Effect of outlet impeller diameter on performance prediction of centrifugal pump under single-phase and cavitation flow conditions

In this current study, the transient numerical calculations using CFD code are carried out under different outlet impeller diameters for the flow field within a centrifugal pump under single-phase and cavitation conditions. Both qualitative and quantitative analyses are carried out on all of these results in order to better understand the flow structure within a centrifugal pump. Also, the investigations using different outlet impeller diameters configurations relating to the static pressure, velocity magnitude, vapour volume fraction variations, as well as pressure fluctuations in both time and frequency domain at the impeller and volute of the pump are analysed. Velocity and static pressure variations of the pump under different outlet impeller diameters range (200, 210 and 220 mm) are investigated. Reliable model is developed and validated, at various pump operating conditions, to analyse the characteristics of pressure fluctuations in both time and frequency domain. Cavitation occurrence, under different outlet impeller diameters and flow rates, are detected and correlated, using a CFD model (volume fraction distributions). Based on the developed model’s findings, at the set operating conditions ranges, the distribution and impact (cavitation and head-wises) of both the pressure and velocity are analysed. The average pressure fluctuation in the volute for do = 210 mm is higher than for do = 200 mm by about 6.74%, also the maximum pressure fluctuation for do = 220 mm is higher than for do = 210 mm by around 7.4%. Furthermore, the maximum pressure fluctuation in the impeller for do = 210 mm is higher than for do = 200 mm by 12.48%, also for do = 220 mm is higher than for do = 210 mm by 10.8%. The developed CFD models are proved valuable tools in identifying and optimizing the pump performance and characterization. The head for when do = 220 mm is higher than for when do = 200 mm under both single-phase and cavitation conditions by around 14.13% and 14.69%. The maximum pressure fluctuation for do = 200 mm is lower than for do = 210 mm by 41.58%. Furthermore, the maximum pressure fluctuation at the impeller for do = 220 mm is higher than the two models. There is a small clearance between the impeller and the volute for this model, leading to the pressure fluctuation amplitudes being higher than the other above models.

Specific Features of Flow on Compression Surfaces of a Convergent Air Intake

The results of computational and experimental studies of a model of a hypersonic convergent air intake are presented. Experimental studies were carried out in a hot-shot wind tunnel IT-302M SB RAS at a Mach number M = 5.7 and an angle of attack α = 4 °. Numerical modeling was carried out in a three-dimensional setting in the ANSYS Fluent software package. The calculations were carried out in 4 versions using different turbulence models: k-ɛ standard, RNG k-ɛ, k-ɷ standard and k-ɷ SST. The features of the flow structure are established. The pressure distributions on the compression surfaces and in the air intake channel are obtained. The separated flow at the entrance of the inner channel was studied. It was found that the use of various turbulence models has a significant effect on the size and position of separation. The best agreement between the calculated and experimental data on the level of static pressure was shown by the variant with the k-ɛ standard turbulence model.

Experimental and Numerical Analysis of the Impeller Backside Cavity in a Centrifugal Compressor for CAES

Relying on a closed test rig of a high-power intercooling centrifugal compressor for compressed air energy storage (CAES), this study measured the static pressure and static temperature at different radii on the static wall of the impeller backside cavity (IBC) under variable rotating speeds. Simultaneously, the coupled computations of all mainstream domains with IBC or not were used for comparative analysis of the aerodynamic performances of the compressor and the internal flow field in IBC. The results show that IBC has a significant impact on coupling characteristics including pressure ratio, efficiency, torque, shaft power, and axial thrust of the centrifugal compressor. The gradients of radial static pressure and static temperature in IBC both increase with the decrease of mainstream flow or the increase of rotating speed, whose distributions are different under variable rotating speeds due to the change of the aerodynamic parameters of mainstream.

Study on Axial Clearance Size and Leakage of Canned Motor Pump under Axial Force Self-Balance State

Canned motor pump is widely used in chemical industry. Due to the particularity of its application, it is necessary to ensure that the medium does not leak completely. If the axial force of impeller is too large, it will directly affect the performance of canned motor pump. Therefore, the floating impeller could be used in the pump to balance the axial force. In this paper, the relationship between axial clearance and leakage rate at the key part of canned motor pump is studied by means of numerical calculation and experimental verification. It is found that the fitting curve is highly consistent with the calculated value, which provided a good theoretical basis for further study of axial clearance control axial force and experimental axial force self-balance. In addition, the leakage rate increases with the increase of axial clearance. The static pressure in the axial clearance first increases and then decreases with the decrease of radius, and the maximum static pressure value is about 10.5% ∼ 15.8% near the clearance inlet. This study is of great significance to the theoretical research on the self-balance state of axial force of impeller.

Flow instability in a volute-free centrifugal fan subjected to non-axisymmetric pre-swirl flow from upstream bended inflow tube

The characteristics of internal flow and performance of a centrifugal fan is greatly dependent on the inflow pattern. As the fan is subjected to incoming flow from an upstream tube, the size and geometry of the tube affect the three-dimensional motion of local flow and possibly degrades the aerodynamic performance of the fan. In this work, we performed a numerical investigation on the internal flow in a centrifugal fan subjected to incoming flow from an upstream bended inflow tube of various radii using the steady and unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS and URANS) simulation approaches. The effects of the non-axisymmetric pre-swirl flow generated due to the curvature of the bended inflow tube are demonstrated by analyzing the internal flow characteristics of the fan, including the spatial distributions and temporal variations of pressure field and streamlines, pressure fluctuations in the upstream tube, the inflow and outflow sections of the impeller, and the circumferential distributions of velocity and pressure in the impeller. The numerical results reveal that as the inflow tube is curved with larger curvature (smaller radius of the bended section), the pre-swirl inflow is strong and deteriorates the static pressure rise and static pressure efficiency of the centrifugal fan more remarkably, and the circumferential non-uniformity of pressure and velocity distributions appears inside of the channels of the fan. As the radius of the bended section increases, the instability of the internal flow gets more pronounced, as represented by the stronger pressure fluctuations at the inflow and outflow sections. The prediction capabilities of RANS and URANS approaches are also analyzed based on the numerical data and we found that the latter is more reliable in predicting the performance of the fan.