Numerical investigation of the effect of T-shaped blade on the energy performance improvement of a semi-open centrifugal pump

The tip leakage flow formed by the tip clearance of a semi-open centrifugal pump adversely affects the energy performance and the energy waste. A T-shaped blade is proposed to be used to improve the energy characteristics. The internal flow field is simulated via the shear stress transport turbulence model to analyze the influence of the T-shaped blade on the performance of a centrifugal pump. It is shown that with the T-shaped blade, the hydraulic loss can be reduced, the Euler head can be increased, and the external characteristics can be improved. The maximum head and efficiency improvements are 3% and 1.6%, respectively. The relative flow angle near the tip clearance of the T-shaped blade decreases, and the strength of the backflow region is remarkably weakened. The area of the high entropy production region decreases, and the trend of the upstream diffusion is restrained under the design condition. The T-shaped blade can help to inhibit the diffusion of the high entropy production region to the hub under the low flow rate condition, but the entropy production and the mixing losses at the tip clearance are slightly increased. This research provides a new method for improving the energy performance of the semi-open centrifugal pump.