Abstract
The double-suction centrifugal pumps installed along the Yellow River in China face serious sediment erosion due to the high sediment content which causes the poor operation efficiency of the pump units. The particle motion characteristics and erosion characteristics in a pump under different flow rates and different particle concentrations were numerically simulated based on the particle track model of solid-liquid two-phase flow. The results show that the flow rate has a significant effect on the particle tracks and the erosion caused by the particles in the impeller. The total erosion rate is positively correlated with the flow rate, and increases with the increase in flow rate. The vortex and secondary flow in the impeller have obvious influence on the particle trajectory, which increases the particle concentration at the trailing edge of the pressure surface and intensifies the impact erosion in this area. The particles carried by the vortex intensifies the local erosion. The particle concentration mainly affects the erosion rate, but has little effect on the erosion position. The influence of flow rate on pump erosion is greater than that of the particle properties. These results provide a reference for optimization of the design of anti-erosion blades of double-suction pumps and the regulation and operation of pumping stations.
Highlights
Double-suction centrifugal pumps can produce large flow and high head, and are widely used in irrigation pumping stations along the Yellow River in China [1]
River is one of the rivers with the highest sediment concentration in the world, which makes the pumping units from the pumping stations along the Yellow River suffer from serious sediment erosion, seriously affecting the normal operation of pumps, reducing the working efficiency of pumps, and causing huge positive economic losses and energy waste [2]
According to the erosion pattern in the pump, the erosion is divided into two basic patterns: general erosion and local erosion
Summary
Double-suction centrifugal pumps can produce large flow and high head, and are widely used in irrigation pumping stations along the Yellow River in China [1]. A large number of studies on the solid-liquid two-phase flow in centrifugal pumps have been carried out, and in-depth studies on the erosion and damage on the parts of the flow passage of centrifugal pumps have been conducted [3,4,5]. The erosion of different parts in the pump is mainly due to the change in the characteristics of twophase flow and the characteristics of surface structure material, and the appearances of the damaged surfaces are different [6]. The general erosion is caused by the particles in water flow in the pump scouring the surface of the flow passages [7]. The surface of the material with common erosion presents the same ripple erosion trace, which can clearly reproduce the movement direction of particles
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