Design and Experimental Analyses of Small-flow High-head Centrifugal-vortex Pump for Gas-Liquid Two-phase Mixture

The design method of small-flow high-head centrifugal-vortex pump was presented. This pump, configured with inducer, complex-centrifugal impeller and open-vortex impeller, was put forward to deliver gas-liquid two-phase mixture. An HTB-5/60 type sample pump was developed and tested on a closed-loop test rig. Experimental studies on performance and cavitation tests for gas-liquid two-phase mixture were carried out compared with pure-water experimental results. Also the effect of gas phase on pump was analyzed and discussed. The experimental results show that performance and cavitation characteristics of the sample purnp deteriorates progressively with increasing volume fraction of gas. When the total capacity Qm is between 4.5 m^3·h^-1 and 6 m^3·h^-1 and the gas flow rate qg below 0.66 m^3·h^-1, or qg/Qm is lower than 15%, the characteristic curves are approximately parallel to those in pure water test, but the performance deteriorates sharply until an abrupt flow-cutting at a critical volume fraction of gas. This pump is found suitable for transporting gas-liquid two-phase mixture when working around rated capacity of 5 m^3·h^-1 with qglQm below 15%.

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.

A Numerical Study on the Effect of the Backflow Hole Position on the Performances of a Self-Priming Pump

A self-priming pump is a centrifugal pump that has the ability to prime itself. Typically, its performance dependson the configuration of its reflux hole. In this study, the ANSYS FLUENT software is used to investigate the effectsof three different radial positions of the reflux hole on gas-liquid two-phase distribution, pressure pulsation, andimp during self-priming. The research results indicate that: (1) The effective channel size for the reflux liquid toenter the volute varies depending on the location of the reflux hole. The effect of the impeller rotation on thereflux liquid becomes more obvious as the setting distance of the reflux aperture decreases. (2) The position ofthe reflux hole significantly affects the gas phase mass fraction inside the impeller, resulting in a significant reductionin the time it takes for the mass fraction to exceed 80%. (3) The position of the reflux hole significantly affectsthe average pressure on each monitoring surface. (4) Placing the reflux hole at a excessively distant radial distancecan result in an excessive vertical component. (5) The self-priming performance of the pump can be improved tosome extent by placing the return hole at a small radial distance.

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.

Theoretical Analysis and Experimental Verification on Flow Field of Piezoelectric Pump with Unsymmetrical Slopes Element

Regular valveless piezoelectric pumps have rectifying elements outside their chambers to produce net flow. These rectifying elements outside the chamber will increase the overall volume of the pump and prevent its minimization. Valveless piezoelectric pump with unsymmetrical slopes elements（USE）, proposed in this paper, differs from other valveless pumps in that it is easy to be minimized by developing the chamber bottom as such a rectifying element. In this research, the working principle of the proposed pump was analyzed first. Numerical models were thereby established and numerical simulation was conducted to the chamber flow field with the method of time-dependent velocity. The effects of the USEs on the flow field in the chamber were shown clearly in simulation. And the particular feature of flow field in the chamber was discovered. It behaves a complex flow field, in which strong turbulent occurs companying a lot of vortexes in different directions and different sizes. This feature is just opposite to what regular piezoelectric pumps expect： a moderate flow field. The turbulent flow could be used to have different liquids stirred and well mixed in the chamber to produce homogeneous solution, emulsion or turbid liquid. Meanwhile, numerical simulation also presents the effect of the angles difference of the two slopes upon the flow field, and upon the flow rate of the pump, which fits to the theoretical analysis. Experiments with the proposed pump were also conducted to verify the numerical results. In these experiments, six USEs with different slope angles were used for efficiency tests, which proved the validity and reliability of the numerical analysis. The data obtained from numerical analysis agree well with that from the experiments. The errors ranged from 4.4% to 14.8% with their weighted average error being 9.7%.

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.

Pre-Compression Volume on Flow Ripple Reduction of a Piston Pump

Axial piston pump with pre-compression volume（PCV） has lower flow ripple in large scale of operating condition than the traditional one. However, there is lack of precise simulation model of the axial piston pump with PCV, so the parameters of PCV are difticult to be determined. A finite element simulation model for piston pump with PCV is built by considering the piston movement, the fluid characteristic（including fluid compressibility and viscosity） and the leakage flow rate. Then a test of the pump flow ripple called the secondary source method is implemented to validate the simulation model. Thirdly, by comparing results among the simulation results, test results and results from other publications at the same operating condition, the simulation model is validated and used in optimizing the axial piston pump with PCV. According to the pump flow ripples obtained by the simulation model with different PCV parameters, the flow ripple is the smallest when the PCV angle is 13~, the PCV volume is 1.3 ~ I0-4 m3 at such operating condition that the pump suction pressure is 2 MPa, the pump delivery pressure 15 MPa, the pump speed 1 000 r/min, the swash plate angle 13~. At the same time, the flow ripple can be reduced when the pump suction pressure is 2 MPa, the pump delivery pressure is 5 MPa,15 MPa, 22 MPa, pump speed is 400 r/min, 1 000 r/rain, 1 500 r/rain, the swash plate angle is ll~, 13~, 15~ and 17~, respectively. The finite element simulation model proposed provides a method for optimizing the PCV structure and guiding for designing a quieter axial piston pump.

Flow Ripple of Axial Piston Pump with Computational Fluid Dynamic Simulation Using Compressible Hydraulic Oil

The flow ripple, which is the source of noise in an axial piston pump, is widely studied today with the computational fluid dynamic（CFD） technology development. In the traditional CFD modeling, the fluid compressibility, which strongly influences the accuracy of the flow ripple simulation results, is often neglected. So a compressible sub-model was added with user defined function（UDF） in the CFD model to predict the flow ripple. At the same time, a test rig of flow ripple was built to study the validity of simulation. The flow ripple of pump was tested with different working parameters, including the rotation speed and the working pressure. The comparisons with experimental results show that the validity of the CFD model with compressible hydraulic oil is acceptable in analyzing the flow tipple characteristics. In this paper, the improved CFD model increases the accuracy of flow ripple rate to about one-magnitude order. Therefore, the compressible model of hydraulic oil is necessary in the flow ripple investigation of CFD simulation. The compressibility of hydraulic oil has significant effect on flow ripple, and the compression ripple takes about 88% of the total flow ripple of pump. Leakage ripple has the lowest proportion of about 4%, and geometrical ripple leakage ripple takes the remnant 8%. Besides, the influence of working parameters was investigated through the CFD simulations and experimental measurements. Comparison results show that the amplitude of flow ripple grows with the increasing of rotation speed and working pressure, and the flow ripple rate is independent of the rotation speed. However, flow ripple rate of piston pump grows with the increasing of working pressure, because the leakage ripple will increase with the pressure growing. The investigation on flow ripple of an axial piston pump using compressible hydraulic oil provides a more validity simulation model for the CFD analyzing and is beneficial to further understanding of the flow ripple characteristics in an axial piston pump.

Computational Analysis of Centrifugal Pump Delivering Solid-liquid Two-phase Flow during Startup Period

The transient behavior of centrifugal pumps during transient operating periods, such as startup and stopping, has drawn more and more attention recently because of urgent needs in engineering. Up to now, almost all the existing studies on this behavior are limited to using water as working fluid. The study on the transient behavior related to solid-liquid two-phase flow has not been seen yet. In order to explore the transient characteristics of a high specific-speed centrifugal pump during startup period delivering the pure water and solid-liquid two-phase flow, the transient flows inside the pump are numerically simulated using the dynamic mesh method. The variable rotational speed and flow rate with time obtained from experiment are best fitted as the function of time, and are written into computational fluid dynamics （CFD） code-FLUENT by using a user defined function. The predicted heads are compared with experimental results when pumping pure water. The results show that the difference in the transient performance during startup period is very obvious between water and solid-liquid two-phase flow during the later stage of startup process. Moreover, the time for the solid-liquid two-phase flow to achieve a stable condition is longer than that for water. The solid-liquid two-phase flow results in a higher impeller shaft power, a larger dynamic reaction force, a more violent fluctuation in pressure and a reduced stable pressure rise comparing with water. The research may be useful to tmderstanding on the transient behavior of a centrifugal pump under a solid-liquid two-phase flow during startup period.

Vertical Migration of Fine-Grained Sediments from Interior to Surface of Seabed Driven by Seepage Flows–‘Sub-Bottom Sediment Pump Action'

A scientific hypothesis is proposed and preliminarily verified in this paper: under the driving of seepage flows, there might be a vertical migration of fine-grained soil particles from interior to surface of seabed, which is defined as ‘sub-bottom sediment pump action' in this paper. Field experiments were performed twice on the intertidal flat of the Yellow River delta to study this process via both trapping the pumped materials and recording the pore pressures in the substrate. Experimental results are quite interesting as we did observe yellow slurry which is mainly composed of fine-grained soil particles appearing on the seabed surface; seepage gradients were also detected in the intertidal flat, under the action of tides and small wind waves. Preliminary conclusions are that ‘sediment pump' occurs when seepage force exceeds a certain threshold: firstly, it is big enough to disconnect the soil particles from the soil skeleton; secondly, the degree of seabed fluidization or bioturbation is big enough to provide preferred paths for the detached materials to migrate upwards. Then they would be firstly pumped from interior to the surface of seabed and then easily re-suspended into overlying water column. Influential factors of ‘sediment pump' are determined as hydrodynamics(wave energy), degree of consolidation, index of bioturbation(permeability) and content of fine-grained materials(sedimentary age). This new perspective of ‘sediment pump' may provide some implications for the mechanism interpretation of several unclear geological phenomena in the Yellow River delta area.

FLOW DIRECTION OF PIEZOELECTRIC PUMP WITH NOZZLE/DIFFUSER-ELEMENTS

The piezoelectric pump with nozzle/diffuser-elements, which oscillating formdiffering from regular volumetric reciprocating or rotating pumps because there arenozzle/diffuser-elements substituted for regular valves, is a new type pump whose actuator is apiezoelectric ceramal part with verse piezoelectric effect In recent year, piezoelectric pump ispaid increasing attention to because it is an ideal candidate in application in such area as medicalhealth, mechanical tools and micro-mechanism. The fundamental research on it, however, is still notmade through. Focuses on the phenomenon of different directions of flow among Germany pump, Chinesepump and Swiss pump, which are all fitted with nozzle/diffuser-elements, and analyzes the coneangle of nozzle/diffuser-elements based on the flow equation of valve-less piezoelectric pump withnozzle/diffuser-elements. As a result, the concepts of diffuser toss coefficient and losscoefficient are introduced to explain these phenomena, from which a discussion is given on theoptimization of the cone angle of nozzle/diffuser-element aiming at the maximum of pump flow.

Impact of Typical Steady-state Conditions and Transient Conditions on Flow Ripple and Its Test Accuracy for Axial Piston Pump

The current research about the flow ripple of axial piston pump mainly focuses on the effect of the structure of parts on the flow ripple. Therein, the structure of parts are usually designed and optimized at rated working conditions. However, the pump usually has to work in large-scale and time-variant working conditions. Therefore, the flow ripple characteristics of pump and analysis for its test accuracy with respect to variant steady-state conditions and transient conditions in a wide range of operating parameters are focused in this paper. First, a simulation model has been constructed, which takes the kinematics of oil film within friction pairs into account for higher accuracy. Afterwards, a test bed which adopts Secondary Source Method is built to verify the model. The simulation and tests results show that the angular position of the piston, corresponding to the position where the peak flow ripple is produced, varies with the different pressure. The pulsating amplitude and pulsation rate of flow ripple increase with the rise of pressure and the variation rate of pressure. For the pump working at a constant speed, the flow pulsation rate decreases dramatically with the increasing speed when the speed is less than 27.78% of the maximum speed, subsequently presents a small decrease tendency with the speed further increasing. With the rise of the variation rate of speed, the pulsating amplitude and pulsation rate of flow ripple increase. As the swash plate angle augments, the pulsating amplitude of flow ripple increases, nevertheless the flow pulsation rate decreases. In contrast with the effect of the variation of pressure, the test accuracy of flow ripple is more sensitive to the variation of speed. It makes the test accuracy above 96.20% available for the pulsating amplitude of pressure deviating within a range of ~6% from the mean pressure. However, with a variation of speed deviating within a range of ±2% from the mean speed, the attainable test accuracy of flow ripple is above 93.07%. The model constructed in this research proposes a method to determine the flow ripple characteristics of pump and its attainable test accuracy under the large-scale and time-variant working conditions. Meanwhile, a discussion about the variation of flow ripple and its obtainable test accuracy with the conditions of the pump working in wide operating ranges is given as well.

NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF 3-D DENSE SOLID-LIQUID TWO-PHASE TURBULENT FLOW IN A NON-CLOGGING MUD PUMP

A mathematical model is set to evaluate the 3-D dense solid-liquid two-phaseturbulent flow in a non-clogging mud pump, the flow feature in the impeller channel is simulatedwith the tool of IPSA. Meanwhile, resort to TECPLOT as the post-processor, the simulation results isvisualized. The results show the main flow characteristics: There exists backflow and aberrantvelocities at inlet area and a relative velocity slip between two phases; A jet-wake flow pattern isdiscerned around the shroud-suction side area; The relative velocity vector of solid phase iscloser to the pressure surface than that of liquid phase and the trend is more obvious with theincrease of diameter; The kinetic energy of turbulence k and the dissipation rate e reach theirpeaks at the corner of pressure and suction surface. The simulation results show a good agreementwith the experimental flow features in the impeller channel, which prove the turbulent model used isvalid and provide a theoretical design basis to non-clogging pumps.

An improved large eddy simulation of two-phase flows in a pump impeller

An improved large eddy simulation using a dynamic second-order sub-grid-scale （SGS） stress model has been developed to model the governing equations of dense turbulent particle-liquid two-phase flows in a rotating coordinate system, and continuity is conserved by a mass-weighted method to solve the filtered governing equations. In the cur- rent second-order SGS model, the SGS stress is a function of both the resolved strain-rate and rotation-rate tensors, and the model parameters are obtained from the dimensional consistency and the invariants of the strain-rate and the rotation-rate tensors. In the numerical calculation, the finite volume method is used to discretize the governing equations with a staggered grid system. The SIMPLEC algorithm is applied for the solution of the discretized governing equations. Body- fitted coordinates are used to simulate the two-phase flows in complex geometries. Finally the second-order dynamic SGS model is successfully applied to simulate the dense turbu-lent particle-liquid two-phase flows in a centrifugal impeller. The predicted pressure and velocity distributions are in good agreement with experimental results.

Numerical simulation and analysis of solid-liquid two-phase threedimensional unsteady flow in centrifugal slurry pump

Based on RNG k-ε turbulence model and sliding grid technique, solid-liquid two-phase three-dimensional(3-D) unsteady turbulence of full passage in slurry pump was simulated by means of Fluent software. The effects of unsteady flow characteristics on solid-liquid two-phase flow and pump performance were researched under design condition. The results show that clocking effect has a significant influence on the flow in pump, and the fluctuation of flow velocity and pressure is obvious, particularly near the volute tongue, at the position of small sections of volute and within diffuser. Clocking effect has a more influence on liquid-phase than on solid-phase, and the wake-jet structure of relative velocity of solid-phase is less obvious than liquid-phase near the volute tongue and the impeller passage outlet. The fluctuation of relative velocity of solid-phase flow is 7.6% smaller than liquid-phase flow at the impeller outlet on circular path. Head and radial forces of the impeller are 8.1% and 85.7% of fluctuation, respectively. The results provide a theoretical basis for further research for turbulence, improving efficient, reducing the hydraulic losses and wear. Finally, field tests were carried out to verify the operation and wear of slurry pump.

Unsteady Flow and Structural Behaviors of Centrifugal Pump under Cavitation Conditions

Cavitation has a significant e ect on the flow fields and structural behaviors of a centrifugal pump. In this study, the unsteady flow and structural behaviors of a centrifugal pump are investigated numerically under di erent cavitation conditions. A strong two-way coupling fluid-structure interaction simulation is applied to obtain interior views of the e ects of cavitating bubbles on the flow and structural dynamics of a pump. The renormalization-group k-ε turbulence model and the Zwart–Gerbe–Belamri cavitation model are solved for the fluid side, while a transient structural dynamic analysis is employed for the structure side. The di erent cavitation states are mapped in the head-net positive suction head(H-NPSH) curves and flow field features inside the impeller are fully revealed. Results indicate that cavitating bubbles grow and expand rapidly with decreasing NPSH. In addition, the pressure fluctuations, both in the impeller and volute, are quantitatively analyzed and associated with the cavitation states. It is shown that influence of the cavitation on the flow field is critical, specifically in the super-cavitation state. The e ect of cavitation on the unsteady radial force and blade loads is also discussed. The results indicate that the averaged radial force increased from 8.5 N to 54.4 N in the transition progress from an onset cavitation state to a super-cavitation state. Furthermore, the structural behaviors, including blade deformation, stress, and natural frequencies, corresponding to the cavitation states are discussed. A large volume of cavitating bubbles weakens the fluid forces on the blade and decreases the natural frequencies of the rotor system. This study could enhance the understanding of the e ects of cavitation on pump flow and structural behaviors.

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.

Particle Image Velocimetry Measurement of the Flow Field in the Play of the Drilling Pump Valve

The failure of a drilling pump is always due to the break of the drilling pump valve, which is one of the most important but also the weakest parts of the drilling pump. Over the decades, the degradation of drilling pump valves has been investigated extensively and various failure mechanisms have been proposed. However, no experimental test on the fluid has been successfully performed to support some of these mechanisms. In this paper, tests of the flow within the valve play are carried out to investigate the factors resulting in the failure of the valve. In the tests, particle image velocimetry（PIV） technology is employed to measure the flow field distribution of the valve play in the model. From these tests, the distributions of velocity and vorticity of fluid in ＇various valves with different valve angles and different valve lifts are obtained, from which the features of flow fields are derived and generalized. Subsequently, a general rule of the influence of valve angles and valve lifts on the flow velocity is concluded according to chart analyses of maximal velocities and mean velocities. Finally, an analysis is made on the possibility of valve failure caused by erosion and abrasion in a working valve, with the application of the failure mechanisms of drilling pump valves. PIV measurement improves the study on the failure of the drilling pump valve, and the results show good agreement with previous computational fluid dynamics（CFD） simulations.

Influence of Blade Outlet Angle on Inner Flow Field of Centrifugal Pump Transporting Salt Aqueous Solution

During transportation of salt aqueous solutions with centrifugal pump, crystallization phenomenon is frequently encountered. For this kind of two-phase flow, it is difficult to be accurately modeled since there are various medium properties and phase change characteristics. In view of experiment, several problems are hampering the implementation of precise measurement. Influences of blade outlet angle and medium temperature on crystallization rate were studied. Sodium sulfate solution was applied to simulate practical fluid in chemical industry. Particle image velocimetry（PIV） was employed to measure velocity distributions in rotating impeller. Crystallization processes in three impellers with different blade outlet angles were investigated. Relations among crystallization and flow parameters such as temperature and velocity were obtained. With the same blade wrap angle, when blade outlet angle is larger, diffusion of single flow passage gets stronger, relative velocity at blade outlet decreases and large scale vortex tends to appear near the blade working surface. For the impact of volume effect of particle phase on fluid viscosity, both liquid and solid phase velocities decrease with continual forming and growing of crystal particles. Velocity of solid phase is greater than that of liquid phase and its direction leans more closely to blade working surface. Solid particles tend to move towards blade working surface, as is more obvious in the impeller with large blade outlet angle. Therefore, collision between solid particles with stem part of blade working surface is more intensive in impeller with large blade outlet angle. Concerning transportation of salt aqueous solution, accurate PIV measurement is conducted in centrifugal impellers with different blade outlet angles. The results are useful and instructive in relevant engineering design and operation.

Influence of Blade Thickness on Transient Flow Characteristics of Centrifugal Slurry Pump with Semi-open Impeller

As the critical component, the impellers of the slurry pumps usually have blades of a large thickness. The increasing excretion coefficient of the blades affects the flow in the impeller resulting in a relatively higher hydraulic loss, which is rarely reported. In order to investigate the influence of blade thickness on the transient flow characteristics of a centrifugal slurry pump with a semi-open impeller, transient numerical simulations were carried out on six impellers, of which the meridional blade thickness from the leading edge to trailing edge varied from 5-10 mm, 5-15 mm, 5-20 mm, 10-10 mm, 10-15 mm, and 10-20 mm, respectively. Then, two of the six impellers, namely cases 4 and 6, were manufactured and experimentally tested for hydraulic performance to verify the simulation results. Results of these tests agreed reasonably well with those of the numerical simulation. The results demonstrate that when blade thickness increases, pressure fluctuations at the outlet of the impeller become severe. Moreover, the standard deviation of the relative velocity in the middle portion of the suction sides of the blades decreases and that at the outlet of the impeller increases. Thus, the amplitude of the impeller head pulsation for each case increases. Meanwhile, the distribution of the time-averaged relative flow angle becomes less uniform and decreases at the outlet of the impeller. Hence, as the impeUer blade thickness increases, the pump head drops rapidly and the maximum efficiency point is offset to a lower flow rate condition. As the thickness of blade trailing edge increases by 10 mm, the head of the pump drops by approximately 5 m, which is approximately 10 % of the original pump head. Futhermore, it is for the first time that the time-averaged relative flow angle is being considered for the analysis of transient flow in centrifugal pump. The presented work could be a useful guideline in engineering practice when designing a centrifugal slurry pump with thick impeller blades.