Numerical Delineation of 3D Unsteady Flow Fields in Side Channel Pumps for Engineering Processes

Abstract

Side channel pumps are important machines for handling toxic, explosive or other dangerous liquids in various engineering processes. However, the operational reliability of these pumps is directly affected by the intensity of the pressure and velocity fluctuations, thus the flow fluctuations existing within the pump cannot be neglected because of their direct influence on the noise, vibration and harshness performance. Therefore, describing precisely the zones of highly unsteady and turbulent flow fields is a key research topic. Moreover, the size of the wrapping angle strongly affects the levels of pressure and velocity fluctuations, thus numerical calculations of the pressure and velocity fluctuation intensities in side channel pump models with different wrapping angles were conducted in this work. The results indicated that the pressure fluctuation coefficient increased gradually from the inflow to the outflow. At the interrupter, the flow experienced the most irregular flow patterns in the pump. The flow at the inflow region in both the impeller and side channel passage rendered weak pressure fluctuation intensities. All three pump cases operated with 24 blades but after one complete circulatory cycle, cases 1, 2 and 3 revealed 21, 20 and 19 regular pressure fluctuations respectively in the impeller flow passage. On the other hand, the side channel flow passage rather produced 24 regular pressure fluctuations. Furthermore, the main frequency harmonic excitations for all studied monitoring points in the impeller and side channel flow passages of the three pump cases occurred at 600 Hz (24 × fn), 1200 Hz (48 × fn), and 1800 Hz (72 × fn). For this reason, exchanged flow times between the impeller and side channel is mainly responsible for the pressure fluctuation which subsequently affects the noise and vibration generation in the side channel pump. Hence, the results could be used as a reference for Noise-Vibration-Harshness (NVH) study in turbomachinery especially modifying the side channel pump in order to improve the operational reliabilities for many engineering processes.

Regenerative flow pumps, blowers and compressors – A review

“…Sixsmith and Altmann, 46 Song et al, 23 Jang and Jeon, 35 Song et al, 47 Natural gas 81/105 ¼ 0.77 Song et al 47 Air 120/280 ¼ 0.43 Badami and Mura 26 Hydrogen 41/138 ¼ 0.297 Badami and Mura 29,31 Hydrogen 36/145 ¼ 0.25 Jang and Jeon 35 Air 54/256 ¼ 0.21 Meakhail and Park 24 Water 20/170 ¼ 0.11 Quail et al 8,25,27,28,30 Water 30/74.5 ¼ 0.4 Choi et al 19 Water 45/170 ¼ 0.26 Annadurai et al 39 Water 36/65 ¼ 0.55 Nejadrajabali et al 40,49 Water 36/65 ¼ 0.55 Zhang et al 41,42,45 Water 24/150 ¼ 0.16 Nejad et al 6,48 Water 36/65 ¼ 0.55 Jeon et al 18 Water 48/72.6 ¼ 0.66 Pei et al 44 Water 24/150 ¼ 0.16…”

“…Mason 22 Steel Steel Sixsmith and Altmann 46 Duralumin Duralumin Quail et al 8 Acrylonitrile butadiene, polycarbonates Acrylonitrile butadiene, polycarbonates Karanth and Sharma 34 Metal Metal Meakhail and Park 24 Plastic Plastic Annadurai et al 39 Polyamide (nylon) Polyamide (nylon) Zhang et al 41,42,45 Aluminium Plexiglas Pei et al 44 Aluminium Plexiglas…”

“…Quail et al, 25,27,28,30 Badami and Mura, 32 Mekhail et al, 52 Griffini et al, 56 Zhang et al, 41 and Fathi et al 43 have used a steady flow model. Raheel, 9 Karanth and Sharma, 34 Karanth et al, 36 Maity et al, 37 Lee and Kil, 33 Jang and Jeon, 35 Lee et al, 38 Nejad et al, 6 Jeon et al, 18 Pei et al, 44 and Zhang et al 45 used unsteady flow models. Nejadrajabali et al 40 used a quasi-steady flow model.…”

Gas–Liquid Two-Phase Flow Investigation of Side Channel Pump: An Application of MUSIG Model

“…From an overview, there is a vortex near 150 • offset from the inflow at all operating conditions. This can be attributed to the sudden change in design of the side channel [44]. From inlet to outlet, the pressure gradient rises, and the pressure of the outer radius rises about 5 × 10 4 pa faster than the inner radius at the same rotation angle in the side channel.…”

Desarrollo de una metodología para la predicción de curvas características en bombas periféricas.

“…Las bombas periféricas [20] [21], comúnmente son usadas en plantas químicas, destilerías, cementeras, para la alimentación de pequeñas calderas, transportes de productos químicos, entre otras aplicaciones [19]; por lo tanto, el estudio de estos dispositivos tiene una alta relevancia. Park [22] demostró que las bombas periféricas alcanzan altas cabezas con bajos caudales debido a la baja velocidad específica y tienen curvas de rendimiento con características muy estables.…”