Abstract
Centrifugal pumps are designed to have their BEP (Best Efficiency Point) for a given flow rate, hydraulic head, and speed. In the design phase, those parameters are combined into a dimensionless specific speed used to define geometry of the pump. In this paper, a downsized centrifugal pump has been designed to have high efficiency at very high speeds (10000 – 15000 RPM), as requested by the cooling circuit of an engine for motorsport and racing applications. The pump design point was 13 L/min and 3.0 bar at 12000 RPM, while the impeller external diameter is 34 mm. A mathematical model has been realized to optimize the pump in the early design phase through an iterative process, based on a 0D procedure which generates the optimal geometry of both impeller and volute. Hence, the model estimates main losses and, thus, hydraulic, volumetric, and organic efficiency. Once the geometry is generated, the performance of the pump has been verified on the design working point through a detailed CFD analysis. Physical phenomena that occur when the pump is running have been simulated, to represent as closely as possible vein fluid detachments, cavitation, and backflow at clearances between impeller and pump casing. At last, a prototype of the pump has been built and experimentally characterized in a dynamic test bench able to reproduce the characteristic curves (hydraulic head and efficiency) at very high revolution speeds as well as the performances in real time-varying operational conditions.
Highlights
Centrifugal pumps are one of the most important equipment in all sectors
An important sector of application is the cooling sector of internal combustion engines for on-the-road transportation, where through a suitable design they are participating to the transition toward more sustainable mobility [3]
The tetrahedral unstructured mesh is commonly used where the geometry of the fluid domain has a complex shape; instead, the sweep structured mesh with inflation is strictly recommended when the domain is regular, for instance on cylindrical connecting pipes [20]
Summary
Centrifugal pumps are one of the most important equipment in all sectors. They are widely used in residential applications, for thermal and cooling plants and household electric devices, or in ORC based micro-cogeneration systems [1], in industrial sectors for applications which involve many different needs and the compliance with several fluids and specifics [2]: in few words, pumps are used to move fluids for a number of services. An important sector of application is the cooling sector of internal combustion engines for on-the-road transportation, where through a suitable design they are participating to the transition toward more sustainable mobility [3] The optimization of cooling water system is important to improve the energy efficiency and economic performance of industrial systems; a geometrical optimization of pump can save energy cost and simplify the network structure [13]
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