Analysis of internal flow characteristics of a multistage pump during start-up

Abstract

In order to study the transient characteristics during the startup process of a multi-stage pump, the Flowmaster software was used to obtain the rotating speed and flow characteristic curves of the pump under different valve openings, and analyze its internal flow and structural characteristics based on numerical simulation. The study results indicate that the time required for the flow to reach a steady state lags significantly behind the time required for the rotational speed to reach a stable state during the initial stage of pump start-up. By comparing the pressure distributions of a multistage pump under quasi-steady state and transient conditions, it can be seen that the internal flow field evolution of the pump under transient condition during the startup process lagged behind that under quasi-steady state condition, which makes using quasi-steady state laws were not suitable for describing the changes in transient flow field. The deformation law of the first-stage impeller under stable and start-up conditions was similar. The impact of increased flow rate on deformation was relatively weak and the difference in deformation values under different flow rates was relatively small under transient condition.