Abstract
To analyze the characteristics of internal flow and phase interaction in a gas-liquid two-phase pump, the influence of Inlet Gas Void Fraction (IGVF), discharge coefficient, and medium viscosity were investigated using medium combinations of air-water and air-crude. Simulations were performed using ANSYS_CFX at different IGVFs and various values of discharge coefficient. Structured grid for the full flow passage was generated using ICEM_CFD and TurboGrid. Under conditions of IGVF = 0% (pure water) and IGVF = 15%, the reliability of numerical method was proved by means of the comparison with the experimental data of external characteristic. The results for air-water combination showed a uniform gas distribution in the inlet pipe, and formation of a stratified structure in the outlet pipe. The gas in impeller gathered at the hub because of the rotation of the impeller, also, the interphase forces increased with the increased IGVF. For the two medium combinations, the drag force was the largest interphase force, followed by added mass and lift forces, and then the turbulent dispersion force was the least, which can be neglected. Because of the larger viscosity of crude than that of water, the variation trend of interphase forces in the impeller is relatively smooth along the flow direction when the medium combination was air-crude.
Highlights
With the technological development and the demand for gas-liquid two-phase transport in industry, the gas-liquid multiphase pump is widely used in petroleum, chemical engineering, nuclear industries, etc. [1,2,3,4]
Few studies have been performed on the characteristics of phase interaction as well as the difference of transport properties caused by the change of medium viscosity in multiphase pumps
At these three Inlet Gas Void Fraction (IGVF) conditions, a uniform gas distribution appeared at the inlet pipe, while the gas in the impeller mainly gathered at the hub
Summary
With the technological development and the demand for gas-liquid two-phase transport in industry, the gas-liquid multiphase pump is widely used in petroleum, chemical engineering, nuclear industries, etc. [1,2,3,4]. Except for the optimization design, many studies on multiphase pumps with the centrifugal or axial impeller were forced on the transport properties. For the multiphase pump with an axial impeller, Zhang and Tan [9] analyzed the energy performance and the pressure fluctuation in a multiphase pump. They found the gas distribution in the pump was Interphase behavior is difficult to understand in twophase flow field. Few studies have been performed on the characteristics of phase interaction as well as the difference of transport properties caused by the change of medium viscosity in multiphase pumps
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