The effect of bell mouth height on the hydraulic characteristics of the two-way pumping station based on the parameter design

Abstract

Pump intake is an important part of pumping station. To improve the inflow condition of the two-way pumping station, the optimal design of two-way intake of an in-operation pumping station was carried out based on the numerical and experimental study. A design scheme that incorporates the parametric design of the bell mouth height by introducing a parabola, and combined criteria for comprehensively evaluating the performance of the two-way intake, was developed to better estimate the outflow conditions. Moreover, the flow regime in intake and its’ influence on the impeller performance were comprehensively analyzed. With the verified results by the experimental test, they show that the uniformity of intake outflow affects both the hydraulic performance and forces of the impeller. As the bell mouth height decreases, the partial flow in intake has been greatly improved. Furthermore, it has been found that a more uniform outflow suppresses the adverse flow conditions on blade surfaces making the rotor more evenly stressed, while the excessively low height causes the serious hydraulic loss in intake. The present study is helpful in enhancing the operational performance of the two-way pumping station.