Abstract
The inlet gas quantity has a great influence on the performance and inner flow characteristics of a mixed-flow pump. In this article, both numerical and experimental methods are used to carry out this research work. The effects under the steady gas volume fraction state and the transient gas quantity variation process on the mixed-flow pump are investigated and compared in detail. It could be concluded that the head of the mixed-flow pump shows slight decline at the low gas volume fraction state, while it decreases sharply at the high gas volume fraction state and then decreases with the increasing gas quantity. There is an obvious asymmetric blade vapor density on the blade suction side under each cavitation state. The cavities can be weakened obviously by increasing the inlet gas volume fraction within a certain range. It has little influence on the internal unsteady flow of the mixed-flow pump when the gas volume fraction is less than 10%, but the pump starts to operate with a great unsteady characteristic when the inlet gas volume fraction increases to 15%.
Highlights
As an energy conversion machinery, pumps exist in almost all fluid flow places and are used widely nowadays.[1]
Studies on mixed-flow pump were started from a long time, and both improving the hydraulic performance and revealing inner flow patterns have been conducted till
The effects of gas volume fraction on the two-phase flow performance of an industrial mixed-flow pump are studied in detail. Both results under the steady gas volume fraction state and the transient gas quantity variation process are compared
Summary
As an energy conversion machinery, pumps exist in almost all fluid flow places and are used widely nowadays.[1]. Studies on mixed-flow pump were started from a long time, and both improving the hydraulic performance and revealing inner flow patterns have been conducted till now. Van Esch and Kruyt[2] analyzed the hydraulic performance of a mixed-flow pump based on the unsteady inviscid computations and loss models. Minemura et al.[10] used a one-dimensional two-fluid model to predict the air–water two-phase flow performance of a centrifugal pump. The effects of gas volume fraction on the two-phase flow performance of an industrial mixed-flow pump are studied in detail. Both results under the steady gas volume fraction state and the transient gas quantity variation process are compared. The research contents in this article can be used as a reference for the optimal design of mixed-flow pumps
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