Numerical and Experimental Investigation of High-efficiency Axial-flow Pump

The experimental investigation of axial-flow pump has been rapidly developed to meet the needs of South-to-North Water Diversion Project of China. Owing to the boundary conditions of hub, blade tip clearance, much of the physical phenomena and laws involved in this complex flow field can＇t be fully determined. The flow characteristics of the high efficiency axial-flow pump have been simulated by RNG k-e turbulence model and SIMPLEC arithmetic based on FLUENT software. Numerical results indicate that the data from the prediction show agreement with the experimental results, static pressure on pressure side of blades increases slightly at circumferential direction with radius increasing, and keep almost constant at the same radial while increasing gradually from inlet to exit on the suction side along flow direction at design conditions. The static pressure, total pressure and velocity at inlet, impeller outlet and vane outlet were measured by a five-hole probe, and a contrastive experiment was done to investigate the influence of hub leakage. The experimental results show that inlet flow is almost axial and the prerotation is very small at various conditions. The meridional velocity and circulation distribution are almost identical at impeller outlet at design conditions due to steady flow and high efficiency. The residual circulation exits at downstream of the guide vane, and the circumferential velocity component increases linearly from hub to tip at small flow rate conditions. Hub leakage in adjustable blades results in the decrease of the meridional velocity and circulation at blade exit near hub. The results of numerical simulation and experiments supply important flow structure information for the high-efficiency axial-flow pump.

Application of the Modified nverse Design Method in the Optimization of the Runner Blade of a Mixed-Flow Pump

To improve the design speed and reduce the design cost for the previous blade design method, a modified inverse design method is presented. In the new method, after a series of physical and mathematical simplifications, a sail?like constrained area is proposed, which can be used to configure di erent runner blade shapes. Then, the new method is applied to redesign and optimize the runner blade of the scale core component of the 1400?MW canned nuclear coolant pump in an established multi?optimization system compromising the Computational Fluid Dynamics(CFD) analysis, the Response Surface Methodology(RSM) and the Non?dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm?II(NSGA?II). After the execution of the optimization procedure, three optimal samples were ultimately obtained. Then, through comparative analysis using the target runner blade, it was found that the maximum e ciency improvement reached 1.6%, while the head improvement was about 10%. Overall, a promising runner blade inverse design method which will benefit the hydraulic design of the mixed?flow pump has been proposed.

Effects of Meridional Flow Passage Shape on Hydraulic Performance of Mixed-flow Pump Impellers

During the process of designing the mixed-flow pump impeller, the meridional flow passage shape directly affects the obtained meridional flow field, which then has an influence on the three-dimensional impeller shape. However, the meridional flow passage shape is too complicated to be described by a simple formula for now. Therefore, reasonable parameter selection for the meridional flow passage is essential to the investigation. In order to explore the effects of the meridional flow passage shape on the impeller design and the hydraulic performance of the mixed-flow pump, the hub and shroud radius ratio (HSRR) of impeller and the outlet diffusion angle (ODA) of outlet zone are selected as the meridional flow passage parameters. 25 mixed-flow pump impellers, with specific speed of 496 under the design condition, are designed with various parameter combinations. Among these impellers, one with HSRR of 1.94 and ODA of 90° is selected to carry out the model test and the obtained experimental results are used to verify accuracies of the head and the hydraulic efficiency predicted by numerical simulation. Based on SIMPLE algorithm and standard k-ε two-equation turbulence model, the three-dimensional steady incompressible Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes equations are solved and the effects of different parameters on hydraulic performance of mixed-flow pump impellers are analyzed. The analysis results demonstrate that there are optimal values of HSRR and ODA available, so the hydraulic performance and the internal flow of mixed-flow pumps can be improved by selecting appropriate values for the meridional flow passage parameters. The research on these two parameters, HSRR and ODA, has further illustrated influences of the meridional flow passage shape on the hydraulic performance of the mixed-flow pump, and is beneficial to improving the design of the mixed-flow pump impeller.

Experimental Study of the Influence of Flow Passage Subtle Variation on Mixed-flow Pump Performance

In the mixed-flow pump design, the shape of the flow passage can directly affect the flow capacity and the internal flow, thus influencing hydraulic performance, cavitation performance and operation stability of the mixed-flow pump. However, there is currently a lack of experimental research on the influence mechanism. Therefore, in order to analyze the effects of subtle variations of the flow passage on the mixed-flow pump performance, the frustum cone surface of the end part of inlet contraction flow passage of the mixed-flow pump is processed into a cylindrical surface and a test rig is built to carry out the hydraulic performance experiment. In this experiment, parameters, such as the head, the efficiency, and the shaft power, are measured, and the pressure fluctuation and the noise signal are also collected. The research results suggest that after processing the inlet flow passage, the head of the mixed-flow pump significantly goes down; the best efficiency of the mixed-flow pump drops by approximately 1.5%, the efficiency decreases more significantly under the large flow rate; the shaft power slightly increases under the large flow rate, slightly decreases under the small flow rate. In addition, the pressure fluctuation amplitudes on both the impeller inlet and the diffuser outlet increase significantly with more drastic pressure fluctuations and significantly lower stability of the internal flow of the mixed-flow pump. At the same time, the noise dramatically increases. Overall speaking, the subtle variation of the inlet flow passage leads to a significant change of the mixed-flow pump performance, thus suggesting a special attention to the optimization of flow passage. This paper investigates the influence of the flow passage variation on the mixed-flow pump performance by experiment, which will benefit the optimal design of the flow passage of the mixed-flow pump.

Hydrodynamic Instability Analysis of the Axial Flow Pump in an Ethylene Polymerization Loop Reactor

The hydrodynamic instability of the axial flow pump in a loop reactor has long been a troubling issue to be solved in the polyethylene industry due to the lack of a better mechanismic understanding.Generally,the instability of an axial flow pump can be reflected by the fluctuation of the pump head.In this study,the transient computational fluid dynamics(CFD)simulation is adopted to study the hydrodynamic instability of the axial flow pump used in an ethylene polymerization loop reactor.The results show that the pump head under single liquid phase nearly remains constant while the pump head under slurry phase fluctuates due to the variation of solid volume fraction distribution in the pump.Besides,under the combined effect of the maximum solid volume fraction difference in the pump and the turbulence intensity of the liquid phase,the fluctuation of the pump head under slurry phase increases when the solid volume fraction in the loop reactor increases from 0.10 to 0.29,and the fluctuation decreases,when the solid volume fraction increases from 0.29 to 0.35.Furthermore,there is a negative correlation between the pump head and the solid volume fraction in the pump;with the increase of solid volume fraction in the loop reactor,and the correlation coefficient increases as well.Moreover,a‘spiral particulate band’phenomenon is formed in the ascending leg caused by three mechanisms,viz.:the segregation of particles in all bends,the dispersion of particles by the secondary flow in the ascending leg,and the rotational movement of particles in the pump.

Attention to Details Reduces Infection Rates in Patients with Continuous Flow Pumps

The increased use of mechanical circulatory support has led to a rise in infectious complications in the recent years predisposing this population of patients to higher morbidity and mortality. In this study, we report a significantly lower rate of driveline infections of 0.12 episodes/patient-year as compared to the rates reported in the existing literature in patients with the HMII (Heartmate II). The study is limited by the fact that it is based on a small population of patients and was conducted retrospectively making recall bias hard to rule out. It is strictly restricted to one type of continuous flow pump (HMII) solely to decrease variations in the data reviewed. The exact cause of the low infection rate noted in this study is difficult to define. However, detailed teaching to the caregivers and the patient as well as close follow-ups in the perioperative period may substantially contribute to the outcome noted. Continued research limited to similar continuous flow ventricular assist devices in larger study populations would shed light on defining causes of infections in this population and developing robust algorithms to prevent such complications.

Research on blade tip clearance cavitation and turbulent kinetic energy characteristics of axial flow pump based on the partially-averaged Navier-Stokes model

To reveal the cavitation forms of tip leakage vortex(TLV)of the axial flow pump and the flow mechanism of the flow field,this research adopts the partially-averaged Navier-Stokes(PANS)model to simulate the cavitation values of an axial flow pump,followed by experimental validation.The experimental result shows that compared with the shear stress transport(SST)k-ωmodel,the PANS model significantly reduces the eddy viscosity of the flow field to make the vortex structure clearer and allow the turbulence scale to be more robustly analyzed.The cavitation area within the axial flow pump mainly comprises of TLV cavitation,clearance cavitation and tip leakage flows combined effect of triangular cloud cavitation formed.The formation and development of cavitation are accompanied by the formation and evolution of vortex,and variations in vortex structure also generate and promote the development of cavitation.In addition,an in-depth analysis of the relationship between the turbulent kinetic energy(TKE)transport equation and cavitation patterns was also conducted,finding that the regions with relatively high TKE are mainly distributed around gas/liquid boundaries with serious cavitation and evident gas-liquid change.This phenomenon is mainly attributed to the combined effect of the pressure action term,stress diffusion term and TKE production term.

Optimal Design of High-Speed Partial Flow Pumps using Orthogonal Tests and Numerical Simulations

To investigate the influence of structural parameters on the performances and internal flow characteristics of partial flow pumps at a low specific speed of 10000 rpm,special attention was paid to the first and second stage impeller guide vanes.Moreover,the impeller blade outlet width,impeller inlet diameter,blade inclination angle,and number of blades were considered for orthogonal tests.Accordingly,nine groups of design solutions were formed,and then used as a basis for the execution of numerical simulations(CFD)aimed at obtaining the efficiency values and heads for each design solution group.The influence of impeller geometric parameters on the efficiency and head was explored,and the“weight”of each factor was obtained via a range analysis.Optimal structural parameters were finally chosen on the basis of the numerical simulation results,and the performances of the optimized model were verified accordingly(yet by means of CFD).Evidence is provided that the increase in the efficiency and head of the optimized model was 12.11%and 23.5 m,respectively,compared with those of the original model.

UNSTEADY FLOW ANALYSIS AND EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF AXIAL-FLOW PUMP

The three-dimensional unsteady turbulent flow in axial-flow pumps was simulated based on Navier-Stoke solver embedded with k - ε RNG turbulence model and SIMPLEC algorithm. Numerical results show that the unsteady prediction results are more accurate than the steady results, and the maximal error of unsteady prediction is only 4.54%. The time-domain spectrums show that the static pressure fluctuation curves at the inlet and outlet of the rotor and the outlet of the stator are periodic, and all have four peaks and four valleys. The pressure fluctuation amplitude increases from the hub to the tip at the inlet and outlet of the rotor, but decreases at the outlet of the stator. The pressure fluctuation amplitude is the greatest at the inlet of the rotor, and the average amplitude decreases sharply from the inlet to the outlet. The frequency spectrums obtained by Fast Fourier Transform （FFT） show that the dominant frequency is approximately equal to the blade passing frequency. The static pressure on the pressure side of hydrofoil on different stream surfaces remains almost consistent, and increases gradually from the blade inlet to the exit on the suction side at different time steps. The axial velocity distribution is periodic and is affected by the stator blade number at the rotor exit. The experimental results show that the flow is almost axial and the pre-rotation is very small at the rotor inlet under the conditions of 0.8 QN -1.2 QN Due to the clearance leakage, the pressure, circulation and meridional velocity at the rotor outlet all decrease near the hub leakage and tip clearance regions.

NUMERICAL INVESTIGATION OF PERFORMANCE OF AN AXIAL-FLOW PUMP WITH INDUCER

The interaction of flow through the inducer and impeller of an axial-flow pump equipped with an inducer has significant effect on its performance. This article presents a recent numerical investigation on this topic. The studied pump has an inducer with 3 blades mounted on a conical hub and a 6-blade impeller. The blade angle of the impeller is adjustable to generate different relative circumferential angles between the inducer blade trailing edge and the impeller blade leading edge. A computational fluid dynamics code was used to investigate the flow characteristics and performance of the axial-flow pump. For turbulence closure, the RNG k-ε model was applied with an unstructured grid system. The rotor-stator interaction was treated with a Multiple Reference Frame （MRF） strategy. Computations were performed in different cases： 7 different relative circumferential angles （ Δθ ） between the inducer blade trailing edge and the impeller blade leading edge, and 3 different axial gaps （G） between the inducer and the impeller. The variation of the hydraulic loss in the rotator was obtained by changing Δθ . The numerical results show that the pressure generated is minimum in the case of （ G = 3%D）, which indicates that the interference between inducer and impeller is strong if the axial gap is small. The pump performances were predicted and compared to the experimental measurements. Recommendations for future modifications and improvements to the pump design were also given.

Numerical analysis of cavitation within slanted axial-flow pump

In this paper, the cavitating flow within a slanted axial-flow pump is numerically researched. The hydraulic and cavitation performance of the slanted axial-flow pump under different operation conditions are estimated. Compared with the experimental hydraulic performance curves, the numerical results show that the filter-based model is better than the standard k-ε model to predict the parameters of hydraulic performancE. In cavitation simulation, compared with the experimental results, the proposed numerical method has good predicting ability. Under different cavitation conditions, the internal cavitating flow fields within slanted axial-flow pump are investigated. Compared with flow visualization results, the major internal flow features can be effectively grasped. In order to explore the origin of the cavitation performance breakdown, the Boundary Vorticity Flux （BVF） is introduced to diagnose the cavitating flow fields. The analysis results indicate that the cavitation performance drop is relevant to the instability of cavitating flow on the blade suction surface.

Experimental study of flow field in interference area between impeller and guide vane of axial flow pump

Axial flow pump is a kind of typical pumps with rotor-stator interaction, thus the measurement of the flow field between impeller and guide vane would facilitate the study of the internal rotor-stator interaction mechanism. Through a structural modification of a traditional axial flow pump, the requirements of particle image velocimetry（PIV） measurement are met. Under the condition of opt.0.8Q, the axial vortex is identified between impeller hub and guide vane hub, which is developed into the main flow and to affect the movement when the relative positions of impeller and guide vane at different flow rates are the same. Besides, the development and the dissipation of the tip leakage and the passage vortex in impeller passages are mainly responsible for the difference of the flow field close to the outer rim. As the flow rate decreases, the distribution of the meridional velocities at the impeller outlet becomes more non-uniform and the radial velocity component keeps increasing. The PIV measurement results under the condition of opt.1.0Q indicate that the flow separation and the trailing vortex at the trailing edge of a blade are likely to result in a velocity sudden change in this area, which would dramatically destroy the continuity of the flow field. Moreover, the radial direction of the flow between impeller and guide vane on the measurement plane does not always point from hub to rim. For a certain position, the direction is just from rim to hub, as is affected by the location of the intersection line of the shooting section and the impeller blade on the impeller as well as the angle between the intersection line and the rotating shaft.

Systematical Experiment for Optimal Design of Vibrating Flow Pump with Jelly-fish Valve

The fundamental characteristics and the flow mechanism of a Vibrating Flow Pump （VFP） with a jelly-fish valve, which can be applied to a novel artificial heart, were studied theoretically and experimentally. By using water as the working fluid, the measurement methodology for the typical unsteady flow for VFP was developed here. The effects of the frequency, amplitude and inner diameter of the vibrating pipe, and thickness of the silicone rubber sheet of the jelly-fish valve on the basic per- formance of VFP were systematically investigated. A high-speed observation technique and simple theoretical model analysis were also introdueed for further detailed discussion. Quantitative contributions of the individual parameters to the pumping performance were shown through the experiment, which would give us essential knowledge for establishing design criteria of VFE The theoretical model, which agreed with the experiment and the high-speed observation, elucidated the pumping mechanism with respect to the role of inertia of the inner fluid.

High-efficiency design of a mixed-flow pump

High-efficiency design of a mixed-flow pump has been carried out based on numerical analysis of a three-dimensional viscous flow.For analysis,the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations with a shear stress transport turbulence model were discretized by finite-volume approximations.Structured grid system was constructed in the computational domain,which has O-type grids near the blade surfaces and H/J-type grids in other regions.The numerical results were validated with experimental data for the heads and hydraulic efficiencies at different flow coefficients.The hydraulic efficiency at the design flow coefficient was evaluated with variation of the geometric variables,i.e.,the area of the discharge and length of the vane in the diffuser.The result has shown that the hydraulic efficiency of a mixed-flow pump at the design condition is improved by the modification of the geometry.

Unstable Head-Flow Characteristic Generation Mechanism of a Low Specific Speed Mixed Flow Pump

This paper treats the flow instabilities in a mixed flow pump with a vaned diffuser. Test pump has a positive slope of a head-flow performance curve at 65% flow rate of BEP (Best Efficiency Point) because of a rotating stall. Dynamic Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) and pressure fluctuation measurements are used for investigating the propagation mechanism of a rotating stall. It was found that unstable performance was caused by periodical large scale abrupt backflow generated from the vaned diffuser to the outlet of impeller. Further, the relation between the static pressure at the inlet of diffuser vane and the internal flow condition was clarified. From these experimental results, in order to improve the positive slope of a head-flow performance curve, to suppress the growth of strong vortex toward the inlet of diffuser vane was proved to be a key point.

Multi-objective optimization of a mixed-flow pump impeller using modified NSGA-II algorithm

In order to maintain a uniform distribution of pareto-front solutions, a modified NSGA-II algorithm coupled with a dynamic crowding distance(DCD) method is proposed for the multi-objective optimization of a mixed-flow pump impeller. With the pump meridional section fixed, ten variables along the shroud and hub are selected to control the blade load by using a three-dimensional inverse design method. Hydraulic efficiency, along with impeller head, is applied as an optimization objective; and a radial basis neural network(RBNN) is adopted to approximate the objective function with 82 training samples. Local sensitivity analysis shows that decision variables have different impacts on the optimization objectives. Instead of randomly selecting one solution to implement, a technique for ordering preferences by similarity to ideal solution(TOPSIS) is introduced to select the best compromise solution(BCS) from pareto-front sets. The proposed method is applied to optimize the baseline model, i.e. a mixed- flow waterjet pump whose specific speed is 508 min?1?m3s?1?m. The performance of the waterjet pump was experimentally tested. Compared with the baseline model, the optimized impeller has a better hydraulic efficiency of 92% as well as a higher impeller head at the design operation point. Furthermore, the off-design performance is improved with a wider highefficiency operation range. After optimization, velocity gradients on the suction surface are smoother and flow separations are eliminated at the blade inlet part. Thus, the authors believe the proposed method is helpful for optimizing the mixed-flow pumps.

CFD SIMULATION OF 3D FLOW IN LARGE-BORE AXIAL-FLOW PUMP WITH HALF-ELBOW SUCTION SUMP

Numerical simulations of 3D turbulent flow in a large-bore axial-flow pump coupled with half-elbow suction sump were perlbrmed by using CFD approach. The numerical model and velocity and pressure distributions in entire flow passage were presented. The obvious backflow in half-elbow suction sump and strong flow nonuniformity at suction sump outlet were observed, whereas these phenomena were not observed in existing studies performed for a separate suction sump by either experimental or numerical approach. This result indicates that the interaction between half-elbow suction sump and impeller has significant effect on the flow distribution in the pump passage. The change of pump efficiency caused by the interaction was discussed,

Experimental study of the effect of blade tip clearance and blade angle error on the performance of mixed-flow pump

The hydraulic performance test of the mixed-flow pump has been carried out through selecting different blade tip clearances and various blade angle errors.The ratio of the mixed-flow pump efficiency reduction and the blade tip clearance variation(η/δ) varies with the flow rate coefficient revealing a parabolic trend.An empirical equation has been developed for the mixed-flow pump model by parabolic fitting.For the same blade tip clearance variation δ,the mixed-flow pump efficiency reduction η increases rapidly as the flow rate rises.For any given flow rate,the efficiency,the head and the shaft power of the mixed-flow pump all decrease with the increase of the blade tip clearance.Among them,the efficiency reduction η varies approximately linearly with the blade tip clearance variation δ.When the angle of an individual blade of the mixed-flow pump has a deviation,the performance curves will move and change.These curves have consistent change directions with the performance curves under the condition of all the blades rotated at the same time,but have smaller offset and lower range of variation.When an individual blade angle error changes to ±2°,the optimal efficiency of the mixed-flow pump will have no significant difference.When the individual blade angle error increases to ±4°,the optimal efficiency will decrease by 1%.

Performance Test and Flow Measurement of Contra-Rotating Axial Flow Pump

contra-rotating 转子的一个应用程序对对开发更高特定的速度的一个要求被建议了轴的流动泵。在现在的纸，使用 contra-rotating 转子的优点和劣势与转子定子的常规类型比较被描述，基于理论、试验性的调查。优点如下：(1 ) 泵内在地作为更小被设计缩放并且以更低的旋转速度。(2 ) 为有否定斜坡的流动率的一条稳定的头特征曲线出现。(3 ) 作为后面的转子，旋转速度作为前面转子的独立控制被改变，高效操作的更宽的范围被后面的转子速度控制除了前面转子速度控制获得。劣势如下：(1 ) 两倍柄系统的结构变得复杂。(2 ) 泵表演是劣等的在在是的流动率上，装载的后面的转子被削弱。(3 ) 片更强烈从后面的转子划相互作用到前面转子出现。当时，后面的转子设计是一把钥匙完成更高的泵性能。克服这些劣势的一些方法将向 contra-rotating 的更宽的用法更详细地被讨论各种各样的工业地里的轴的流动泵。

Prediction method of impeller performance and analysis of loss mechanism for mixed-flow pump

A loss model for the mixed-flow pump impellers was developed by summarizing a variety of loss calculation formulas systematically.The internal flow field of the impeller was obtained by employing the iterative calculation for S 1 and S 2 stream surfaces to solve the continuity and motion equations of fluid.Based on the calculation method of the flow field and the loss model,it is achieved to predict the impeller performance of the mixed-flow pump and the performance curves of a mixed-flow pump model with adjustable blades.Compared with the test data,the loss model of the mixed-flow pump based on the iterative calculation can predict the impeller performance quickly and accurately,which has a high value on the engineering applications.Based on the test verification,curves of various kinds of losses varied for the flow rate were analyzed under different blade angles.In addition,the mechanisms of various kinds of losses inside the mixed-flow pump impeller were discussed in-depth.