Effects of the number of inducer blades on the anti-cavitation characteristics and external performance of a centrifugal pump

XiaoMei Guo,ZuChao Zhu,BaoLing Cui,GaoPing Shi 대한기계학회 2016 JOURNAL OF MECHANICAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Vol.30 No.7

Installing an inducer upstream of the main impeller is an effective approach for improving the anti-cavitation performance of a highspeed centrifugal pump. For a high-speed centrifugal pump with an inducer, the number of inducer blades can affect its internal flow and external performance. We studied the manner in which the number of inducer blades can affect the anti-cavitation characteristics and external performance of a centrifugal pump. We first use the Rayleigh-Plesset equation and the mixture model to simulate the vaporliquid flow in a centrifugal pump with an inducer, and then predict its external performance. Finally, we tested the external performance of a centrifugal pump with 2-, 3- and 4-bladed inducers respectively. The results show that the simulations of external performance in a centrifugal pump are in accordance with our experiments. Based on this, we obtained vapor volume fraction distributions for the inducer, the impeller, and in the corresponding whole flow parts. We discovered that the vapor volume fraction of a centrifugal pump with a 3-bladed inducer is less than that of a centrifugal pump with 2- or 4-bladed inducers, which means that a centrifugal pump with a 3-bladed inducer has a better external and anti-cavitation performance.

Effect of the blade loading distribution on hydrodynamic performance of a centrifugal pump with cylindrical blades

Xiaojun Li,Panlong Gao,ZuChao Zhu,Yi Li 대한기계학회 2018 JOURNAL OF MECHANICAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Vol.32 No.3

The effect of the blade loading distribution on head, radial force and pressure pulsation of a low specific-speed centrifugal pump with cylindrical impeller blades were investigated in the present study. Blade shapes were obtained by adopting the 1D inverse design method, impellers with different blade loading curves were obtained while the distribution of the blade loading was carefully tailored. Threedimensional URANS simulation method based on the Shear stress transport (SST) k-ω turbulence model was employed for the analyzation of flow patterns. Numerical results including the pressure distribution and velocity profile were validated by comparing with the available experimental data, and an acceptable agreement was obtained. Three typical parameters of the blade loading curve, including the location of the fore-loading point (m pre ), location of the aft-loading point (m post ) and slope of the rectilinear segment (K), were analyzed. Results showed that the well-designed blade loading curve, such as the fore-loading impeller, can effectively reduce the pressure pulsation amplitude and the radial force. The significant effect of the variation of the aft-loading point on pump hydrodynamic performance was also investigated. Meanwhile, pressure and velocity distributions at different slopes of the blade loading curves show that the fore-loading impeller produces more uniform flow issuing from the impeller than that of the pump with aft-loading impeller, thus reduces the radial force and pressure pulsation of the pump.

Numerical and experimental investigations on the cavitation characteristics of a high-speed centrifugal pump with a splitter-blade inducer

XiaoMei Guo,Linhang Zhu,ZuChao Zhu,BaoLing Cui,Yi Li 대한기계학회 2015 JOURNAL OF MECHANICAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Vol.29 No.1

A high-speed centrifugal pump with a splitter-blade inducer is investigated in this work. The flow with rotating cavitation is numericallysimulated, external characteristics are subjected to experimental tests, and the internal flow is visualized. These procedures are conductedto obtain the pressure, velocity, and vapor volume fraction distribution in the inducer and the impeller of the centrifugal pump. Bubble occurrence, development, and collapse are also observed. The predicted H-Q and η-Q curves agree with the experimental resultsof external characteristics. The calculated vapor volume fraction also agrees with the experimental results obtained from the visualizationsystem. The mechanism of bubble evolution and the anti-cavitation performance of the high-speed centrifugal pump with a splitter-bladeinducer are clearly elucidated.

An experimental study on the cavitation vibration characteristics of a centrifugal pump at normal flow rate

Yi Li,Guangwei Feng,Xiaojun Li,Qiaorui Si,ZuChao Zhu 대한기계학회 2018 JOURNAL OF MECHANICAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Vol.32 No.10

Cavitation is a challenging flow abnormality that leads to undesirable effects on the energy performance of the centrifugal pump and the reliable operation of the pump system. The onset and mechanism of a phenomenon that results in unsteady cavitation must be realised to ensure a reliable operation of pumps under the cavitation state. This study focuses on cavitation instability at normal flow rate, at which point the unsteady cavitation occurs as the available net positive suction head (NPSHa) falls below 5.61 m for the researched pump. An ameliorative algorithm–united algorithm for cavitation vibration analysis is proposed on the basis of short time Fourier transform (STFT) and Wigner–Ville distribution (WVD). The STFT–WVD method is then tested using vibration data measured from the centrifugal pump. The relationship between vibration and suction performance indicates that the inception and development of cavitation can be effectively detected by the distribution and intensity of the united algorithm at the testing points. Intermediate frequency components at approximately 6 kHz fluctuate initially with the development of cavitation. A time–frequency characteristic is found to be conducive to monitoring the cavitation performance of centrifugal pumps.

Effects of clearance flow on the characteristics of centrifugal pump under low flow rate

Lulu Zheng,Xiaoping Chen,Hua-Shu Dou,Wei Zhang,ZuChao Zhu,Xueli Cheng 대한기계학회 2020 JOURNAL OF MECHANICAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Vol.34 No.1

The Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes equations and the shear stress transport k-ω turbulence model are employed to simulate the centrifugal pump with or without clearance flows. The simulation results have been compared with the experimental data and good agreement has been achieved. Results show that clearance flow causes a decrease in the characteristics of the centrifugal pump, particularly in pressure fluctuation. The largest deviation of the amplitude of pressure fluctuation between the centrifugal pump with and without clearance flow is 65.34 %. The numerical results also show that the clearance flow causes collision impact with the mainstream flow and forms a multiple vortex structure at the impeller entrance. Clearance flow greatly affects the pressure distribution in the impeller passage, which is opposite to the volute tongue, especially at the suction side of the blade surface. The wave distribution decreases along the direction of the hub to the shroud, which indicating that the influence of clearance flow weakens along this direction.

Instability analysis under part-load conditions in centrifugal pump

Weixiang Ye,Renfang Huang,Zhiwu Jiang,Xiaojun Li,ZuChao Zhu,Xianwu Luo 대한기계학회 2019 JOURNAL OF MECHANICAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Vol.33 No.1

In this study, a centrifugal pump with a specific speed of 39.12 m×min -1 ×m 3 s -1 is treated to analyze the flow instability under part-load conditions by numerical simulation and experimental test. For calculations, the RANS method, coupled with the k-ω SST turbulence model, is adopted. Numerical results at different operation points are compared with available experimental data, such as hydraulic performance and flow field information by particle image velocimetry. The numerical and experiment results agree well. The flow simulation indicates a strong reverse flow at the passage upstream impeller inlet, and the energy loss in the impeller is the largest under partload conditions among all flow components in the pump. In one impeller revolution, one blade-to-blade flow passage is always nearly blocked off by the rotating stall occurring at the impeller inlet for each instant, and the blockage induces a jet flow with large velocity at the next blade-to-blade flow passage along the rotational direction of the impeller. The blockage and the jet flow in the blade-to-blade flow passages will make the flow unstable inside the impeller and cause performance breakdown and pressure vibration under part-load conditions for the pump.

Numerical simulation and analysis of flow characteristics in the front chamber of a centrifugal pump

Yang Wu,Xiaoping Chen,Hua-Shu Dou,Lulu Zheng,ZuChao Zhu,BaoLing Cui,Boo Cheong Khoo 대한기계학회 2017 JOURNAL OF MECHANICAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Vol.31 No.11

We performed numerical simulations to study the flow characteristic in a centrifugal pump based on the RANS equations and the RNG k-ε turbulent model. The flow field, including the front and back pump chambers, the impeller wear-ring, the impeller passage, the volute casing, the inlet section and outlet section was calculated to obtain accurate numerical results of fluid flow in a centrifugal pump. The flow characteristic was studied from the internal flow structure in pump chambers, the radial velocity at impeller outlet as well as the pressure inside of the pump, the circumferential velocity and the radial velocity in front pump chamber. The variation of flow parameters in internal flow versus flow rate in the centrifugal pump was analyzed. The results show that the overall performance of the pump is in good agreement with the experimental data. The simulation results show that the distribution of flow field in the front pump chamber is axial asymmetry. The energy dissipation at the impeller outlet is larger than other areas. The distribution of the circumferential velocity and that of radial velocity are similar along the axial direction in the front pump chamber, but the distribution of flow is different along the circumferential and the radial directions. It was also found that the vorticity is large at the impeller inlet compared with other areas.

Analysis of particle motion and wear characteristics for mixed particle sizes in centrifugal pumps

Yi Li,Haiyang Zhang,Zhe Lin,Guang Zhang,ZuChao Zhu 대한기계학회 2023 JOURNAL OF MECHANICAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Vol.37 No.9

In this study, we investigated the effect of particle size distribution (PSD) variations on the particle motion characteristics and wear in centrifugal pumps. We used computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and the discrete element method (DEM) to conduct simulations for one single particle size and five mixed particle sizes. The variation of the PSD had a significant effect on the wear rate of the impeller pressure surface and the volute surface. When the proportion of small particles near the impeller increased, the wear rate decreased. Specifically, at the middle of the impeller, the wear rate changed the most significantly. For volute surfaces 6-7 and 7-8 and the diffusion section, the velocity vectors of the near-wall volute surface showed a greater accumulation of small particles, and the buffering effect on the impact of large particles increased. Thus, the addition of small particles caused the wear rate of the volute surface to decrease.