Experimental investigation on the distribution uniformity and pressure drop of perforated plate distributors for the innovative spray-type packed bed thermal storage

As an innovative thermal energy technology, the spray-type packed bed has advantages of high efficiency and low cost. A liquid distributor is the key component for the spray-type packed bed for scattering heat-transfer liquid drops evenly. In this study, the distribution performance and pressure drop of the perforated plate distributors of different orifice diameters were studied experimentally. The experimental results indicate that orifice diameter has a greater effect on the distribution performance compared to flow rate. With an increase in flow rate, the flow pattern through the distributor changes from the uncovered drop to the covered drop and then to the jet flow. The covered drop pattern shows the best performance with a good distribution and a small pressure drop simultaneously, which is the design and optimization principle of the distributor for a spray-type packed bed.