NUMERICAL INVESTIGATION OF FLOW PATTERNS IN DIFFERENT PUMP INTAKE SYSTEMS

A 3-D numerical model for pump intake is established based on the Navier-Stokes equations with the RNG k-ε turbulence model and the VOF method to simulate the free surface. The applicability of the proposed model is validated by a test case of non-symmetric pump-intake bay. The predicted locations, structures and shapes of all vortices are in good agreement with those observed in experiments, though with some differences in vorticity strengths. The flow pattern and the efficiency of five types of pump intake systems are studied. The discharge and the velocity tmiformity of the intake system are used as indices to evaluate its performance.

Applications of Three-Dimensional LBM-LES Combined Model for Pump Intakes

Lattice Boltzmannmodel(LBM)in conjunction with an accurate Large Eddy Simulation(LES)technology was proposed to simulate various vortical structures and their evolutions in open pump intakes.The strain rate tensor in the LES model is locally calculated by means of non-equilibrium moments based on Chapman-Enskog expansion,and bounce-back scheme was used for non-slip condition on solid walls and reflection scheme for free surface.The presentedmodel was applied to investigate free-surface and wall-attached vortices for different water levels and flow rate.The vortex position,shapes and vorticities were predicted successfully under three flowing cases(i.e.critical water level(CWL),lower water level,lower flow rate),and the numerical velocity and streamline distribution were analyzed systematically.For CWL based on Froude number considering open channel flows,the shape and the location of various dynamic vortices were captured.Compare to the experimental results of CWL,more vortices were predicted for lower water level,and less vortices were observed for lower flow rate.The predicted velocities and vortex locations are in good agreement with the experimental of a small physical model.The comparisons demonstrated the feasibility and stability of above-mentioned model and numerical method in predicting vortex flows inside open pump intakes.

Investigation on subsurface vortices within a closed pump intake under different pressure conditions

An experimental study to investigate various features of subsurface vortices and their evolutions inside a closed pump intake under different pressure conditions at free surface,and to analyze the influence of a pipe bell with different mean axial velocities at the same water level on flow patterns is presented.For all cases,three different flow regimes are closely observed:various side-wall attached,back-wall attached and submerged vortices structures,and their evolutions are subject to the free-surface pressure for a critical flow rate,the number and strength of all these vortex rise as the absolute value of the pressure increases for a higher flow rate,for a lower flow rate,whether the side-wall vortices occur or not is related closely to the pressure magnitude,and there are no vortices for lower absolute pressure values,the number and the strength of the side-wall vortices increase as the absolute pressure values increase.Besides,based on statistical analyses,the side-wall vortex probability on the right side along the stream-wise direction is much higher than that on the opposite side for all operation cases,particularly single vortex probability,and the back-wall vortex probabilities are quite higher with values of more than 90%,meanwhile,the multi-vortices probability is much higher than that of the single-vortex.The captured vortices have been qualitatively classified into different“vortex zones”:no vortex zones and vortex zones including transition,single-and multi-vortex.The Reynolds number and the absolute value pressure are the most important parameters which influence the existence and the number of these vortices,and the increase of the two parameters reduces the no vortex transition zone and causes bigger difference in the back-wall and side-wall vortex zones.

Experimental Investigation of Flow Patterns in a Pump Intake with Different CWL(Critical Water Level)and Back-Wall Clearance

In this study,influence of back-wall clearance,CWL(Critical Water Level)and air content in water on flow patterns in a pump intake has been investigated experimentally and theoretically for different cases.The statistical data show that CWL for a two-phase flow is lower than that in the case of a single-phase flow at a relatively low flow rate,and as the flow rate increases,this trend turns out to be completely reversed.Fine experimental data obtained under conditions of subcritical,critical and supercritical flow rates have revealed that the larger the back-wall clearance is,the more vortices exist and the higher the vorticity of free-surface vortices is.For the smallest back-wall clearance,the flow coming through the inlet occupies most space under the pipe bell,and both this flow and the inflow coming from the back wall are asymmetric relative to a certain vertical line other than the axis.For the larger and the largest back-wall clearances,the flows coming from the inlet and from the back wall are almost symmetrical relative to the vertical axis of the pipe bell.The velocity distributions on two PIV measurement lines for different back-wall clearance magnitudes indicate that the smallest back-wall clearance influences the flow around the pipe bell.