Abstract
In aerospace fields and industrial sectors, high-speed centrifugal pumps are prevalent and in increasingly strict demand regarding characteristics such as the long life, small volume, light weight, and low noise. In this study, we present a novel high-speed centrifugal water pump with hydrodynamic bearings used to employ work fluid as lubricant. A three-dimensional numerical study of the turbulent fluid flow was carried out to predict the performance of the pump. The computational model was validated against experimental results during hydraulic tests. Additionally, the effect of the blade number on the head and efficiency of the pump was researched. The blade number of the impeller was changed from 4 to 8 and that of the stay vane was from 3 to 14. The results indicate that the blade number and the matching characteristic of the impeller and the stay vane significantly influenced the performance of the pump. The structure based on the seven-blade impeller and the six-blade stay vane had the highest efficiency (30.8%). Numerical investigations of this study may help reduce the significant cost and time of experimental work for a particular design.
Highlights
High-speed centrifugal pumps are used extensively in aerospace fields, the petrochemical industry, and the chemical industry
The flow-path shown in Figure 3 is divided into five regions: the inlet, the inducer, the impeller, The flow-path shown in Figure 3. is divided into five regions: the inlet, the inducer, the impeller, the stay vane, and the guide section of the high-speed pump
Kim et al [23] pointed out that the k − ε turbulence model is popular for numerical research of the p is the reduced velocity components, the components of body force, pressure including the f i is centrifugal pump. They examined the applicability of the standard k − ε model, the renormalization group (RNG)
Summary
High-speed centrifugal pumps are used extensively in aerospace fields, the petrochemical industry, and the chemical industry. The flow path in the impeller must be optimally designed to achieve the high efficiency of pumps. The working fluid flowing into the motor path is taken as the lubricant for bearings. This structure is oil-free and pollution-free; the hard contact is eliminated at high speed, the friction vibration is weakened, and the noise is almost negligible. The design optimization of the impeller and the stay vane was numerically carried out by Kim et al [17] and the performance improvement was obtained for the mixed-flow pump. The numerical studies were carried out to observe the influence of the blade number of the impeller and the stay vane on the hydraulic performance of the high-speed pump. The work is expected to provide a thorough performance insight of a pump system
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