CFD analysis of flow in a single-blade impeller

Abstract

Slurry pumps with a single-blade impeller are often used to pump water with a certain content of solids, fibrous matters, and highly viscous media. The main advantages of this type of pump are low life-cycle costs, long lifetime and high reliability. Pumps with a single-blade impeller have a huge potential of usage in many industry areas, and recently researchers have been concentrating on a numerical analysis of flow in a single-blade impeller channel [1]. Several academic papers have presented results of a research of the single-blade pump properties based on CFD simulations. This paper addressed the steady-state CFD analysis of flow in the single-blade impeller. Numerical analysis results, varying in a simulation software setup, were compared with laboratory measurements. CFD simulations were carried out in the CFX module of the ANSYS software using two turbulence models (SST, BSL EARSM) with two frame change options (Frozen Rotor, Stage) in order to achieve results as similar as possible to laboratory measurements. Three single-blade impeller models were tested and the measurements were compared with simulated hydraulic parameters. The smallest differences were observed by using the BSL EARSM turbulence model with the Stage- Interface. The lack of single-blade impeller symmetry caused the considerable sensitivity of hydraulic parameters to the rotor-/stator-position, so the results gained with the SST turbulence model with the Frozen Rotor interface differed significantly from the measured data. Clean water was used during the simulations and laboratory measurements.