Abstract
Tip clearance has a great effect on the flow and pressure fluctuation characteristics in a multiphase pump, especially at multiple operating points. The phase distribution and pressure fluctuation in tip clearance in a multiphase pump are revealed using the CFD (computational fluid dynamics) technology and high-speed photography methods. In this paper, the phase distribution, the gas-liquid two-phase velocity slip, and the pressure fluctuation intensity are comprehensively analyzed. Results show with the increase of the tip clearance, the multiphase pump pressurization performance is obviously deteriorated. In the meantime, the gas accumulation mainly occurs at the hub, the blade suction side (SS), and the tip clearance, and the maximum gas-liquid two-phase velocity difference is near the impeller streamwise of 0.4. In addition, the tip clearance improves the gas-liquid two-phase distribution in the pump, that is, the larger the tip clearance is, the more uniform the gas-liquid distribution becomes. Furthermore, the gas leads to the maximum pressure fluctuation intensity in the tip clearance which is closer to the tip leakage flow (TLF) outlet, and has a greater effect on the degree of flow separation in the tip clearance.
Highlights
With the development of society and the further increase of energy consumption, traditional coal and onshore oil and gas resources are gradually depleted
Oil and gas exploration have shifted from onshore to ocean, especially the development and utilization of oil and gas in deep water area [1,2]
The oil and gas mixture are transported by the same pipeline, which optimizes the layout of the oil and gas transportation system, improves economic benefits, and owns broad application prospects [3,4,5]
Summary
With the development of society and the further increase of energy consumption, traditional coal and onshore oil and gas resources are gradually depleted. Zhang et al [17,18] applied computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software ANSYS CFX to inquiry the flow patterns and pressure fluctuation characteristics in the multiphase pump with different tip clearances. Zhang et al [21,22], Shen et al [23], and Feng et al [24] made use of CFD software to look into the effect of TLF and tip clearance on pressure fluctuation in an axial flow pump. Taking the multiphase pump as the research object, the phase distribution, TLF, and pressure fluctuation characteristics under the water (Inlet gas void fraction (IGVF) = 0) and gas-liquid two-phase (IGVF = 10%) cases with different tip clearances (Rtc = 0.5 mm, 1.0 mm, and 1.5 mm) are investigated in this paper. Mesh 4 is selected in final numerical simulation
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