Method for mitigating the negative effect of vortex motion inside the suction chambers of centrifugal pumps

Abstract

The paper presents a method for mitigating the negative effect of vortex motion inside the suction chambers of centrifugal pumps in order to obtain better use of water resource and decrease the risk related to loss of prime. It was studied the influence of a rotating device on the vortex motion in the case of a vertical suction pipe. The device is consisting of three thin vertical cylinders symmetrically mounted on a horizontal rotating disk placed in front of the inlet section of the suction pipe. The experimental research was conducted for various diameters of the cylinders, water levels in the suction chamber and pump flow rates. It was assessed the vortex type, frequency of arising and living life of vortices. The experimental results are compared with the case the device is absent in order to assess the efficiency of the solution. By using the device a decrease of about 1215% of vortex arising is observed for most of the water levels in the suction chamber and for 80 -90 % of the centrifugal pump flow rates. If high flow rates and low water level in the suction chamber are simultaneously present, violent vortex motion is blocking the rotating device and the volume of air entered the pipe is massive - extreme regime. The flow pattern in the suction chamber was visualized using a laser sheet. At the inlet section of the suction pipe one can observe two main flow patterns: central vortex entrance for high water level in the suction chamber and reduce flow rates of the centrifugal pump and lateral vortex entrance for low water level and high flow rates. The conclusions of the experiment confirm the energy dissipation of the vortices arising in the suction chamber, due to utilization of the rotating device, in most of the centrifugal pump regimes.