Small Flow Rate Condition Research Articles

Experimental study of gas–liquid two-phase operating characteristics and bubble evolution law of a semi-open mixed-flow pump

This work experimentally studied the influence of gas and liquid distribution on a semi-open mixed-flow pump performance. High speed photography technology was contributed to obtain the evolution law of bubbles in the impeller. The results show that the inlet gas volume fraction (IGVF) and liquid flow rate are the main factors affecting the performance of the pump. The pressurization capacity linearly decreases with the increase in IGVF when the liquid flow rate is close the best efficiency point. However, this factor suddenly drops when the IGVF reaches a certain critical value under the condition of a low liquid flow rate. The spatiotemporal evolution characteristics of the isolated bubbles and gas column in the segregated flow were investigated. In addition, the bubbles are evenly distributed, and the flow pattern is mainly bubbly flow (BF) or aggregated BF (ABF) in the impeller inlet area without blades. Under small liquid flow rate conditions, the bubbles tend to coalesce into larger-sized gas-pocket with an increase in IGVF. The tip leakage vortex increases the turbulence intensity of the flow field. The results show that the bubbles downstream of the tip leakage vortex in the impeller channels are more easily broken into smaller bubbles and form a BF or ABF.

Effect of Flow Rate on Regular Patterns of Pressure Load Distribution on Helico-Axial Pump Impeller Blade Surface

In this paper, the k-ω SST (Shear Stress Transport) turbulence model is employed to study the effect of flow rate on regular patterns of pressure load distribution characteristics on the helico-axial pump impeller blade surface. The results show that all the curves of pressure load distribution of helico-axial pump impeller blade surface at different blade heights under different flow rates show a similar trend of increasing first and decreasing then. At the impeller blade inlet area, with the increase of flow rate, the range of negative blade pressure load in this area gradually increases. When the pump runs under small flow rate conditions, within the range of relative position from 0 to 0.2 of the hub, the work capacity of the hub is obviously stronger than that of other areas of the impeller, while within the range of relative position from 0.2 to 1, the work capacity from hub to rim gradually enhances. With the increase in flow rate, the area with a strong work capacity of the hub gradually expands while the area with a strong work capacity of the rim gradually narrows. The research results can provide a theoretical reference for the optimization design of pump supercharging performance.

Numerical Study of the Influence of Inlet Mass Flow Rate on Rotating Detonation Flow Field Characteristics and Pressure Gain Performance

ABSTRACT A three-dimensional numerical study is performed to investigate the effect of inlet mass flow rate on flow field characteristics and pressure gain of rotating detonation combustor. The results show that the mass flow rate has an important effect on the behavior of the detonation wave. When the inlet mass flow rate is increased, the flow Mach number of inlet throat increases and flow develops to a close critical state. After ignition, two counter-rotating detonation waves will collide in the combustor and the number of collisions decreases with the increase of inlet mass flow rate. The strong wave eventually engulfs the weak wave and develops into a single-wave mode. When the inlet mass flow rate is reduced, the detonation wave velocity and refill height of premixed gas increase. Deflagration area of flow field reduces and the stability is improved. In addition, when the inlet mass flow rate is reduced, the total pressure loss caused by expansion wave decreases. The pressure gain and fuel-based specific impulse are increased. However, increasing the total pressure gain also improves the static pressure fluctuation ratio of inlet throat. The phenomenon of high-pressure feedback under small flow rate condition is also more prominent.

Numerical Analysis and Model Test Verification of Energy and Cavitation Characteristics of Axial Flow Pumps

In order to study the energy and cavitation performance of a high-ratio axial flow pump, the SST k-ω turbulence model and ZGB cavitation model were used to numerically calculate the energy and cavitation performance of a high-ratio axial flow pump, and a model test analysis was carried out. The study concluded that the errors in the numerical calculation of head, efficiency, and critical cavitation margin are within 0.2 m, about 3% and 5%, respectively, and the numerical calculation results are reliable. For the flow conditions of Q = 411 L/s, 380 L/s, 348 L/s, and 234 L/s, the numerically calculated critical cavitation margins are 7.1 m, 5.7 m, 4.6 m, and 9.5 m, respectively, and the experimental critical cavitation margins are 7.5 m, 4.9 m, 4.6 m, and 9.5 m, respectively, with errors of −0.4 m, 0.8 m, 0.0 m, and 0.0 m, in that order; numerical calculations and test results trend the same, with small errors. Under the same inlet pressure, as the flow rate decreases, the vacuole first appears at the head of the blade pressure surface under the large flow rate condition (Q = 411 L/s), and the vacuole appears at the head of the blade suction surface under the small flow rate condition (Q = 234 L/s). As the inlet pressure decreases (pin = 11 × 104–4 × 104 Pa), the vacuole gradually increases under the same flow rate and the cavitation degree increases. The research results of this paper can provide a reference for the study of the energy and cavitation mechanism of the same type of axial flow pump.

Effects of guide vane shape on the performances of pump-turbine: A comparative study in energy storage and power generation

Pumped storage unit is a typical energy storage system in electric power grid system. Flow energy dissipation (FED) is a key factor affecting energy utilization efficiency. Guide vane has an important influence on the hydraulic performance and system stability. This study compares the FED difference of two typical guide vanes in turbine mode and pump mode based on Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and entropy production method. The results show that at the same head, the flow rates in energy storage and power generation are different. In pump mode, FED concentrates in runner, guide vane, stay vane and volute. FED concentrates in runner and draft tube in turbine mode. The sources of FED in pump mode and turbine mode are different, including flow separation, jet wake, wall loss, vortex rope and back-flow. Guide vane with oval leading edge can better enhance the flow rate compared with that with sharp leading edge in turbine mode, which decreases FED at small flow rate condition by improving the matching of blade profiles and flow direction. This paper provides a reference for improving the performance of pump turbine through design.

Influence of Tubular Turbine Runaway for Back Pressure Power Generation on the Stability of Circulating Cooling Water System

With the increasing maturity of tubular turbine power generation technology, an increasing number of industrial applications use it to recover the rich back pressure energy of a circulating cooling water system (CCWS). However, the influence of tubular turbine runaway on the stability of CCWS is still unclear. This work combines the one-dimensional (1D) method of characteristics (MOC) with the three-dimensional (3D) computational fluid dynamics (CFD), develops a 1D CCWS and 3D tubular turbine coupling simulation method, and simulates the runaway and runaway shutdown processes of tubular turbine under small flow rate condition and large flow rate condition in the real system. Results show that the main operating parameters of the system slightly change when the tubular turbine transitions from the steady state to the runaway condition. The runner’s radial force substantially increases in the runaway condition of the tubular turbine, and the phenomenon of violent oscillation is observed compared with the steady state. During the shutdown process of the tubular turbine runaway condition, the valves in parallel and series with the faulty turbine adopt a reasonable cooperative control strategy, which allows for a smooth recovery of the system operating pressure to the original steady state conditions.

Quantitative investigation of the head-hump of large-scale vaned-voluted centrifugal pump

In this study, the three-dimensional incompressible flow in a large-scale vaned-voluted centrifugal pump was numerically studied based on the Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) method. As the flow rate increases, the vortices suddenly appear and disappear. These alternating vortices cause the instability region on the Q-H curve. Therefore, the local entropy production rate (LEPR) is analyzed for a better understanding. The LEPR method will provide a visualization of the energy change in unit and make it easier to understand the reasons of head-hump. Large-scale vaned-voluted centrifugal pumps are often used in large-scale water diversion projects. Long-time operation and frequent changes of conditions require the stability of pump performance, and the head-hump is an important factor that affects the stability of centrifugal pumps. The hump characteristics must be studied and the hump region should be avoided. Under small flow rate condition, six typical high LEPR situations in stay vanes are summarized. It is found that the vortex itself will not produce a large energy loss, the vortex causing high LEPR interacts with surrounding flow or wall. The flow interaction dominates LEPR in impeller and stay vanes. Zonal proportion of LEPR in impeller accounts for a higher proportion than stay vane. This study provides an effective way in understanding the mechanism of flow energy loss in the large-scale vaned-voluted centrifugal pump and can be referred to other similar turbomachinery cases.

Research on wet steam condensation flow characteristics of steam turbine last stage under zero output condition

The zero output transformation of the low-pressure cylinder can fully exploit the peak shaving capacity of the unit and solve the problem of the mismatch between power generation peak shaving and heating supply. However, the friction between the low-pressure rotor and the internal working fluid will cause steam ventilation loss, and the flow field in the last stage is extremely unstable. It is necessary to study the condensed flow characteristics and flow field stability of wet steam under small flow rate conditions in the low-pressure stage group to determine the zero-output operating conditions and the steam ventilation limit operating conditions, which can guide the flexible transformation of cogeneration units. The flow field distribution and condensation characteristics of the last stage of the steam turbine under different flow conditions are obtained through numerical calculations by taking the last stage cascade of a 300 MW steam turbine as the research object. The results show that the vortex inside the last stage of the steam turbine is mainly distributed in the rotor cascades. As the flow rate decreases, the flow instability increases. When the flow rate is lower than 20% turbine heat acceptance (THA), vortex flow first appears at the root of the rotor cascade, and then the height of the vortex and separation increase. When the flow rate is lower than 10% THA, a vortex appears in the clearance between the rotor and stationary cascades, and finally, the vortex fills the entire space. The zero output condition appears when the flow rate is 57,000 kg/h, and the steam ventilation limit condition appears when the flow rate is 10,000 kg/h. At this time, the maximum temperature of the rotor cascade reaches 368.15 K. When the flow rate decreases, the condensation strength and the nucleation rate decrease. When the flow rate is lower than 60,000 kg/h, the Markov loss coefficient in the rotor and stationary cascades increases significantly. Based on the analysis of wet steam flow characteristics, condensation characteristics, steam ventilation conditions, and Markov loss coefficient, it is recommended that the steam turbine's last stage inlet steam flow is not less than 57,000 kg/h. The research results can provide a reference for the steam flow design of steam turbine zero-output retrofitting.

Transient flow structures and pressure pulsations of a high-pressure aero-fuel centrifugal pump

In order to study the complex transient flow characteristics of a high-pressure aero-fuel centrifugal pump within its full working envelope, a certain type of centrifugal pump is numerically simulated, in which the simulation results are compared with the experiment results to verify the effectiveness of the present simulation method. Then, the verified simulation method is selected to analyze the transient flow characteristics, in which the time-frequency characteristic of pressure pulsation at monitored positions is analyzed by using fast fourier transform. In addition, the unsteady flow structures are studied by focusing on the relative speed, turbulent kinetic energy and so on. The results show that the main frequency of pressure pulsation in the impeller and volute is rotation frequency and blade frequency, respectively, where different monitoring points show similar trend. Meanwhile, the flow is relatively stable under design flow rate condition. However, a certain large-scale vortex appears in the impeller channel under small flow rate conditions, which mainly exists at the exit of the impeller channel near the tongue. In addition, turbulent kinetic energy at the exit of the impeller and the tongue has a large distribution range and changes seriously, where a certain hydraulic loss is produced.

Improvement of Unstable Flow in a Low Solidity Cascade Diffuser of Centrifugal Compressor by Multi-Objective Optimization

A compressor for turbochargers is commonly required improving efficiency and expanding the operating flow rate range. Though an aerofoil type diffuser shows better pressure recovery than conventional vaneless diffuser, it is difficult to design the aerofoil type diffuser under conditions of wide change of the flow angle. An innovative design of a Low Solidity circular cascade Diffuser (LSD) was proposed for flow range enhancement of cascade diffuser¸ and an interesting function of the LSD is introduced. At small flow rate conditions, low energy fluid near the diffuser side wall spread between the diffuser blade, and low energy fluid moves to the leading edge of the adjacent blade, then low energy fluid merged with main flow and suppress the flow separation. The phenomena spread to circumferential direction, and whole of the LSD blades show high stability for separation under a large angle of attack. In this study, LSD is designed for compressors of turbocharger by using a Genetic Algorithms (GA) with meta-model of an Artificial Neural Networks (ANN). The final goal of this study is to optimize the LSD with having secondary flow effect under low flow rate conditions.

LES Analysis of the Unsteady Flow Characteristics of a Centrifugal Pump Impeller

Stall phenomena increase the complexity of the internal flow in centrifugal pump impellers. In order to tackle this problem, in the present work, a large eddy simulation (LES) approach is applied to determine the characteristics of these unstable flows. Moreover, a vorticity identification method is used to characterize quantitatively the vortex’s position inside the impeller and its influencing area. By comparing the outcomes of the numerical simulations and experimental results provided by a Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) technique, it is shown that an apparent “alternating stall” phenomenon exists inside the impeller when relatively small flow rate conditions are considered. The stall is generated near the suction side of the blade inlet, grows towards the high-pressure side of the blade in the circumferential direction, and gradually attenuates. As the flow rate decreases, the number of stalls remains unchanged, while the related influencing area and strength gradually increase and the circumferential velocity increases.

Analysis of characteristics and mechanism of flow unsteadiness in a transonic compressor

This paper reveals the flow mechanism of unsteady flow oscillations at small mass flow rate conditions in a transonic compressor rotor. A series of unsteady RANS simulations were performed to achieve time-accurate and time-averaged flow fields. The predicted results were validated by experimental data. The present analysis indicates that the tip leakage vortex (TLV) breakdown occurs with the operating condition approaching the stability limit due to an interaction between the TLV and the shock wave. A bubble-type vortex breakdown is first observed. However, the TLV breakdown does not directly cause flow oscillations. Only if the breakdown region develops beyond a threshold volume value (9.15e−9 m3 in current case), it will influence the static pressure distribution at the pressure side of blade tip region. After that the flux of tip leakage flow, the strength of TLV, the shock/TLV interaction are varied, which in return changed the size of the breakdown region in the adjacent passage. In such a way, a self-sustained system which causes periodical flow oscillations is established. When the compressor is further throttled, the bubble- and spiral-type TLV breakdown occur alternatively, which induces a change in the frequency of the periodical flow oscillation. Although the characteristic frequency of flow oscillation changes with the transition of operating conditions, the trigger for flow unsteadiness is the same as that in the bubble-type breakdown case, namely the changes of static pressure distribution at the pressure side of blade tip. Moreover, during the transition from bubble- to spiral-type breakdown, the breakdown region significantly increases, resulting in a more severe pressure fluctuation in the flow field.

Distribution of condensation droplets in the last stage of steam turbine under small flow rate condition

The parameter variation, condensation and distribution of wet steam are very complicated when the steam turbine works under small flow rate condition. In this paper, the two-phase fluid model, the homogeneous nucleation model and the droplet growth model are combined to study the parameter variation in the last stage flow field, the condensation and distribution rule of wet steam and the interaction among them under small flow rate condition. The results show that the condensation location of wet steam, the number and size of droplets are influenced greatly by the location of vortex and the parameters of flow field. The droplet is mainly distributed on the side of pressure surface and the downstream of trailing edge of rotor blade. And the distribution of droplet corresponds to the distribution of the vortex. At 5%THA condition, the flow angle fluctuates violently, and the velocity triangle presents a distribution of “X“ shape. Besides, the vortex at corresponding locations is obvious, which corresponds to the distribution of droplets. The larger the droplet number, the larger the droplet size is.

Influence of air–water two-phase flow on the performance of a high-speed inducer

This study is to reveal the influence of incoming flow containing air on the internal flow and performance of a high-speed inducer. Numerical calculations were performed herein under different air volume fraction conditions based on the shear-stress transport turbulence model and the Eulerian–Eulerian heterogeneous flow model. The external characteristic, cavitation performance and visualization experiment were conducted under the air–water two-phase condition. As a result, the effect of incoming flow containing air under small flow rate condition on the decline of the inducer head was larger than that under large flow rate condition. The proper air volume fraction was beneficial to the improvement of the inducer cavitation performance. As the air volume fraction increased, the pressure gradients in the axial and radial directions of the inducer gradually reduced and the supercharging performance of the inducer also worsened. The flow near the hub in the flow channel became messy, and the turbulence energy increased. The air mainly concentrated in the leading edge rim and the low blade height region near the hub in the flow channel. The air expanded in the circumferential, radial and axial direction as the air volume fraction increased.

Study on the Performance Improvement of Axial Flow Pump’s Saddle Zone by Using a Double Inlet Nozzle

The operating range of axial flow pumps is often constrained by the onset of rotating stall. An improved method using a double inlet nozzle to stabilize the performance curve is presented in the current study; a single inlet nozzle and three kinds of double inlet nozzle with different rib gap widths at the inlet of axial flow pump impeller were designed. Three dimensional (3D) incompressible flow fields were simulated, and the distributions of turbulence kinetic energy and velocity at different flow rates located at the inlet section, as well as the pressure and streamline in the impeller, were obtained at the same time. The single inlet nozzle scheme and a double inlet nozzle scheme were studied; the experimental and numerical performance results show that although the cross section is partly blocked in the double inlet nozzle, the head and efficiency do not decline at stable operation flow rate. On small flow rate condition, the double inlet nozzle scheme effectively stabilized the head-flow performance, whereby the block induced by the backflow before the impeller was markedly improved by using a double inlet nozzle. It has also been found that the rib gap width impacts the efficiency curve of the axial flow pump.

Dynamic mode decomposition analysis of the flow characteristics in a centrifugal compressor with vaned diffuser

To understand the flow dynamic characteristics of a centrifugal compressor, the dynamic mode decomposition (DMD) method is introduced to decompose the complex three-dimensional flow field. Three operating conditions, peak efficiency (OP1), peak pressure ratio (OP2), and small mass flow rate (near stall, OP3) conditions, are analyzed. First, the physical interpretations of main dynamic modes at OP1 are identified. As a result, the dynamic structures captured by DMD method are closely associated with the flow characteristics. In detail, the BPF/2BPF (blade passing frequency) corresponds to the impeller–diffuser interaction, the rotor frequency (RF) represents the tip leakage flow (TLF) from leading edge, and the 4RF is related to the interaction among the downstream TLF, the secondary flow, and the wake vortex. Then, the evolution of the dynamic structures is discussed when the compressor mass flow rate consistently declines. In the impeller, the tip leakage vortex near leading edge gradually breaks down due to the high backpressure, resulting in multi-frequency vortices. The broken vortices further propagate downstream along streamwise direction and then interact with the flow structures of 4RF. As a result, the 8RF mode can be observed in the whole impeller, this mode is transformed from upstream RF and 4RF modes, respectively. On the other hand, the broken vortices show broadband peak spectrum, which is correlated to the stall inception. Therefore, the sudden boost of energy ratio of 14RF mode could be regarded as a type of earlier signal for compressor instability. In the diffuser, the flow structures are affected by the perturbation from the impeller. However, the flow in diffuser is more stable than that in impeller at OP1–OP3, since the leading modes are stable patterns of BPF/2BPF.

Investigation of Rotating Stall Phenomenon and Optimization in Mixed‐Flow Waterjet Propulsion Device

The rotating stall is a kind of flow phenomenon in the impeller harming the navigation speed of vessels propelled by a waterjet propulsion device when the waterjet propulsion device operates at the small flow rate conditions. The numerical simulated hydraulic performance was compared with experimental results so that the reliability of the CFD method was verified. The grooves are proposed before the inlet of an impeller to suppress the rotating stall. The orthogonal experiment is designed to seek the appropriate values of the parameters such as the length, width, depth, and number of the groove. The results show that the width of groove has the greatest influence on the performance of the device, followed by the number, the depth, and the length. The width, number, depth, and length of the selected groove scheme are 3.10 × 10−2D, 72, 3.10 × 10−2D, and 7.75 × 10−2D, respectively. At the rotating stall conditions, the selected groove scheme is numerically calculated. In contradistinction to the original scheme, it is found that the groove can improve the flow in the impeller and enhance the head of valley point condition, but the efficiency drops due to the increasing local hydraulic loss near the groove. When the groove is installed, the positive slop region on the flow rate‐head curve disappears related to the static pressure difference on the blade, especially depending on the static pressure on the suction side. The flow pattern on the span surface of the vortex core is smooth, and then, the head increases. On the contrary, the head decreases. The outcome is beneficial to improve the performance of the waterjet propulsion device and enrich the rotating stall theory.

Study of the Affinity Law of Energy and Cavitation Characteristics in Emergency Drainage Pumps at Different Rotating Speeds

The affinity law is widely used in pump design and experiments. The applicability of the affinity law in an emergency drainage pump at different rotating speeds was studied. Experiments and numerical simulation through ANSYS CFX (Computational Fluid Dynamics X) 15.0 software were used to research the affinity law characteristics. Results show that the simulation of characteristics is basically consistent with the experimental curves. In small flow rate conditions, due to the existence of obvious differential pressure between the pressure side and the suction side in the impeller blade tip area, the leakage flow occurs at the tip clearance, which collides with the main stream at the inlet and generates vortices at the leading edge of the impeller. The tip leakage flows of the pump at four different rotating speeds were compared, and it was found that the tip leakage increased with increasing rotation speed, and at the same rotation speed, the tip leakage flow was large in the small flow rate condition, which led to the simulation value of the characteristics being greater than the scaling value. As the flow rate increased, the anti-cavitation performance of the pump became worse and the hydraulic loss was larger, so the pump’s performance curve deviated from the scaling curve.

Compared Analysis of Calculation and Simulation on Heat Transfer Characteristics in PCM Heat Exchange Unit, Part II: Thermal Release Process

In this part, the thermal release processes of PCM phase change in the same energy storage unit are analyzed, and the PCM unit model is the same as in Part I: channel number is 39, the plate spacing is 0.01 m, the air channel is 40 with its plate spacing of 0.003 m, and the unit length is total of 1.62 m. MATLAB solution about the above PCM energy storage unit was performed according to the model and physical property data, and the numerical simulation was carried out by using Fluent software as well. The theoretical calculation and numerical simulation were compared and analyzed. For the release process, it also can be seen that only in the case of smaller or larger flow rate working conditions, the solution results of MATLAB for the changing rate of the average temperature of the phase change material inside the system is quite different from the FLUENT simulation result; the total results are very similar to thermal storage process. When the flow rate is higher, the difference between the two results is even smaller than the release process; the comparison result of the PCM liquid rate is different under the small flow rate condition, and this is obvious for the release process, especially under the condition of small flow rate. However, also the maximum error does not exceed 10%. Conclusion can be drown that the flow rate conditions in the model and working conditions are the important factors for affecting the compared results, but the calculation and simulation results can more accurately describe the thermal release characteristics of the PCM phase change energy storage unit, which was calculated in nearly 90% ranges of working conditions, which furtherly illustrates the effectiveness of analytical method used in this paper.

Compared Analysis of Calculation and Simulation on Heat Transfer Characteristics in PCM Heat Exchange Unit, Part I: Thermal Storage Process

Based on the temperature change and thermal storage processes of PCM phase change energy storage unit, the PCM channel number of which is 39, the plate spacing is 0.01 m, the air channel is 40 with its plate spacing of 0.003 m, and the unit length is total of 1.62 m. MATLAB solution about the above PCM energy storage unit was performed according to the model and physical property data, and the numerical simulation was carried out by using Fluent software. The theoretical calculation and numerical simulation were compared and analyzed. It is found that only in the case of smaller or larger flow rate working conditions, the solution results of MATLAB for the increase rate of the average temperature of the phase change material inside the system is quite different from the FLUENT simulation result; the comparison of the phase change process degree of advancement is found that at a higher flow rate, the difference between the two results is small, but the difference is larger when the flow rate is smaller; the comparison result of the PCM liquid rate is different under the small flow rate condition. However, the comparative analysis of heat storage shows that the maximum error does not exceed 10%. It can be seen that the flow rate conditions in the model and working conditions are the obvious factors affecting the two results, but the calculation and simulation results can more accurately describe the heat storage characteristics of the PCM phase change energy storage unit, which was calculated in nearly 90% ranges of working conditions, which can prove that the results of MATLAB and FLUENT are consistent.