Numerical simulation of free water surface in pump intake

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to verify the volume of fluid (VOF) method for simulating the free water surface flow in pump intake. With the increasing computer power, VOF method has been becoming a more flexible and accurate choice to replace the conventional fixed water surface method, because it does not require assumptions on the nature of air-water interface. Two examples are presented in this paper. The first example is presented for simulating the growth of air-entrained vortices. LES (Large Eddy Simulation) model, instead of RANS (Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes) turbulence model, is used to capture the peak of circular velocity around the vortex core. Numerical result shows good agreement with the benchmark experiment carried by the Turbomachinery Society of Japan. The second example predicts the flow rate distribution in the pump intake consisting of one opened and two closed channels. VOF result is compared with the conventional fixed water surface method assuming free-slip boundary condition on the fluid interface. The difference of flow pattern in the opened channel indicates that numerical flow field is affected remarkably by the setup of boundary condition at air-water interface.