Characteristics Of Centrifugal Pump Research Articles

Analysis of Unsteady Flow Characteristics of Centrifugal Pump under Part Load Based on DDES Turbulence Model

To better reveal the mechanism of the rotor-stator interference between the impeller and the guide vane and the evolution process of the stall vortex under the part-load conditions, numerical simulation is carried out based on the DDES turbulence model, which can better capture vortex structure. And the pressure pulsation and the radial velocity distribution of the centrifugal pump are studied. The vortex structure and pressure fluctuation of pump internal flow field under part-load condition of Q = 0.4 Qdes are mainly analyzed. The analysis results show that the stall vortex is formed at the inlet of the impeller and evolves to the outlet of the impeller, the front cover to the rear cover according to the fluid flow direction, and then disappears. Besides, under the part-load condition, the vorticity of the impeller outlet is always obviously less than that of the impeller inlet as the flow rate increases. Due to the asymmetric action of the volute, the radial velocity distribution law of flow channel C1 is different from other flow channels at different blade heights. By analyzing the radial velocity, the phenomenon that the jet-wake flow impacts the guide vane with the rotation of the impeller is the main reason for the rotor-stator interference. And large radial velocity gradients appear at the front and rear cover plates, which will cause high energy loss and reduce pump efficiency. Besides, the conclusion can be drawn that the region with the strongest rotor-stator interference is the inlet region of the guide vane suction surface. It also occurs near the volute tongue but is lower due to the effect of the guide vane. This research may serve as a reference for the safe operation of centrifugal pumps under part-load conditions.

Analysis of Vibration Characteristics of Centrifugal Pump Mechanical Seal under Wear and Damage Degree

Mechanical seal is a kind of shaft sealing equipment. Face wear is one of the main causes of mechanical seal failure. Mechanical seal condition is also related to the reduction of energy consumption and carbon emission. Therefore, we need to detect the centrifugal pump seal condition. At present, vibration signal is a common method for fault monitoring and diagnosis of centrifugal pump. In this paper, the vibration signal under the condition of damaged centrifugal pump seal is measured by studying the characteristics of vibration signal after the end face damage of centrifugal pump. Statistical indicators such as RMS and kurtosis were taken to analyze the average energy and shock wave energy of vibration signal. The time‐frequency characteristics of vibration signal are analyzed by frequency spectrum. The results show that there are a large extent variation of vibration amplitude in the direction of base and axis and a weak variation of vibration amplitude in the direction of radial and vertical. With the increasing of flow rate, the RMS of vibration signal falls at first, then keeps steady, and mounts at last when the flow rate is over the design flow rate. It can be shown from the time‐frequency spectrum that there is a shock wave and pause signals caused by the shock wave, which are reflected by the higher frequency band components of the vibration signal that can provide a reference to the diagnosis of the occurrence of damaged mechanical seal. From the analysis, the energy of vibration signal is related to the running condition, we can find that the occurrence of mechanical seal wear makes the centrifugal pump to produce high‐frequency vibration signal, and the axial vibration is the strongest and the instability in the fluid makes the vibration signal produce high amplitude characteristics. Analyzing the vibration signal characteristics of centrifugal pumps with damaged mechanical seal is of great significance to find the mechanical seal failure of the centrifugal pumps and adjust the operating parameters.

Clocking effect of outlet RGVs on hydrodynamic characteristics in a centrifugal pump with an inlet inducer by CFD method

This paper investigates the hydrodynamic characteristic of a single-stage centrifugal pump with inlet inducer and outlet Radial Guided Vanes (RGVs) influenced by the clocking effect for the first time. Different from general ones, the outlet RGVs in this paper have specificities. The hydraulic performance and dynamic characteristics of the centrifugal pump are numerically studied and validated by experiments. The results indicate that there is an optimum position of RGVs that can not only increase the pump head and efficiency but also reduce the pressure fluctuation intensity. A non-dimensional parameter describing the velocity non-uniformity of the impeller outlet is first proposed, which is negatively related to the pump’s hydraulic performance. The clocking position of the RGVs will affect the velocity homogeneity at the impeller outlet, and further influence the hydraulic characteristics of the pump. Besides, the clocking effect of outlet RGVs mainly affects the amplitudes of BPF for both the pressure fluctuation and radial force, and the most obvious frequency of pressure pulsation and radial force is 3 BPF correlating with the inlet inducer. It is recommended to install the volute-tongue tip near the middle of two vanes.

Application of Wray–Agarwal Turbulence Model in Flow Simulation of a Centrifugal Pump With Semispiral Suction Chamber

Abstract The Wray–Agarwal (WA) turbulence model is selected to simulate the internal and external characteristics of a centrifugal pump with semispiral suction chamber; the numerical results are compared with the experimental data and computed results predicted by standard k–ε, renormalization group (RNG) k–ε, and shear stress transport (SST) k–ω turbulence models. The results show that the WA model could be effectively used to compute the energy performance of centrifugal pump under full range of operating conditions and gives higher accuracy than other models. Overall, the WA model shows closer similarity to the experimental data and gives more uniform flow field in the impeller region compared to that predicted by other models. In prediction of internal flow fields of the pump, overall the WA model is more accurate and efficient being a one-equation model. The control of undamped eddy viscosity variable R (= k/ω) in WA model does not allow the overestimation of turbulent kinetic energy and turbulent eddy frequency obtained with other models, which leads to its advantage in accurate prediction of both internal and external flow characteristics of centrifugal pump.

Study on the Effects of the Wear-Rings Clearance on the Solid-Liquid Two-Phase Flow Characteristics of Centrifugal Pumps

In order to study the wear law of the centrifugal pump flowing surface under different wear-rings clearance, the McLaury wear model was used to conduct the full-passage numerical simulation of solid-liquid two-phase flow in a single-stage single-suction centrifugal pump. The reliability of the numerical calculation method is verified by comparing the experimental data and numerical simulation results. The clearance is 0.1, 0.15, 0.2, 0.3 and 0.5 mm, respectively. The results show that the wear of the centrifugal pump blades is mainly concentrated in the end part and the inlet part of the blade, and the wear of the pressure surface at the end of the suction surface and the front of the blade is more serious. As the clearance increases, the maximum wear value in the impeller increases first and then decreases, reaching a maximum at 0.15 mm. With the increase of the clearance, the wear degree and the wear rate of the volute wall surface first increase and then decrease, and reach the maximum at 0.2 mm. With the increase of the clearance and the concentration of the fluid medium, the wear at the clearance of the centrifugal pump is more serious, and the severe wear area exhibits a point-like circumferential distribution.

Research on the operation condition indicator for centrifugal pump based on sensorless monitoring technology

A centrifugal pump operates under off-design operation conditions would lead to flow instability, additional energy loss or mechanical damage. Early detection is of great importance to its operation efficiency and safety. Sensorless monitoring technology based on motor current signature analysis (MCSA) is a cost-effective and non-intrusive technology to monitor motor-driven devices. However, existing researches on MCSA for centrifugal pump usually realize their monitoring function through complicated time-frequency or energy analysis, they stop short of an indicator that has less calculation cost and definite physical significance compatible with the pump’s operation condition. In response to the limitations, this paper aimed at establishing such indicator for centrifugal pump based on MCSA. Theoretical analysis, CFD simulation and experiments were conducted to study the characteristics of pump torque and motor stator current, whose results suggest that the torque fluctuation frequency characteristics would be transmitted to motor stator current by electromagnetic coupling effect, and distribute as sidebands in current spectrum through power frequency modulation. As a result, torque disturbance caused by off-design operation would be reflected as stronger harmonic and noise distortion of motor stator current, and the distortion intensity could be quantified and employed as the operation condition indicator (OCI) for centrifugal pump. Experimental results show that the OCI has its lowest value under the design operation condition, and gradually increases as the pump’s operation condition getting worse. Such change law agrees well with the efficiency characteristics of centrifugal pump, which provides a new thought for the operation monitoring of centrifugal pump based on MCSA. The proposed indicator could be directly obtained from the current signal and easily calculated, which is more appropriate for application and probably more preferred for industry compared to the former operation monitoring methods.

Effect of Short Blade Circumferential Position Arrangement on Gas-Liquid Two-Phase Flow Performance of Centrifugal Pump

In order to study the internal flow characteristics of centrifugal pumps with a split impeller under gas-liquid mixed transportation conditions, this paper conducted a steady calculation of the flow field in the centrifugal pump under the conditions of different inlet gas volume fractions based on the Eulerian-Eulerian heterogeneous flow model, using air and water as the working media and the Schiller Nauman model for the interphase resistance. This paper takes a low specific speed centrifugal pump as the research object, through the controlling variables, using the same pump body structure and pump body geometric parameters and setting three different arrangements of long and short blades (each plan uses the same long and short blades) to explore the influence of the short blade arrangement on the low specific speed centrifugal pump performance under a gas-liquid two-phase flow. The research results show that, under pure water conditions, the reasonable arrangement of the short blade circumferential position can eliminate the hump of the centrifugal pump under low-flow conditions, can make the flow velocity in the impeller more uniform, and can optimize the performance of the pump. Under the design conditions and the gas-liquid two-phase inflow conditions, when the circumferential position of the short blades is close to the suction surface of the long blades, some of the bubbles on the suction surface of the long blade can be broken under the work of the pressure surface of the short blade and flow out of the impeller with the liquid, which improves the flow state of the flow field in the impeller.

Optimizing conical nozzle of venturi ejector in ejector loop reactor using computational fluid dynamics

The structure of a conical nozzle is critical to the gas induction of a venturi ejector. In this work, the effect of nozzle structure on the gas induction was investigated by means of multiphase CFD and validating experiments. Under different structures, the maximal gas induction was obtained through analyzing the nozzle outlet velocity (NOV), nozzle inlet velocity (NIV), as well as nozzle shrinking angle (NSA). The simulated inlet pressure is positively proportional to inlet flow rate, which is in good agreement with experimental results. The simulated results reveal that the inlet pressure and gas induction increase with the increasing NOV. Considering the operational characteristics of centrifugal pump, the recommended NOV is about 21.8 m/s. NIV and NSA show little impact on gas induction and inlet pressure. Based on the pipeline energy consumption, the recommended NIV is the same as the outlet velocity of centrifugal pump. The recommended NSA is about 20o to obtain the maximal gas induction.

Investigation on characteristics of pressure fluctuation in a centrifugal pump with clearance flow

Clearance flow has great impact on pressure fluctuation of centrifugal pumps. Numerical calculations are performed to study the pressure fluctuation characteristics of centrifugal pump with wear ring clearance, especially in the regions of interaction between main flow and clearance flow (IMC) and clearance. The accuracy of numerical calculations is illustrated by comparing the experiments of performance and pressure fluctuation. Results show that, in clearance region the pressure fluctuation is still governed by blade passing frequency (fBPF). Its amplitude of dominate frequency of pressure fluctuation becomes larger as the probe approaches the impeller exit. In IMC region, the pressure fluctuation at impeller outlet is dominated by fBPF. However, the dominate frequency at the entrance of impeller is less than fBPF. In addition, as the flow rate increased, the amplitude of dominate frequency of pressure fluctuation increases at impeller entrance, whereas an inverse trend is observed at wear ring clearance region.

Three-Dimensional Simulation of Highly Unsteady and Isothermal Flow in Centrifugal Pumps for the Local Loss Analysis Including a Wall Function for Entropy Production

Abstract A local loss analysis (LLA) based on entropy production is presented for the numerical three-dimensional (3D) simulation of isothermal centrifugal pump flow. A finite volume method and a statistical turbulence model are employed. Wall functions for direct and turbulent entropy production in isothermal flow are derived, implemented in a node-centered finite volume scheme as a postprocessing procedure, and validated on an attached channel flow as well as on separated flow in an asymmetric diffuser. The integrity of the entropy wall function is demonstrated by a loss balance for a wide range of boundary layer resolution in terms of nondimensional wall distance y+≈1 to ≈200. Remaining differences to the total pressure loss are traced back to the particular turbulent wall function for the flow solution within the finite volume solver and vanish toward a wall resolution of the viscous sublayer, i.e., y+≈1. LLA together with the new entropy wall function is applied to highly unsteady isothermal flow in a single-blade pump as well as to part-load operation of a conventional multiblade pump which reveals distinctive flow structures that are associated with entropy production. By these examples, it is demonstrated how efficiency characteristics of centrifugal pumps can be attributed to local loss production in particular flow regions.

Numerical Calculation of Energy Performance and Transient Characteristics of Centrifugal Pump under Gas-Liquid Two-Phase Condition.

The unstable operation of a centrifugal pump under the gas-liquid two-phase condition seriously affects its performance and reliability. In order to study the gas phase distribution and the unsteady force in an impeller, based on the Euler-Euler heterogeneous flow model, the steady and unsteady numerical calculations of the gas-liquid two-phase full flow field in a centrifugal pump was carried out, and the simulation results were compared with the test data. The results show that the test results are in good agreement with the simulation data, which proves the accuracy of the numerical calculation method. The energy performance curve of the model pump decreases with the increase of the gas content, which illustrates a serious impact on the performance under the part-load operating condition. The results reveal that the high-efficiency-operating range become narrow, as the gas content increases. The gas phase is mainly distributed on the suction surface of the impeller blades. When the gas content reaches a certain value, the gas phase separation occurs. As the inlet gas content increases, the radial force on the impeller blades decreases. The pattern of the pressure pulsation is similar to that under pure water and low gas content conditions, and the number of peaks during the pulsation is equal to the number of the impeller blades. After the gas content reaches a certain value, the pressure fluctuates disorderly and the magnitude and the direction of radial force change frequently, which are detrimental to the operation stability of the pump. The intensity of the pressure pulsations in the impeller flow channel continues to increase in the direction of the flow under pure water conditions. The pressure pulsation intensities at the blade inlet and the volute tongue become more severe with the increase of the gas content.

Correlation Research between Turbulent Pressure Pulsation and Internal Sound Field Characteristics of Centrifugal Pump

In order to study the correlation between the internal flow noise of the centrifugal pump and the turbulent pressure pulsation, a single-stage single-suction centrifugal pump was used as the research object by the combination of numerical calculation and experiment. Based on the RNG k-e model and the N-S equation, the model pump was simulated numerically by CFD. A dipole sound source was extracted by the turbulent pulse action of the volute wall surface according to the FW-H equation. The acoustic field of the model pump was solved on the basis of the boundary element method, and the sound pressure distribution of the internal flow field under the action of the dipole sound source of the volute wall and the frequency response of the inlet and outlet fields were obtained. The results show that the distribution of hydrodynamic noise inside the centrifugal pump is related to the pressure pulsation, presenting obvious dipole distribution and disturbance at the tongue. The sound pressure value of the field is mainly concentrated in the blade passing frequency and double frequency, in which the blade passing frequency is the strongest, and the sound pressure value decreases obviously under other double frequency. The main frequency of hydrodynamic noise is the blade passing frequency.

Effect of Circular Non-Smooth Surface Blades on Cavitation Characteristics of Centrifugal Pump

Effect of Circular Non-Smooth Surface Blades on Cavitation Characteristics of Centrifugal Pump

Numerical Simulation of Gas–Liquid Two-Phase Flow Characteristics of Centrifugal Pump Based on the CFD–PBM

This work seeks to apply the computational fluid dynamics–population balance model (CFD–PBM) to investigate the gas distribution and flow mechanism in the gas–liquid two-phase flow of a centrifugal pump. The findings show that the numerical simulation accurately captures the bubble distribution characteristics in the process of coalescence and breakage evolution. In addition, comparing the CFD–PBM with the Double Euler, the hydraulic head of the pump are similar, but the efficiency using the Double Euler is much higher—even close to single-phase. This is in contrast to previous experimental research. Then, the unsteady flow usually led to the formation of bubbles with larger diameters especially where vortices existed. In addition, the rotor–stator interaction was a main reason for bubble formation. Generally, it was observed that the coalescence rate was greater than the breakage rate; thus, the coalescence rate decreased until it equaled the breakage rate. Thereafter, the average diameter of the bubble in each part tended to be stable during the process of bubble evolution. Finally, the average diameter of bubbles seemed to increase from inlet to outlet. The results of this study may not only enhance the gas–liquid two-phase internal flow theory of centrifugal pumps, but also can serve as a benchmark for optimizations of reliable operation of hydraulic pumps under gas–liquid two-phase flow conditions.

Analysis of comparative and dimensionless characteristics of centrifugal pumps for water injection into the oil reservoir

The paper reviews the existing references on set task. The general issue on the importance of produced water injection into the wells, the static indexes of pumps used for water injection into the formation are considered, via the general data on modelling theory (similarity), the characteristic parameters of electric-centrifugal bottom hole pump studied as well. Comparative, dimensionless and operational characteristics of ETPК type pump were found on set table data in the active use of similarity theory. The list of used references is provided.

Internal flow structure, fault detection, and performance optimization of centrifugal pumps

This review mainly summarizes the latest developments in the internal flow field and external characteristics of centrifugal pumps. In particular, the latest findings of centrifugal pumps focused on turbulence and cavitation models, flow visualization methods, and fault detection based on noise and vibration. The external characteristics, cavitation, and vibration of the centrifugal pump were extensively discussed. In addition, advanced multi-objective optimization methods for improving impeller’s efficiency and reducing net positive suction head (NPSH) were briefed. Although some progress was made in this field, there remain many unsolved problems, such as monitoring and modeling of cavitation, rotational stall phenomenon, and discrepancies between simulation and measurement. In the future, researchers are encouraged to employ multi-dimensional flow visualization technologies and high-performance computing facilities to advance existing understandings on these issues and create new research directions.

Effects of clearance flow on the characteristics of centrifugal pump under low flow rate

The Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes equations and the shear stress transport k-w turbulence model are employed to simulate the centrifugal pump with or without clearance flows. The simulation results have been compared with the experimental data and good agreement has been achieved. Results show that clearance flow causes a decrease in the characteristics of the centrifugal pump, particularly in pressure fluctuation. The largest deviation of the amplitude of pressure fluctuation between the centrifugal pump with and without clearance flow is 65.34 %. The numerical results also show that the clearance flow causes collision impact with the mainstream flow and forms a multiple vortex structure at the impeller entrance. Clearance flow greatly affects the pressure distribution in the impeller passage, which is opposite to the volute tongue, especially at the suction side of the blade surface. The wave distribution decreases along the direction of the hub to the shroud, which indicating that the influence of clearance flow weakens along this direction.

Study on the influence of impeller area ratio parameter on performance and flow excitation of centrifugal pump

The internal flow passage of centrifugal pump involves many geometric parameters and area parameters, which are not independent but interrelated. Area ratio is a physical quantity which combines different area parameters together, and studies the area ratio relationship between the impeller outlet and the inlet, which can provide new ideas and methods for the improvement and optimization of centrifugal pump. In this paper, through numerical calculation, the hydraulic performance, flow characteristics and pressure pulsation characteristics of centrifugal pump under different area ratio parameters are compared. The results show that when the area ratio increases, the head and efficiency of the pump are better, and the flow excitation under the main excitation frequency decreases. In addition, the recommended area ratio value range is also given.

Mathematical study of energy characteristics of centrifugal pump with single-vane impeller

Mathematical study of energy characteristics of centrifugal pump with single-vane impeller

원심펌프 내부의 유동특성 해석

In this study, actual material manufactured and used actually in the corporation was embodied by CATIA V5, results of flow characteristics that were obtained from numerical analysis on pressure distribution and velocity distribution from inlet port to outlet port of centrifugal pump, flow phenomenon of water cut, and path of particle were compared with actual performance curve of centrifugal pump through commercial program, ADINA 9.0 and reliability of flow characteristics numerical analysis was confirmed. In addition, the comparison of numerical analysis and performance curve of centrifugal pump, outlet pressure head is nearly be a unit. In this study, biased phenomenon of impeller outlet pressure was confirmed and it prepared an opportunity to improve the phenomenon. And it should be much helpful to improve pump performance if analyzing flow characteristics of centrifugal pump used in industrial field for various purposes, grasping the reasons making an effect on pump performance and improving them.