Effects of Volute Curvature on Performance of a Low Specific-Speed Centrifugal Pump at Design and Off-Design Conditions

Abstract

The effects of the volute geometry on the head, efficiency, and radial force of a low specific-speed centrifugal pump were investigated focusing on off-design conditions. This paper is divided into three parts. In the first part, the three-dimensional flow inside the pump with rectangular volute was simulated using three well-known turbulence models. Simulation results were compared with the available experimental data, and an acceptable agreement was obtained. In the second part, two volute design methods, namely, the constant velocity and the constant angular momentum were investigated. Obtained results showed that in general the constant velocity method gives more satisfactory performance. In the third part, three volutes with different cross section and diffuser shape were designed. In general, it was found that circular cross section volute with radial diffuser provides higher head and efficiency. Moreover, the minimum radial force occurs at higher flowrate in circular volute geometry comparing to rectangular cross section volute.