Pump Applications Research Articles

Microstructure, mechanical properties and reciprocal dry sliding wear behaviour of as-cast and heat-treated TiN/Al-7Si functionally graded composite

This work explores the effect of T6 heat-treatment on the microstructure, mechanical properties and dry sliding linear reciprocating wear behaviour of Al-7Si/Titanium Nitride (TiN) centrifugally cast functionally graded composite. The 10 wt% TiN particle addition and subsequent eutectic Si spheroidisation due to heat treatment revealed an improvement in microhardness, tensile strength and wear resistance of heat-treated composite when compared to as-cast composite. Reciprocating wear analysis at varying applied loads and sliding distances revealed a combination of specimen micro-ploughing and abrasive particle action at low load and sliding distances, which was in stark contrast to the combination of abrasive and adhesive wear at higher loads and sliding distances. The surface was characterised by mechanically mixed layer formation due to tribo-oxidation, adhesive and delamination wear mechanisms. This composite can be utilised to replace traditional materials employed in reciprocating pump and compressor applications.

Grid and PV Fed Uninterruptible Induction Motor Drive Implementation and Measurements

Motors powered directly from solar panels are becoming more and more popular in pump applications. However, solar panels can be the source of operational issues due to varying irradiance, ambient temperature, weather. This paper shows how it is worth expanding a solar induction motor drive to provide an uninterrupted flow of electricity to the motor. In addition, the main components of the uninterruptible induction motor drive are presented, including the LLC (inductor-inductor-capacitor) converter, the three-phase inverter, and the three-phase rectifier. LLC converters that can increase the voltage from 25–40 V to 330 V cannot be bought directly from manufacturers. Therefore, a custom LLC converter was made for the research. It was necessary to build a custom converter to avoid the use of solar panel strings. This way, solar panels connected in parallel can be used. A low-voltage (25–40 V) supply was implemented from the solar side, while the induction motor requires 230 V AC three-phase voltage in delta connection. For this reason, a voltage boost is required from the low voltage side. The grid feeds the universal DC link through the three-phase rectifier. This allows the motor to consume varying amounts of electricity from the grid or the solar panel. The study also presents in detail the LLC converter that performs the voltage boost. Measuring the entire motor drive, switching transients and efficiencies can be observed at different input voltages for different supplies as well as loads.

Study on the effects of auxiliary condenser operation parameters on the performance of closed loop heat pump drying system

Considering the problems of high energy consumption, complex system structure and low drying temperature in current industrial drying system of metal parts, a closed loop heat pump drying system with auxiliary condenser was designed and established. The effects of auxiliary condenser operation parameters on the circulating air temperature, coefficient of performance (COP), moisture extraction rate (MER) and specific moisture extraction rate (SMER) were experimentally investigated, where the compressor rotating speed, circulating air volume, cooling water inlet temperature and flow rate respectively were 3900 r•min−1, 539.8 m3•h−1, 5∼30 °C and 30.6∼50.1 kg•h−1. The results showed that the drying temperature gradually increased with increasing cooling water inlet temperature and decreasing cooling water flow rate. When the cooling water inlet temperature and flow rate respectively were 20 °C and 34.3 kg•h−1, the drying temperature was 70.02 °C, meeting the high temperature requirement of industrial drying. Besides, the cooling water flow rate had little influence on the system COP, while the system COP increased at first and then decreased with increasing cooling water inlet temperature, reaching its maximum value 5.64 when the cooling water inlet temperature was 20 °C. Moreover, when the cooling water inlet temperatures respectively were 20 °C and 5 °C with constant cooling water flow rate 34.3 kg•h−1, the system MER and SMER could reach their maximum values of 3.8 kg•h−1 and 1.68 kg•kW−1•h−1, showing excellent dehumidification capacity. These results can provide guidance for the popularization and application of heat pump drying technology in the industrial drying.

Intensification and analysis of extractive distillation processes with preconcentration for separating ethyl acetate, isopropanol and water azeotropic mixtures

Ethyl acetate (EAC) and isopropanol (IPOH) are important organic chemical raw materials. During the production of ampicillin sodium, there are a large amount of waste water containing EAC and IPOH. In order to separate the dilute solution containing EAC, IPOH, both a four-column extractive distillation process with preconcentration distillation column (PDC) and a three-column extractive distillation process of combining the preconcentrated column with the extractant recovery column (ERC) are presented. In addition, three intensified processes with the application of heat integration and heat pump are proposed. The feasibility of the proposed processes is evaluated from four aspect: economy, energy consumption, environment, exergy analysis. The results show that these five processes have a good effect of energy saving and cost saving. Especially, the vapor recompressed heat pump assisted CTE process (HP-CTE) process, which is the most energy saving scheme, can reduce 37.80% of total annual cost, 55.43% of energy consumption, 54.46% of CO2 emission, 54.85% of SO2 emission, 54.82% of NOX emission, and 53.17% of exergy destruction, respectively, compared with the proposed four-column process.

Performance Prediction and Geometry Optimization for Application of Pump as Turbine: A Review

Pump as Turbine (PAT) is a technically and economically effective technology to utilize small/mini/micro/pico hydropower, especially in rural areas. There are two main subjects that influence the selection and application of PAT. On the one hand, manufacturers of pumps will not provide their characteristics under the turbine mode, which requires performance prediction methods. On the other hand, PAT efficiency is always slightly lower than that of pump, which requires further geometry optimization. This literature review summarized published research studies related to performance prediction and geometry optimization, aimed at guiding for selection and optimization of PAT. Currently, there exist four categories of performance prediction methods, namely, using BEP (Best Efficiency Point), using specific speed, loss modeling, and polynomial fitting. The using BEP and loss modeling methods are based on theoretical analysis, while using specific speed and polynomial fitting methods require statistical fitting. The prediction errors of published methods are within ±10% mostly. For geometry optimization, investigations mainly focus on impeller diameter and blade geometry. The influence of impeller trimming, blade rounding, blade wrap angle, blade profile, blade number, blade trailing edge position, and guide vane number has been studied. Among published methods, the blade rounding and forward-curved impellers are the most effective and feasible techniques.

Review of MSM Actuators: Applications, Challenges, and Potential

Magnetic shape memory alloys (MSMAs) are a new and rapidly developing class of smart materials. These alloys demonstrate significant strain (from 6% to 12%) under an external magnetic field, which combined with their wide actuation frequency range, rapid accelerations, and high energy efficiency has resulted in MSMAs being used in a wide range of applications, for example, for energy harvesting, in measurement devices, flow control and pump applications, and as actuators and dampers. MSM actuators inherit the properties of MSMAs and MSM actuators can thus be extremely useful in many areas such as robotics, mobile machines, aerospace engineering and medicine, to name a few. Although the volume of research related to MSM actuators has increased in recent years, only a few types of these actuators exist, and the number of possible applications is currently rather limited. Nevertheless, MSM actuators clearly have great potential. Against this background, this paper reviews the current state of MSMA technology, examines different classes of MSM actuators and their current applications, and presents opportunities that have not yet been properly explored.

Analysis of Power Quality Problems in Large-Scale Application of Air-Source Heat Pump

With the implementation of electric energy alternatives, the large-scale application of electric energy substitution represented by air-source heat pumps has replaced traditional coal-fired heating, which is beneficial for the environment and alleviates air pollution. However, the large-scale application of air-source heat pumps has brought power quality problems such as voltage sags, harmonic pollution, and three-phase imbalance to the distribution network. This paper studies the fixed-frequency and variable-frequency air-source heat pump, introduces its working principle, analyzes the mechanism of its power quality problem. Moreover, the paper establishes a simulation model for the fixed-frequency heat pump and variable-frequency heat pump to connect to the distribution network. This research mainly studies the impact of large-scale fixed-frequency heat pumps on the depth of voltage sags in the distribution network and the impact of large-scale variable-frequency heat pumps on the harmonic content of the distribution network under different penetration rates and uses measured data to verify the reliability of the simulation results. This paper uses experimental data for the first time to verify the real power quality problems of large-scale heat pumps, which can provide a reference for determining the power quality standards for heat pumps connected to the power grid. At the same time, it can also provide a reference for the power quality management of the distribution network that is actually connected to electric heating.

The Complicated Challenges to ESP Artificial-lift Application in an Oil-field of Middle-East

Many oil and gas fields are located at the Middle-East region, especially distributed across Zagros fold belt and Arabic platform slope, most of which were discovered in the 1970s. However, due to the influence of huge reserves, OPEC restrictions, and wars and so on, water-flooding development and artificial lifting are only applied at preliminary status now after long-time natural producing in this region. Moissan Oil Field is located in Iraq and it is of unique regional characteristics in carbonate reservoir lithology and fluid properties. Actually, the artificial lift application of Electrical Submersible Pump (ESP) in this field is also encountered a lot of severe difficulties which will be comprehensively analyzed one by one in details. After that, effective proposal is raised based on geological reservoir, underground well completion, artificial lift design, and operation management and production optimization. The difficulties for ESP application are overcome and the running time of ESP is effectively prolonged.

Prospects for Decreasing the Amount of Water Use by Thermal Power Plants in Russia through Application of Heat Pumps

Prospects for Decreasing the Amount of Water Use by Thermal Power Plants in Russia through Application of Heat Pumps

Study on the best heat transfer rate in thermal response test experiments with coaxial and U-pipe borehole heat exchangers

This paper concerns the modeling of vertical Borehole Heat Exchangers (BHEs) for Ground Source Heat Pump (GSHP) applications. Focus is devoted to the analyses of Thermal Response Test (TRT) simulations aimed at understanding the main factors that influence the ground thermal conductivity and the effective borehole thermal resistance estimations. The conventional infinite line-source (ILS) model does not include any influence of the external heat transfer rate on the BHE/ground property evaluation. Analyses of numerically simulated TRTs show this omission can sometimes produce an error in the estimate of the ground thermal conductivity. The error may be between ±10% and ±22% for coaxial boreholes (800 m depth), if the ground has a significant geothermal gradient. On the other hand, for single and double U-pipe BHEs the error is less than ±5% under similar conditions. The parameter qratio is identified as an indicator of when the error is significant. This parameter is equal to the external heat rate (injection or extraction) divided by a natural heat rate that is related to the geothermal gradient. Errors greater than ±10% tend to occur for coaxial boreholes with a center-pipe fluid inlet when |qratio| < 1. Under the same conditions but with the annulus as the fluid inlet, the error is less than ±6%.

A2L low GWP HFO based refrigerant solutions in heat pump applications to drive energy efficiency, safety, and sustainability even in building restoration

Driven by energy efficiency requirements and legal restrictions like F-Gas Regulation Heat Pump OEM supplier are looking for alternative refrigerant solutions. HFO based low GWP refrigerants can help increasing the system efficiency, expanding the operating temperature range while reducing CO2 emissions. For building restoration in particular, high flow temperatures (for existing hydronic heating system) are essential for convenient and cost-and energy-efficient replacements of fossil fuel boilers. A2L classified refrigerants provide extended application range at highest safety level versus A3 classified refrigerants, but R-32 still carries a Global Warming Potential (GWP) of 675 making it a transitional solution. This paper compares different relevant parameters and points out the advantages provided by HFO A2L low GWP refrigerants (like R-454B and R-454C) for a wide capacity range of air to water and brine to water heat pumps. A special focus is put on the application of building restoration.

Analysis of tilt angle variation in solar photovoltaic water pumping system

The paper considers the optimum tilt angle and orientation for the maximum utilization of the solar energy to collect more solar radiation for water pumping application in remote area. The module of tilt angle should be varied from 0° to 45° due to the single-axis tracking system. This paper deals with the effect of tilt angle variation in solar-water pumping system technologies. For this purpose four different tilt angles 8°, 15°, 30°, and 45° have been considered. The total amount of water to be extracted to the fixed tilt angle depends upon the latitude of the site and compared to different tilt angles which are suitable for the better performance of solar PV water pumping system. The performance analyzing models are designed using PVsyst simulation software. A comparative analysis is performed for different tilt angles with respect to solar yield, performance ratio, and energy losses to fulfill the irrigation system and domestic water demand. The software simulation indicated that the 30° orientation of PV panel provided maximum solar radiation and gives better performance.

Numerical Investigation of an Oil-Free Liquid-Injected Screw Compressor with Ammonia-Water as Refrigerant for High Temperature Heat Pump Applications

Numerical Investigation of an Oil-Free Liquid-Injected Screw Compressor with Ammonia-Water as Refrigerant for High Temperature Heat Pump Applications

Strategy of Compatible Use of Jet and Plunger Pump with Chrome Parts in Oil Well

During oil fields operation, gas is extracted along with oil. In this article it is suggested to use jet pumps for utilization of the associated oil gas, burning of which causes environmental degradation and poses a potential threat to the human body. In order to determine the possibility of simultaneous application of a sucker-rod pump, which is driven by a rocking machine, and a jet pump (ejector) in the oil well, it is necessary to estimate the distribution of pressure along the borehole from the bottomhole to the mouth for two cases: when the well is operated only be the sucker-rod pump and while additional installation of the oil-gas jet pump above its dynamic level. For this purpose, commonly known methods of Poettman-Carpenter and Baksendel were used. In addition, the equations of high-pressure and low-pressure oil-gas jet pumps were obtained for the case, when the working stream of the jet pump is a gas-oil production mixture and the injected stream is a gas from the annulus of the well. The values which are included in the resulting equations are interrelated and can only be found in a certain sequence. Therefore, a special methodology has been developed for the practical usage of these equations in order to calculate the working parameters of a jet pump based on the given independent working parameters of the oil well. Using this methodology, which was implemented in computer programs, many operating parameters were calculated both for the well and for the jet pump itself (pressures, densities of working, injected and mixed flows, flow velocities and other parameters in control sections). According to the results of calculations, graphs were built that indicate a number of regularities during the oil well operation with such a jet pump. The main result of the performed research is a recommendation list on the choice of the oil-gas jet pump location inside the selected oil well and generalization of the principles for choosing the perfect location of such ejectors for other wells. The novelty of the proposed study lays in a systematic approach to rod pump and our patented ejector pump operation in the oil and chrome plating of pump parts. The result of scientific research is a sound method of determining the rational location of the ejector in the oil well and the calculation of its geometry, which will provide a complete selection of petroleum gas released into the annulus of the oil well. To ensure reliable operation of jet and plunger pumps in oil wells, it is proposed to use reinforcement of parts (bushings, plungers, rods, etc.) by electrochemical chromium plating in a flowing electrolyte. This has significantly increased the wear resistance and corrosion resistance of the operational surfaces of these parts and, accordingly, the service life of the pumps. Such measures will contribute to oil production intensification from wells and improve the environmental condition of oil fields.

The Heat Pump Systems – an Option for Energy Efficiency and Innovation of Technologies

The report refers to the wider practical application of heat pumps in terms of rational use of energy resources; energy efficiency; environmental efficiency and technology innovation. Energy conservation, reduction of carbon footprint in energy production and consumption and technology innovation are global issues. The paper focuses on low potential energy sources needed to heat pumps, types of heat pumps, main guidelines and challenges when using heat pumps and the experience of experts from the Bulgarian school.

Perioperative Cardiac Troponin T and Risk of Postoperative Atrial Fibrillation in Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery.

Postoperative atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common complication after cardiac surgery. We investigated whether perioperative cardiac troponin T (cTnT) is associated with the risk of AF after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Two thousand four hundred twenty-one patients with isolated CABG were studied. High sensitivity cTnT (hs-cTnT) was assessed before and then at 80 hour and 24 hour after the operation. Logistic regression models were applied to investigate the association of perioperative hs-cTnT with postoperative AF. The ROC curve analysis was applied to determine the optimal cutoff values. Postoperative AF was occurred in 356 (14.7%) patients. Age (adjusted odds ratio [ORs] 1.087-1.090), male gender (OR 1.390), left atrium size (ORs 1.055-1.111), on-pump coronary bypass (OR 1.561), and application of intra-aortic balloon pump (ORs 2.890-2.966) were independently associated with AF. Preoperative hs-cTnT was associated with AF in patients with off-pump coronary bypass (ORs 1.997-2.375). However, the area under the curve for preoperative hs-cTnT was 0.625 in this group. On-pump coronary bypass had major influence on postoperative hs-cTnT levels regardless of the occurrence of AF. Preoperative hs-cTnT level is associated with the risk of AF after isolated CABG in patients undergoing off-pump coronary bypass, but the accuracy of this biomarker is yet inadequate. Postoperative levels of hs-cTnT have no predictive value considering large influence by the surgical technique and the cardiac surgery itself. Therefore, perioperative hs-cTnT is not a clinically useful biomarker for predicting AF following CABG.

High-throughput Screening of Aluminophosphate Zeolites for Adsorption Heat Pump Applications

High-throughput Screening of Aluminophosphate Zeolites for Adsorption Heat Pump Applications

Comprehensive selection and assessment methodology of compression heat pump system

In the process of “Carbon peaking” and “Carbon neutrality”, compression heat pump is an effective technology to supply heat while improving energy utilization efficiency and shifting CO2 emission. In order to promote the application of compression heat pump and provide the most suitable heat pump system, the favorable design logic and selection strategy is important for researchers and designers. Therefore, a comprehensive selection and assessment system (S&A) of compression heat pump is proposed in this article. Taking waste heat temperature, required supply temperature, heating capacity, energy efficiency as input parameters, the system first classifies heat pump according supply temperature to select refrigerants, followed by choosing compressor and heat exchanger types based on heating capacity, and last selects configuration by efficiency requirement. All the satisfied combinations of refrigerant, compressor, heat exchanger, system configuration can be output, also the optimal combination based on the highest coefficient of performance (COP). Further, the selected heat pump systems will be assessed from economic and environmental aspects. Two case studies are carried on to show the selecting and simulating process for low-temperature and high-temperature heat pump, and to prove the reliability of compression heat pump S&A system.

Line start synchronous reluctance motor with improved power factor for agriculture electric pump applications

Line start synchronous reluctance motor (LSRM) is more efficient than the existing induction motor (IM). However, the power factor is a major concern in LSRM. The power factor of the LSRM depends on the saliency ratio. To increase the saliency ratio, either d-axis inductance (Ld) has to be improved, or q-axis inductance (Lq) reduced. Here, q-axis inductance is decreased by making the minimal or negligible flux variation in the q-axis. Initially, the rotor geometry has been optimized employing an optimization algorithm. Then, finite element analysis is adopted to predict the capability of the designed rotors. Stress analysis has been carried out for both axial and radial rotor structures to verify the mechanical robustness. The fabrication steps such as folding, stacking and screwing, wire cut, die-casting and milling process of both the rotor structures are explained in detail. Further, both the machines are tested with the centrifugal pump. From the test results, it is observed that the proposed rotor structure provides a higher power factor.

Concept Validation of an Automotive Variable Flow Water Pump With an Eddy Current Magnetic Coupling

This work presents the steps for validating a new topology of magnetic coupling with direct application in automotive water pumps. Starting from analytical studies, a model in two dimensions for simulation by finite elements was created, whose effectiveness was proven with the performance measured by the construction of a prototype. Based on the eddy current coupling technology, the amount of power transferred can be adjusted according to the desired engine operating temperature. This technology consumes less electrical current in comparison with a motor-driven water pump since the primary pumping power source is the combustion engine. Another advantage is the residual torque operating mode that uses the magnetism generated by permanent magnets in the absence of electrical power, which is an important function to protect the engine against overheating in the case of an electrical failure. The results presented here validate the concept regarding the controllability of the device and highlight points to improve the machine’s performance, thus facilitating new developments and future work.