Effect of Blade Thickness on Internal Flow and Performance of a Plastic Centrifugal Pump

Zhenfa Xu,Fanyu Kong,Jiaqiong Wang,Lingfeng Tang,Mingwei Liu,Ning Qiu

doi:10.3390/machines10010061

Zhenfa Xu, Fanyu Kong + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/machines10010061

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Journal: Machines	Publication Date: Jan 14, 2022
Citations: 8	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Jiangsu University, Anhui Polytechnic University

Abstract

Blade thickness is an essential parameter of the impeller, which has significant effects on the pump performance. The plastic pump generally adopts thick blade due to low strength of plastic. The effects of blade thickness on the internal flow and performance of a plastic centrifugal pump were discussed based on the numerical methods. Two kinds of blade profile, the constant thickness blade (CTB) and the variable thickness blade (VTB), were investigated. The results indicated that, for the CTB, when the blade thickness was less than 6 mm, the pump performance did not change significantly. When the blade thickness exceeded 6 mm, the pump head and efficiency decreased rapidly. The pump head and efficiency of CTB 10 decreased by 42.2% and 30% compared with CTB 4, respectively. For the VTB, with blade thickness in a certain range (6 mm–14 mm), the pump performance changed slightly with the increased of trailing edge thickness. The minimum blade thickness of the plastic centrifugal pump should be 4 mm based on the finite element analysis. A variable thickness blade (VTB 4-8-4) with the maximum thickness located at 60% chord length was proposed to improve the pump performance, and its efficiency was 1.67% higher than that of the CTB 4 impeller.

Highlights

The plastic centrifugal pump is made of corrosion-resistant plastic lining or full plastic, which is widely used in petrochemical and other fields to transport strongly corrosive medium [1,2]
The results indicate that, when the pump operates at rated flow rate, the pump efficiency and head decrease with the increase in impeller blade thickness, and the low flow condition is just the opposite
The results show that when the blade thickness increases in a certain range, the best efficiency point of the pump moves to the low flow rate, and the efficiency increases slightly

Summary

Introduction

The plastic centrifugal pump is made of corrosion-resistant plastic lining or full plastic, which is widely used in petrochemical and other fields to transport strongly corrosive medium [1,2]. The results indicate that, when the pump operates at rated flow rate, the pump efficiency and head decrease with the increase in impeller blade thickness, and the low flow condition is just the opposite. Yang et al [20] investigated the influence of the blade thickness and distribution on hydraulic performance of a mixed-flow nuclear main pump. Zhao et al [21] have studied the effects of blade thickness on the performance of a low-specific-speed centrifugal pump, and five different blade thicknesses were compared. The result shows that the hydro-induced vibration is reduced via optimize the thickness distribution of the centrifugal impeller blade. Tao et al [23,24,25] have studied the effects of the blade thickness on the performance and impeller wear in a ceramic centrifugal slurry pump. There are few reports on the blade thickness of plastic centrifugal pumps

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Discussion

Conclusion