scholarly journals Numerical study on pressure fluctuation of a multistage centrifugal pump based on whole flow field

AIP Advances ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 035118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chuan Wang ◽  
Xiaoke He ◽  
Weidong Shi ◽  
Xikun Wang ◽  
Xiuli Wang ◽  
...  
2020 ◽  
Vol 142 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolas Casimir ◽  
Xiangyuan Zhu ◽  
Markus Hundshagen ◽  
Gerhard Ludwig ◽  
Romuald Skoda

Abstract Three-dimensional (3D) unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (URANS) flow simulations are conducted to investigate the highly unsteady flow field at part load operation of a centrifugal pump. By the availability of unsteady flow field measurement data in the impeller wake region, a thorough validation of the simulation method is performed. Grid independence of the results is ensured. Unsteady characteristics in terms of head and shaft power as well as transient blade loads are evaluated to assess the unsteady pump performance. Significant mis-loading of the blading is revealed when one blade passes the volute tongue and associated with the strong unsteady and 3D flow field in the impeller-volute tongue region. Negative radial velocity in the tongue region is the origin of a vortex at the blade pressure side and a subsequent pressure drop that leads to even temporally negative blade loading. The results provide a detailed insight in the complex part load flow field that might be utilized for an improved pump design. As a valuable secondary outcome, a comparison of results obtained by two widely used computational fluid dynamics (CFD) codes for pump flow simulation is provided, i.e., the commercial code ansyscfx and the branch foam-extend of the open source software openfoam. It is found that the results of both methods in terms of unsteady characteristics as well as local ensemble-averaged velocity field are consistent.


Author(s):  
Xiangyuan Zhu ◽  
Fen Lai ◽  
Liping Zhu ◽  
Guojun Li

To enhance the efficiency and stable operation, the unsteady pressure fluctuations in a centrifugal pump and the radial force on an impeller are investigated for three different vaned diffuser outlet diameters. The steady-state hydrodynamic performance of the centrifugal pump with three different vaned diffuser outlet diameters was experimentally measured. Numerical simulations were used to obtain the hydrodynamic performance of the experimental centrifugal pump based on the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) and turbulence models. The numerical results of the hydrodynamic performance were in agreement with the experimental data. The accuracy of the utilized numerical approach was demonstrated. The unsteady flow characteristics of the centrifugal pump were numerically studied. With increasing diffuser vane outlet diameter, the flow field within the volute became more non-uniform, and the pressure fluctuation was more drastic. Moreover, because of the influence of the non-uniform flow field and the pressure fluctuation, the radial force on the impeller increased.


2015 ◽  
Vol 32 (6) ◽  
pp. 1549-1566 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lei Tan ◽  
Baoshan Zhu ◽  
Yuchuan Wang ◽  
Shuliang CAO ◽  
Shaobo Gui

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to elucidate the detailed flow field and cavitation effect in the centrifugal pump volute at partial load condition. Design/methodology/approach – Unsteady flows in a centrifugal pump volute at non-cavitation and cavitation conditions are investigated by using a computation fluid dynamics framework combining the re-normalization group k-e turbulence model and the mass transport cavitation model. Findings – The flow field in pump volute is very complicated at part load condition with large pressure gradient and intensive vortex movement. Under cavitation conditions, the dominant frequency for most of the monitoring points in volute transit from the blade passing frequency to a lower frequency. Generally, the maximum amplitudes of pressure fluctuations in volute at serious cavitation condition is twice than that at non-cavitation condition because of the violent disturbances caused by cavitation shedding and explosion. Originality/value – The detailed flow field and cavitation effect in the centrifugal pump volute at partial load condition are revealed and analysed.


Author(s):  
Bo Qian ◽  
Jinping Chen ◽  
Peng Wu ◽  
Bin Huang ◽  
Dazhuan Wu

Abstract The quality of centrifugal pump inlet flow field is an important factor that affecting the performance of pump. Studies have proved that the vortex in the inlet area can also bring an extra flow instability to pump, which results in a hydro-induced vibration. This phenomenon is more common and significant in the pumps with an elbow tube, which is often applied to minimize installation size, before pump inlet. Therefore, it is necessary to look into the influence of inlet flow field instability on pump performance especially the vibration performance. The methods of adjusting pump inlet flow field is also worthy of being studied in the meantime. In this study, the influence of inlet vortex on the performance of centrifugal pump with an elbow inlet tube is investigated by means of CFD analysis. The flow is significantly affected when going through the elbow tube inlet and then turbulence is generated as a result, which enters the impeller at the next moment. The turbulence brings an asymmetrical flow condition at the impeller suction area, which can intensify pressure pulsation and hydro-induced vibration. In order to reduce the turbulence, two modifications on the elbow inlet tube are investigated in this study. A specially designed vane is deployed inside the inlet tube in the MOD1, and the MOD2 is added with two splitter vanes on the basis of the MOD1. The turbulent flow in the elbow inlet tube can be reordered as it is controlled by the vanes. The difference on pump performances that the inlet vane has made is specifically simulated and compared. The flow fields of the inlet tube influenced by the vane is also investigated on the vortex distribution and velocity vector distribution. The MOD1 has a generally smaller pressure fluctuation amplitude than the prototype in the impeller inlet area while the pressure fluctuation amplitude of the MOD2 in the impeller inlet area is stronger than the prototype. It is considered as a consequence of multiple effects, which are, the rise of velocity because of flow area replacement by the vanes making the flow field less stable as well as the wake flow induced by the vanes increasing the instability of the flow field. Therefore, although the flat vanes can help adjusting the flow field, their negative influences also act in the opposite way. It is worthwhile to find the balance between the benefits and the costs in flow field stability of installing adjusting vanes. The selection of parameter, number and installation position needs to be further investigated. The numerical results of the MOD1 are also validated through experimental investigations.


Processes ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (6) ◽  
pp. 354 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ling Bai ◽  
Ling Zhou ◽  
Chen Han ◽  
Yong Zhu ◽  
Weidong Shi

A pump is one of the most important machines in the processes and flow systems. The operation of multistage centrifugal pumps could generate pressure fluctuations and instabilities that may be detrimental to the performance and integrity of the pump. In this paper, a numerical study of the influence of pressure fluctuations and unsteady flow patterns was undertaken in the pump flow channel of three configurations with different diffuser vane numbers. It was found that the amplitude of pressure fluctuation in the diffuser was increased gradually with the increase in number of diffuser vanes. The lower number of diffuser vanes was beneficial to obtain a weaker pressure fluctuation intensity. With the static pressure gradually increasing, the effects of impeller blade passing frequency attenuated gradually, and the effect of diffuser vanes was increased gradually.


2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
WANSHI QU ◽  
lei tan ◽  
Shuliang CAO ◽  
YUCHUAN WANG ◽  
YUN XU

Purpose The paper aims to investigate the clocking effect on a centrifugal pump with inlet guide vanes (IGVs). Design/methodology/approach The paper uses a computation fluid dynamics (CFD) framework to solve the unsteady flows in a centrifugal pump with inlet guide vanes. The relative position between the stationary vanes and the stationary volute tongue is defined as the clocking position when IGVs inside the suction pipe rotate along the circumferential direction. Findings The results show that clocking positions have little effect on the pump head and efficiency, however their influences are obvious for the pressure fluctuation and flow field in the centrifugal pump. The maximum difference of pressure amplitude at dominant frequency reach up to 28% on the monitoring point V8 at different clocking positions under design flow rate. For the large flow rate, the clocking effect on flow field and pressure fluctuation in centrifugal pump is similar to that of design flow rate. However, the clocking effect is nearly negligible at partial flow rate, because there are reverse flows around the tongue tip and obvious vortexes forming and developing in the impeller. Those complex phenomena interacting in the centrifugal pump make the clocking effect less evident. Originality/value The numerical investigation reveals the clocking effect on a centrifugal pump with inlet guide vanes, which also valuable for the stable operation and optimal design of centrifugal pumps.


2020 ◽  
pp. 2150049
Author(s):  
Yangyang Wei ◽  
Weidong Shi ◽  
Ling Zhou ◽  
Wei Li ◽  
Weibin Zhang ◽  
...  

Three-dimensional (3D) unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (URANS) simulations are conducted to investigate the blade load and internal flow field for a low specific centrifugal pump operating as a turbine (PAT). Validation and grid independence of the simulation method are performed and ensured. A thorough inspection to flow variables in terms of pressure and radial velocity as well as circumferential velocity at strong rotor–stator interaction region is performed. Unsteady performance characteristics in terms of head and shaft power as well as transient blade loads are evaluated to assess the unsteady PAT performance. Significant decreasing of the blade load is revealed when impeller passage passes the volute tongue and associated with the strong vortex close to passage suction side caused by the sharp angle of suction side trailing edge with a discernible flow incidence angle. High negative radial velocity in the region close to suction side is originated from the vortex inducing velocity at the blade suction side and a high pressure gradient in the trailing edge region. The decrease of blade load is caused by periodical development and restriction of the vortex with an impeller passage passing tongue and a subsequent pressure variation on suction side that leads to temporally decreased blade loading. High positive radial velocity in pressure side region is originated from the blocking effect from the strong vortex at suction side, leading to the generation of a relatively weaker vortex fluctuating with impeller rotation at pressure side. That is the source of pressure variation on pressure side, contributing to the blade loading variation. These results provide a detailed insight into the complex overload flow field that might be utilized for an improved PAT design.


Author(s):  
Ling Zhou ◽  
Weidong Shi ◽  
Ling Bai ◽  
Weigang Lu ◽  
Wei Li

The unsteady flow field in a multistage centrifugal pump was simulated with ANSYS-CFX code based on transient rotor-stator method, and Shear Stress Transport (SST) turbulence model to investigate the pressure fluctuations in the three stages passages. With the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) analysis, the pressure fluctuations and frequency domains are analyzed and compared between stages. The numerical results show that the pressure fluctuates at the blade passage frequency, and the maximum amplitude of blade passage frequency occurs in the region from the rotor to the stator when the impeller blade gets close to the diffuser vane leading edge. The pressure pulsation period mainly associated with the number of impeller blades, but the influence gradually reduce when the fluids flow into the diffuser. The flow patterns and pressure fluctuation between stags are similar.


2006 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 331-343 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. S. Alam ◽  
M. M. Rahman ◽  
M. A. Samad

The problem of combined free-forced convection and mass transfer flow over a vertical porous flat plate, in presence of heat generation and thermaldiffusion, is studied numerically. The non-linear partial differential equations and their boundary conditions, describing the problem under consideration, are transformed into a system of ordinary differential equations by using usual similarity transformations. This system is solved numerically by applying Nachtsheim-Swigert shooting iteration technique together with Runge-Kutta sixth order integration scheme. The effects of suction parameter, heat generation parameter and Soret number are examined on the flow field of a hydrogen-air mixture as a non-chemical reacting fluid pair. The analysis of the obtained results showed that the flow field is significantly influenced by these parameters.


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