Research on the Influence of Tip Clearance of Axial-Flow Pump on Energy Characteristics under Pump and Turbine Conditions

Yanjun Li,Xiaotian Xu,Yunhao Zheng,Fan Meng,Qixu Lin

doi:10.3390/machines10010056

Abstract

In order to study the influence of tip clearance on the performance and energy dissipation of the axial-flow pump and the axial-flow pump as a turbine, and find the location of high dissipation rate, this study took an axial-flow pump model as its research object and designed four tip radial clearance schemes (0, 0.2, 1 and 2 mm). The unsteady calculation simulation of each tip clearance scheme was carried out based on CFD technology. The calculated results were compared with the experimental results, and the simulation results were analyzed using entropy production analysis theory. The results showed that, under both an axial-flow pump and axial-flow pump as turbine operating conditions, increasing the blade tip clearance led to a decrease in hydraulic performance. Compared with the 0 mm clearance, the maximum decreases in pump efficiency, head and shaft power under 2 mm tip clearance were 15.3%, 25.7% and 12.3% under the pump condition, and 12.7%, 18.5% and 28.8% under the turbine condition, respectively. Under the axial-flow pump operating condition, the change in blade tip clearance had a great influence on the total dissipation of the impeller, guide vane and outlet passage, and the maximum variation under the flow rate of 1.0Qdes was 53.9%, 32.1% and 54.2%, respectively. Under the axial-flow pump as a turbine operating condition, the change in blade tip clearance had a great influence on the total dissipation of the impeller and outlet passage, the maximum variation under the flow rate of 1.0Qdes was 22.7% and 17.4%, respectively. Under the design flow rate condition, with the increase in tip clearance, the dissipation rate of the blade surface showed an increasing trend under both the axial-flow pump and axial-flow pump as turbine operating conditions, and areas of high dissipation rate were generated at the rim and clearance.

Highlights

The axial-flow pump is a kind of highly specific speed pump with a large flow rate and low head, which is widely used in irrigation, flood control, large-scale water diversion and industrial circulating water systems and other fields of national economic importance [1]
Li et al [13] introduced entropy production analysis theory for the numerical simulation of pump turbines in pump mode, analyzed the hydraulic dissipation and entropy production of pump turbines under different guide vanes, and obtained the hump characteristic of pump turbines in pump mode; the results show that the peak value of entropy production corresponds to the minimum value of efficiency in the external characteristic curve, and the entropy production of the pump turbine mainly occurs on the impeller and guide vane under the pump condition
A numerical simulation method was adopted to study the energy loss of the axial-flow pump under both pump and turbine conditions based on entropy production theory, and four different tip clearance schemes were analyzed

Summary

Introduction

The axial-flow pump is a kind of highly specific speed pump with a large flow rate and low head, which is widely used in irrigation, flood control, large-scale water diversion and industrial circulating water systems and other fields of national economic importance [1]. This paper takes the axial-flow pump model as the research object; on the basis of numerical simulation, and the influence of tip clearance on hydraulic loss of the axial-flow pump under both pump and turbine conditions is analyzed using the method of entropy production analysis theory. It can obtain the specific location of high dissipation rate and solve the limitation of optimization design, providing a reference for coupling the optimization design of the axial-flow pump under pump and turbine conditions. The number of grid nodes of the inlet passage, guide vane and outlet passage was 1 million, 1.2 million and 1.4 million, respectively, and the number of grid nodes of the impeller under the four tip clearance schemes was controlled at approximately 1.8 million

Setting of Boundary Conditions

Influence of Tip Clearance on External Characteristics

Findings

Conclusions