Investigation on the Influence of Entrained Air to Internal Flow of Centrifugal Pumps under Cavitation Condition

Abstract

The introduction of air is often used in engineering to delay the occurrence of cavitation. A steady simulation on a single-stage and single-suction centrifugal pump was used to study the influence of the air on the internal flow under cavitation condition at 1% inlet void fraction. Steady simulation based on SST k-ω turbulence model and Rayleigh-Plesset cavitation model included in Ansys CFX 17.0 were processed to obtain vapor volume fraction, gas volume fraction and the turbulent energy of the impeller under the condition of natural cavitation and cavitation with entrained air. A homogeneous two-phase flow model was adopted to describe the air-water mixed flow. The experimental cavitation performance curve provides boundary condition support for the numerical simulation. In conclusion, it shows that the head of the pump keeps steady after 1% air entrained like natural cavitation. Then it goes worse when the cavitation number decreases but with lower NPSHr which means cavitation performance is improved by 1% air entrained. It indicated that the entrained air changes the distribution of the vapor in the passage of the impeller. However, the descent of the pressure over a certain value will also do harm to the internal flow of the model pump whether it is ventilating or not. The internal flow of the pump will be seriously damaged and even be blocked completely due to more and more vapor generated causing a dramatic decline of the head.