Bulb tubular pumps have been widely used in hydraulic engineering because of their compact structure, easy maintenance, high adaptability, and other characteristics. In this paper, the performance optimization of the bulb tubular pump in the South-to-North water diversion project is studied, as well as the influence of the design of the rear guide vane structure on the hydraulic efficiency of the pump. This study takes a certain type of bulb tubular pump as its research object, optimizing the rear guide vane. Firstly, the accuracy of the numerical simulation method is verified using grid convergence analysis and model experimentation. The orthogonal experimental design method is used to optimize the design, and the range analysis results show that the blade wrap angle has the most significant influence on the hydraulic efficiency and head. Finally, the optimization results under a 0° impeller setting angle were verified by numerical analysis, and the hydraulic efficiency of the optimized pump was increased by 0.7%, 0.88%, and 1.1% under low flow, design flow, and high flow, respectively. By introducing entropy generation theory for inflow analysis, the reduction in energy loss in the pump is proven, thus verifying the effectiveness of the optimization. Through the optimization, the separation fluid phenomenon on the guide vane surface is improved, the vortex scale is reduced, and the flow field in the pump is improved to a certain extent.
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