Abstract
The unstable operation of a centrifugal pump under the gas-liquid two-phase condition seriously affects its performance and reliability. In order to study the gas phase distribution and the unsteady force in an impeller, based on the Euler-Euler heterogeneous flow model, the steady and unsteady numerical calculations of the gas-liquid two-phase full flow field in a centrifugal pump was carried out, and the simulation results were compared with the test data. The results show that the test results are in good agreement with the simulation data, which proves the accuracy of the numerical calculation method. The energy performance curve of the model pump decreases with the increase of the gas content, which illustrates a serious impact on the performance under the part-load operating condition. The results reveal that the high-efficiency-operating range become narrow, as the gas content increases. The gas phase is mainly distributed on the suction surface of the impeller blades. When the gas content reaches a certain value, the gas phase separation occurs. As the inlet gas content increases, the radial force on the impeller blades decreases. The pattern of the pressure pulsation is similar to that under pure water and low gas content conditions, and the number of peaks during the pulsation is equal to the number of the impeller blades. After the gas content reaches a certain value, the pressure fluctuates disorderly and the magnitude and the direction of radial force change frequently, which are detrimental to the operation stability of the pump. The intensity of the pressure pulsations in the impeller flow channel continues to increase in the direction of the flow under pure water conditions. The pressure pulsation intensities at the blade inlet and the volute tongue become more severe with the increase of the gas content.
Highlights
Centrifugal pumps are extensively employed in engineering fields, and they play an indispensable role in the daily life [1]
It is of great practical value to study the distribution and the mechanism of a gas-liquid two-phase flow in centrifugal pumps, which is especially crucial in the fields of petroleum exploitation, natural gas transportation, and chemical industry [8,9,10]
He et al [11] and Ge et al [12] proposed the numerical simulation method of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Population Balance Modeling (PBM) coupling to numerically calculate a gas-liquid two-phase flow on a centrifugal pump, and the numerical simulation results matched the experimental results well, which led to the conclusion that the method is superior to the Eulerian–Eulerian model
Summary
Centrifugal pumps are extensively employed in engineering fields, and they play an indispensable role in the daily life [1]. It is of great practical value to study the distribution and the mechanism of a gas-liquid two-phase flow in centrifugal pumps, which is especially crucial in the fields of petroleum exploitation, natural gas transportation, and chemical industry [8,9,10]. Matsushita et al [16] utilized performance testing and high-speed photography techniques to study the application of the similarity law to the back-bent centrifugal pump and found that the impeller diameter and the rotation speed still followed the similarity law under gas-liquid two-phase flow conditions. Under the conditions of different inlet gas contents, the research on the radial force distribution of the centrifugal pump and the transient pressure change in the impeller flow channel is still lacking
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