An Investigation of Axial Pump Backflow and a Method for its Control

Author(s):  
M. Abramian ◽  
J. H. G. Howard ◽  
P. Hermann

The flow field within an axial flow inducer pump near the blade leading edge was explored by laser-Doppler velocimetry to extend the previous studies of the recirculation zone which is observed at low flow rates. Although a considerable region of upstream reverse flow and swirl was observed, the recirculation zone within the impeller was of limited axial extent and was confined to the pressure side of the passage. In an attempt to reduce the flow reversal, a series of perforated disks were placed in front of the inducer. The optimum disk geometry produced minor changes in the pump performance. LDV measurements of the flow field ahead and behind the disk showed considerable reduction of the swirl velocity under reverse flow conditions, with the observed upstream swirl opposite to the inducer rotation.

Author(s):  
Robert J. Martinuzzi ◽  
Gregory A. Kopp ◽  
Brian Havel

The influence of the radiator on the flow through an automotive cooling fan module was investigated using Laser Doppler Velocimetry for three different flow conditions. It is found that at the nominal design point, the radiator acts as an effective flow straightener. At low flow rates, fan induced pre-swirl is significant, but the radiator helps reduce reverse flow through the fan. Under ram air conditions the upstream inlet distortions persist through the module resulting in a highly distorted outlet flow.


Author(s):  
Xi Shen ◽  
Desheng Zhang ◽  
Bin Xu ◽  
Ruijie Zhao ◽  
Yongxin Jin ◽  
...  

In this paper, the large eddy simulation is utilized to simulate the flow field in a mixed-flow pump based on the standard Smagorinsky subgrid scale model, which is combined with the experiments to investigate pressure fluctuations under low flow conditions. The experimental results indicated that the amplitude of fluctuation at the impeller inlet is the highest, and increases with the reduction of the flow rate. The main frequencies of pressure fluctuation at the impeller inlet, impeller outlet, and vane inlet are blades passing frequency, while the main frequency at the vane outlet changes with the flow rate. The results of the simulation showed that the axial plane velocity at impeller inlet undergoes little change under 0.8 Qopt. In case of 0.4 Qopt, however, the flow field at impeller inlet becomes complicated with the axial plane velocity changing significantly. The flow separation is generated at the leading edge of the suction surface at t* = 0.0416 under 0.4 Qopt, which is caused by the increase of the incidence angle and the influence of the tip leakage flow. When the impeller rotates from t* = 0.0416 to t* = 0.1249, the flow separation intensified and the swirling strength of the separation vortex is gradually increased, leading to the reduction of the static pressure, the rise of adverse pressure gradient, and the generation of backflow. The static pressure at the leading edge of the impeller recovers gradually until the backflow is reached. In addition, the flow separation is the main reason for the intensification of the pressure fluctuation.


Author(s):  
Xuwen Qiu ◽  
David Japikse ◽  
Mark Anderson

Flow recirculation at the impeller inlet and outlet is an important feature that affects impeller performance, especially the power consumption at a very low flow rate. Although the mechanisms for this flow phenomenon have been studied, a practical model is needed for meanline modeling of impeller off-design performance. In this paper, a meanline recirculation model is proposed. At the inlet, the recirculation zone acts as area blockage to relieve the large incidence of the active flow at a low flow rate. The size of the blockage is estimated through a critical area ratio of an artificial “inlet diffuser” from the inlet to throat. The intensity of the reverse flow can then be calculated by assuming a linear velocity profile of meridional velocity in the recirculation zone. At the impeller outlet, a recirculation zone near the suction surface is established to balance the velocity difference on the pressure and suction sides of the blade. The size and the intensity of the outlet recirculation zone is assumed related to blade loading, which can be evaluated based on flow turning and Coriolis force. A few validation cases are presented showing a good comparison between test data and prediction by the model.


Author(s):  
Chiara Palomba

Rotating stall is an instability phenomenon that arises in axial flow compressors when the flow is reduced at constant rotational speed. It is characterised by the onset of rotating perturbations in the flow field accompanied by either an abrupt or gradual decrease of performances. Although the flow field is unsteady and non axisymmetric, the global operating point is stable and a stalled branch of performance curve may be experimentally determined. The number, rotational speed, circumferential extension of the rotating perturbed flow regions named rotating cells may vary from one compressor to another and may depend on the throttle position. The present work focuses on the interaction between local flow parameters and global compressor performance parameters with the aim of reaching a better understanding of the phenomenon. Starting from the Day, Greitzer and Cumpsty [1] model the detailed flow conditions during rotating stall are studied and related to the global performance parameters. This is done both to verify if the compressor under examination fits to the model and if the detailed flow structure may highlight the physics that in the simple model may hide behind the correlation’s used.


Author(s):  
Like Wang ◽  
Jinling Lu ◽  
Weili Liao ◽  
Pengcheng Guo ◽  
Guojun Zhu ◽  
...  

Vibration characteristic is an important factor in evaluating operation stability of centrifugal pump. The vibration of main shaft was measured using a laser vibrometer, internal flow field was simulated via the shear stress transport turbulence model, and distribution law of vibration and pressure fluctuation in the impeller were analysed to explore the induction factor of vibration and the inherent relationship with pressure fluctuation in a semi-open centrifugal pump under low flow rate condition. Results of the numerical simulation are consistent with the experimental data. In addition to rotation frequency caused by impeller rotation, vibration frequency also includes characteristic frequency with high amplitude induced by unstable flow. The complex vortex in the impeller is composed of tip leakage vortex (TLV), reverse flow vortex, passage vortex and tip separation vortex. The primary tip leakage vortex (PTLV) formed by the streamline spills from 0 to 0.2λ where λ is the dimensionless distance from leading edge to trailing edge collides with tip leakage flow, the leading edge overflow and reverse flow vortex at the frequency of 1.6 fn ( fn is the rotating frequency) and 2.2 fn appear, respectively. The tip separation vortex formed in the tip clearance induced a frequency of 1.2 fn. The frequency of unstable flow phenomenon was consistent with the vibration frequency of main shaft, which induced the vibration of centrifugal pump.


Author(s):  
Michael A. Zaccaria ◽  
Budugur Lakshminarayana

The flow field in turbine rotor passages is complex with unsteadiness caused by the aerodynamic interaction of the nozzle and rotor flow fields. The two-dimensional steady and unsteady flow field at midspan in an axial flow turbine rotor has been investigated experimentally using an LDV with emphasis on the interaction of the nozzle wake with the rotor flow field. The flow field in the rotor passage is presented in Part I, while the flow field downstream of the rotor is presented in Part II. Measurements were acquired at 37 axial locations from just upstream of the rotor to one chord downstream of the rotor. The time average flow field and the unsteadiness caused by the wake has been captured. As the nozzle wake travels through the rotor flow field, the nozzle wake becomes distorted with the region of the nozzle wake near the rotor suction surface moving faster than the region near the rotor pressure surface, resulting in a highly distorted wake. The wake is found to be spread out along the rotor pressure surface, as it convects downstream of midchord. The magnitude of the nozzle wake velocity defect grows until close to midchord, after which it decreases. High values of unresolved unsteadiness were observed at the rotor leading edge. This is due to the large flow gradients near the leading edge and the interaction of the nozzle wake with the rotor leading edge. High values of unresolved unsteadiness were also observed near the rotor pressure surface. This increase in unresolved unsteadiness is caused by the interaction of the nozzle wake with the flow near the rotor pressure surface.


Author(s):  
Christoph Biegger ◽  
Bernhard Weigand ◽  
Alice Cabitza

Swirl cooling is a very efficient method for turbine blade cooling. However, the flow in such a system is quite complicated. In order to gain understanding of the flow structure, the velocity field in a leading edge swirl cooling chamber with two tangential inlet ducts is experimentally studied via Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV). The examined swirl tube is 1 m long and has a diameter of 50 mm. It represents an upscaled generic model of a leading edge swirl chamber. The Reynolds number, defined by the bulk velocity and the swirl tube diameter, ranges from 10,000 to 40,000, and the swirl number is 5.3. Velocity fields are measured in the center plane of the tube axis with stereo- and tomographic-PIV using two and four CCD cameras respectively. Tomographic-PIV is a three-dimensional PIV technique relying on the illumination, recording, reconstruction and cross correlation of a tracer particle distribution in a measurement volume opposed to a plane in stereo-PIV. For statistical analysis 2,000 vector maps are calculated and evaluations show a sample size of 1,000 ensembles is sufficient. Our experiment showed, that the flow field is characterized by a vortex system around the tube axis. Near the tube wall we observed an axial flow towards the outlet with a circumferential velocity component in the same order of magnitude. In contrast the vortex core consists of an axial backflow (vortex breakdown). The gained understanding of the flow field allows to predict regions of enhanced heat transfer in swirl chambers.


Author(s):  
P. Waniczek ◽  
P. Jeschke ◽  
H. Schoenenborn ◽  
T. Metzler

The surge behavior of the first rotor of an eight-stage aero engine high pressure compressor has been investigated experimentally. For that purpose, a new multi-hole pressure probe was developed and adapted to the axial compressor test rig. Due to the high time resolution measurements (more than 45000 measuring points per surge cycle) it is possible to investigate the dynamic flow field of a surge cycle in a time-accurate manner. The results especially show the complex flow field structure at the surge inception. At the rotor leading edge the flow shows perturbations with high amplitudes and initiates the surge event, whereas the flow at the rotor trailing edge is less influenced. The inflow vector turns around the leading edge of the blade relatively slowly. During that turn around three different characteristic flow conditions have been identified. These are ‘zero rotor turning’, ‘turbine-like flow’ and ‘no flow’. ‘No flow’ means, that the absolute velocity vector reaches a flow angle where it consists of a pure tangential velocity component. That is the point where the reverse flow phase is initiated. A 180° shift of the flow direction at the rotor trailing edge is the consequence. After a quasi-steady reverse flow the acceleration of the flow starts. In total, this paper gives new and fundamental insights into the unsteady flow field phenomena during various surge cycles. Especially the transient velocity vector imparts a good idea of the flow field structure of a surging compressor.


Author(s):  
A. R. Azimian ◽  
R. L. Elder ◽  
A. B. McKenzie

The effect of applying a vaned recessed casing treatment to a single stage axial flow fan has been investigated. The influence of the axial position of the recess relative to the rotor leading edge and other geometrical modifications of the vane passage have been examined. Significant improvements in stall margin were observed without (in some builds) loss in peak efficiency. Slow and fast frequency response yawmeter probes have been used in the study to examine both the steady flow conditions and the unsteady flow caused by rotating stall.


Author(s):  
Francois G. Louw ◽  
Theodor W. von Backström ◽  
Sybrand J. van der Spuy

Large axial flow fans are used in forced draft air cooled heat exchangers (ACHEs). Previous studies have shown that adverse operating conditions cause certain sectors of the fan, or the fan as a whole to operate at very low flow rates, thereby reducing the cooling effectiveness of the ACHE. The present study is directed towards the experimental and numerical analyses of the flow in the vicinity of an axial flow fan during low flow rates. This is done to obtain the global flow structure up and downstream of the fan. A near-free-vortex fan, designed for specific application in ACHEs, is used for the investigation. Experimental fan testing was conducted in a British Standard 848, type A fan test facility, to obtain the fan characteristic. Both steady-state and time-dependent numerical simulations were performed, depending on the operating condition of the fan, using the Realizable k-ε turbulence model. Good agreement is found between the numerically and experimentally obtained fan characteristic data. Using data from the numerical simulations, the time and circumferentially averaged flow field is presented. At the design flow rate the downstream fan jet mainly moves in the axial and tangential direction, as expected for a free-vortex design criteria, with a small amount of radial flow that can be observed. As the flow rate through the fan is decreased, it is evident that the down-stream fan jet gradually shifts more diagonally outwards, and the region where reverse flow occur between the fan jet and the fan rotational axis increases. At very low flow rates the flow close to the tip reverses through the fan, producing a small recirculation zone as well as swirl at certain locations upstream of the fan.


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