entire field at different
flow conditions were const~cted from the
measured velocity vectors. One of the original
PIV image maps captured by the CCD camera
and the velocity vectors are shown in Fig. 3.
Using the image processing software, the
points representing the free surface can be
obtained directly from the image maps. One of
the measured free surface profiles of the whole
flow region is shown in Fig. 4. The free surface
shape is determined theoretically by the flow
rate, inlet gate height and water level inside the
chamber. But it can be seen from the experi-
mental results that the shape of the free surface
can be considered uniform when the water level
is high enough or the flow rate is low enough.
The velocity vectors and streamlines of the
whole flow field at three different water levels
are shown in Figs. 5-7. In each water level, the
velocity vectors and streamlines of the entire
flow field at three different flow rates were also
measured and compared. With the same flow rate
and inlet gate height, the water level is clearly
shown to have an effect on the size and the shape
of the recircuIation region near the inlet gate. The
recirculation length for the water level of
117 mm in Fig. 7(a) is about 0.65 m, for the
water level of 97 mm in Fig. 6(a) it is about
0.4 m, and for the water level of 75 mm in
Fig. 5(a) it is about 0.2 m. It can be seen that the
higher the water level, the larger the recirculation
region with more vortices.
Numerical simulations were performed to
study the effect of flow parameters such as the
flow rate and water level on the flow patterns in
the model flash evaporation chamber.
4.2.X. Comparison with experimental data
In order to compare with the experimental
results, the water flow was simulated using the
 57

400 8OOmm
Fig. 4. Measured free surface profile.

(a) 70

0 ^__._ -.
400 800 mm

@I 70

---
400 800 mm

(cl 70

0
400 800 mm
Fig. 5. Whole field velocity vectors and streamlines {inlet gate height: 50 mm, outlet gate height: 50 mm, averaged water
level: 75 mm). Flow rates, kg/s: (a) 0.99; (b) 0.88; (c) 0.72.

100
(4

0
400 800 mm

100
09

0
m
100
Cc)

0
400 800 mm
Fig. 6. Whole field velocity vectors and streamlines (inlet gate height: 50 mm, outlet gate height: 50 mm, averaged water
level: 97 mm). Flow rates as in Fig. 5.
 ”

400 800 mm

0
400 ‘800 mm

01, .-- --/“i’--. 3

400 800 mm

Fig. 7. Whole field velocity vectors and streamlines (inlet gate height: 50 mm, outlet gate height: 50 mm, averaged water
level: 117 mm). Flow rates as in Fig. 5.

70

400
Fig. 8. Velocity vectors and streamlines with measured inlet velocity (water level: 75 mm; flow rate: 0.99 k&s).

measured data such as the free surface profile and
the inlet velocity distribution. The measured free
surface profile, such as shown in Fig. 4, was fur-
ther approximated using a ninth-order polynomial
before it cau be applied as one of the boundary
conditions in the numerical simulation. The inlet
velocity distribution is mainly determined by the
inlet concretion of the chamber. The velocity
dis~ibution function at the inlet gate was ob-
tained by fitting the experimental data using a
third-order polynomial. In this numerical simu-
lation, the velocity at the solid wall was set to
zero because of use of the laws of the wall (such
as no slip and no penetration).
The water flow with measured inlet velocity
distributions at the water level of 75 mm, flow
rate of 0.99 kg/s and inlet gate height of 50 mm
was firstly simulated. All the field numerical
simulated velocity vectors with measured inlet
velocity distribution are shown in Fig. 8. Com-
 WX. Jin, SC. Low /~e~~Ii~ation 150 (2002) 51-63
paring all the field velocity vectors measured, we
can see that both have larger velocities near the
inlet gate and bottom wall, and the velocities of
the flow at the recirculating region are actually
quite small compared to the averaged inlet
velocity. However, the velocity vectors change
regularly and can form clear vortices for the
computed one at the recirculating region. For the
measured one, the velocity vectors at the recir-
culating region change irregularly and the formed
vortices are not clear.
It also can be seen from Fig. 8 that the length
of the recirculating region was about 0.26 m,
which was very close to the one for the measured
data. It also can be seen that there were three
main vortices in the recirculation flow region.
This is identical with the observations obtained
from the experimental studies. The simulated
flow pattern is similar to the measured one. Using
the measured velocity distribution function at the
inlet gate is a good method to predict the single-
phase flow pattern inside the flash chamber.
The comparison of the measured and simu-
lated velocity data at the middle of the chamber
length is shown in Fig. 9. The measured velo-
cities at n = 0.399 m (near the middle point of the
chamber length) were selected to compare with
the velocities obtained through the numerical
simulation. The comparison shows that the two
velocity profiles are identical to each other and
the m~imum difference is below lo%, except
the region near the flow surface. In this experi-
ment, it is very difficult to measure the velocity
vectors near the boundaries using the PIV system
because of the limitation of the PIV scale factor.
The velocity distribution at the inlet gate is one
of the main error sources because it is one of the
four boundary comers. Another one is the effect
of the wave on the free surface. Actually, the
numerical simulated flow is the steady flow and
the measured flow is not the steady flow. The
methods to improve the measurement accuracy
include creating a more steady flow at the inlet
59
10
00 -+-Simulated
50
-Measured
40
3a
20
10
_.
a 0.1 02 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7
lJ fmw
Fig. 9. Comparison of the measured and simulated
velocities at x = 0.399 m.
gate and using a larger PIV magni~cation factor
to get a more detailed velocity dis~ibution.
4.2.2. Eflectof inletgate velocity distributions
on thejow patterns
The effect of the inlet velocity dis~ibution on
the flow pattern was studied. The water flow with
uniform and measured inlet velocity distributions
at the water level of 75 mm, flow rate of
0.99 kg/s and inlet gate height of 50 mm were
compared. The streamlines with uniform inlet
velocity dis~ibution are shown in Fig. 10.
Comparing the streamlines in Fig. 8, it can be
seen that the length of the recirculating region for
the uniform inlet velocity distribution was less
than 0.1 m, and there was only one vortex in the
recirculation flow region. So the inlet velocity
distribution has a large effect on the whole field
velocity dis~ibution, and the assumption of the
uniform velocity distribution at the inlet gate in
the numerical simulation is unacceptable for the
inlet gate design in this experiment.
4.2.3. E%fectofinlet gate heights on flow
patterns
The flow patterns under two different inlet
gate heights (i.e., 50 mm, and 20 mm) were
measured by the experimental to study the effect
60 W.X. Jin, SC. Low /Desalination 150 (2002) 51-63

400 - ” 800 mm
Fig. 10. Streamlines with uniform inlet gate velocity (flow rate: 0.99 kg/s, averaged water level: 75 mm).

0 400 800 mm

Fig. 11. Effect of inlet velocity distributions on fluid flow pattern (inlet height: 20 mm, outlet height: 50 mm; flow rate:
0.99 kg/s; averaged level: 75 mm).

of the inlet gate height. In the numerical simu-
lation, the measured free surface profile was used
as the free surface boundary and the measured
velocity profile was used in the inlet gate. The
simulated velocity vectors and streamlines for the
inlet gate height of 20 mm are shown in Fig. 11.
For the flow conditions in Figs. 8 and 11, all of
the main flow parameters were set to be same
except the inlet gate heights. They had the same
flow rate of 0.99 kg/s and average water level of
75 mm.
It can be seen from the two figures that the
free surface profile for the inlet gate height of
20 mm is wavier and the recirculating region size
is larger. This is because a lower inlet gate has a
higher inlet velocity when they have the same
water leve1 and flow rate. In Fig. 11, the recir-
culating region length is about 0.46 m.
For the inlet gate height of 20 mm, the wavier
free surface was also observed in the experi-
mental measurement. When decreasing the water
level, the free surface became more turbulent and
finally a water jet would be formed.
4.2.4. E#ect of water levels on fIow patterns
The effects ofthree different water levels (Le.,
75 mm, 97 mm, and 117 mm} on the single-phase
flow patterns were also studied. All the other
flow conditions such as the flow rate and inlet
gate height were kept constant. The flow rate was
0.99 kg/s and the inlet gate height was 50 mm.
AAer being fitted with ninth-order poly-
nomials, the measured free surface profiles for
water levels of 75 mm and 97 mm were used as
the free surface boundaries in the computational
domain. For a water level of 117 mm, the free
surface was considered to be a plane. Using the
boundary conditions described, the water flows
were simulated to study the effects of the inlet
velocity distribution on the water flow patterns.
The simulated velocity vectors and streamlines
for the water levels of 97 mm and 117 mm are
shown in Fig. 12. The estimated recirculating
region lengths are listed in Table 2.
The measured recirculating lengths in Table 2
were estimated from Figs. 5-7. The results show
that the simulated recirculating lengths were
 W.X. Jin, XC. Low ~Des~~~~~io~ 150 (2002) 51-63 61

Fig. 12. Effect of water levels on the water flow patterns (inlet gate height: 50 mm; flow rate: 0.99 kg/s). Streamlines
(using measured inlet velocity, averaged water level: (a) 97 mm; (b) 117 mm).

Table 2 region. For the water levels of 97 mm and

Comparison of recirculating region lengths for three 117 mm as shown in the simulated streamlines in
different water levels Fig. 12(a) and 12(b), only one vortex in each
recirculating region was predicted. But for the
Water level, mm measuredstreamlines inFigs. 6(a) and 7(a), more
117
vortices inside the recirculating region were
Recirculating 7.5 97
length, m detected by the PIV measuring system. This may
._ .___.._ ._-._-_..-_. _ - - __, ._ - “..__._
.__.
__~ be caused by the non-~ifo~~ow distribution in
Measured 0.25 0.40 0.65 the chamber width direction in the experimental
Simulated 0.26 0.44 0.60 measurements. More vortices at higher water
levels may be predicted when the mathematical
close to the measured recirculating lengths. Both models have been improved to be able to
the simuIated and measured results show that the simulate the three-dimensional problem.
recirculating region increases when the water
level is increased. It may be caused by an 4.2.5. Eflecctofflow rates o~~owpatter~
increase of the ratio of the water level to the inlet Water flow rate is one of the main par~ete~
gate height. The higher the ratio of the water used to determine the flow pattern in the flash
level to the inlet gate height, the more the water chamber. The effect of flow rate on flow pattern
will be recirculated above the inlet gate flow. The was studied through numerical simulation and
larger recirculating region means a larger amount compared with the experimental data. Three flow
of water recirculating in the flash chamber. rates of 0.99,0.88 and 0.72 kg/s were tested with
Fig. 8 shows the whole field velocity vectors a water level of 75 mm and inlet gate height of
and streamlines for a water level of 75 mm using 50 mm. Using the same data processing method,
the measured velocity distribution at the inlet the velocity distributions at the inlet gate were
gate. The vortices were found in the recirculation determined. The free surface profiles are fitted
 W.X. An, S.C. Low /Desalination 150 (2002) 51-63

Fig. 13. Effect of the flow rate on the flow pattern (inlet gate height: 50 mm; averaged water levef: 75 mm). Streamlines
(flow rates: (a) 0.88 kg/s; (b) 0.72 kg/s).

Table 3 also can be seen that the effect of the water level
Comparison of recirculating region lengths for three on the pattern is larger than the effect of the flow
different flow rates rate.

Water flow rate, kg/s

5. Conclusions
Recirculating 0.99 0.88 0.72
length, m The velocity distributions of the single-phase
water flow inside a model flash evaporation
Measured 0.25 0.23 0.21 chamber was measured using PIV and simulated
Simulated 0.26 0.24 0.20 with a k-c turbulent flow model to determine the
effect of the flow conditions on the flow patterns.
PIV measurement provides a useful method to
with ninth-order polynomials. The measured obtain whole field velocity vectors and to study
coefficients of the inlet velocity distribution the flow patterns in a large flow field. Its
functions and the fitted free surface profiles were accuracy depends on the CCD chip solution and
used as input data to simulate the effect of the the size of the flow field to be measured. A
water flow rates on the single-phase flow higher CCD chip solution with a greater magnifi-
patterns. The simulated velocity vectors and cation factor can obtain more accurate and
streamlines for the flow rates of 0.88 kg/s and detailed measurement results.
0.72 kg/s are shown in Fig. 13. The estimated Both the measured and numerical simulated
lengths of the recirculating region for those three results for the single-phase flow in the flash
flow conditions are listed in Table 3. chamber show that there is a recirculating region
It was found from Figs. 9, 13(a), 13(b) and near the inlet gate with vortices. The size of the
from Table 3 that the recirculating length was recirculating region and the vortex number varied
decreased when reducing the inlet flow rate. It with flow conditions. The flow parameters such
 W.X. Jin, S.C. Low /Desalination I50 (2002) 5163 63

as the flow rate, inlet velocity distribution, inlet c1 -

gate height, and the water level exhibited signi- hII -
ficant effects on the single-phase flow patterns in Pr -
the flash evaporation chamber. Besides the above v -
flow parameters, the configurations of the flash K -
chamber such as the inlet gate profile and using P -
baffle near the inlet gate also have large effects 0 -

on the flow patterns, which will be studied in the Ok,0, -

future. I. -

6. Symbols

G, G,
CP - Turbulence model constants
4 - Effective diameter of the particle
image
4 - Geometric diameter of the particle
image
dptic,c - Particle diameter
DA - Diameter of the camera aperture
F - F-number of the camera
k - Turbulence kinetic energy References
P - Pressure
AS - Seeding particle displacement VI A.H. Khan, Desalination Processes and Multistage
FlashDistillationPractice, Elsevier,New York, 1986.
At- Time interval N. Lior and R. Greif, Desalination, 30 (1980) 269
PI
tbp - Time between of two laser pulses 286.
T - Temperature E31 N. Lior and E. Nishiyama, Desalination, 45 (1983)
u,u - Velocity in x direction 23 l-240.
y,v - Velocity in y direction r41 0. Miyatake,T. Hashimoto and N. Lior, J. Heat Mass
x,x - Longitude coordinate Transfer, 35 (1992) 3245-3257.
Y,Y - Vertical coordinate PI K.W. Seul and S.Y. Lee, Desalination, 79 (1990)
13-35.
GrC?#?k I61 K.W. Seui and S.Y. Lee, Desalination, 85 (1992)
161-177.
& - Dissipation rate of turbulence [71 S. Wu and N. Rajaratnam, J. Hydraulic Res., 33
kinetic energy (1995) 197-212.