Numerical Identification of Key Design Parameters Enhancing the Centrifugal Pump Performance: Impeller, Impeller-Volute, and Impeller-Diffuser

Abstract

This paper presents the numerical investigation of the effects that the pertinent design parameters, including the blade height, the blade number, the outlet blade angle, the blade width, and the impeller diameter, have on the steady state liquid flow in a three-dimensional centrifugal pump. Three cases were considered for this study: impeller, combined impeller and volute, and combined impeller and diffuser. The continuity and Navier-Stokes equations with the k-ε turbulence model and the standard wall functions were used by means of ANSYS-CFX code. The results achieved reveal that the selected key design parameters have an impact on the centrifugal pump performance describing the pump head, the brake horsepower, and the overall efficiency. To valid the developed approach, the results of numerical simulation were compared with the experimental results considering the case of combined impeller and diffuser.

Performance Optimization of Centrifugal Pump for Crude Oil Delivery

“…Similar trends were observed in which an increase in β has augmented the head generation significantly. Any increase in β always leads to broader outlet cross sections (Li 2011;Djerroud et al 2011) which results in a fall of fluid pressure loss and consequently the head is augmented. It is observed that any increase in β has a substantial influence on the hydraulic efficiency, which increased continuously until the design point is reached.…”

“…Moreover, the pump brake horsepower increases due to the augmentation in β and Z. This is due to the increase in the requested shaft torque associated with the increased β (Djerroud et al 2011). The effect of β on the pump performance used for crude oil was explored through CFD for the change of flow rate as shown in Fig.…”

Effects of Discharge on the Performance of an Industrial Centrifugal Pump

“…The basic idea of the model is to simplify the flow inside the pump into an instantaneous flow at one position in order to solve unsteady-state problem with a cost-effective steady-state computational technique. In this approach, it can be concluded that the flow pattern of a centrifugal pump can be described quite well with the MRF method [6][7][8].…”

Pre-Stress Modal Analysis of A Centrifugal Pump Impeller forDifferent Blade Thicknesses

“…Transverse vibration characteristics of a thin spinning disc under free and forced vibrating conditions, using the numerical method found that the natural frequencies of the thin spinning plate attached to a rigid core increased significantly, with an increase in the speed [5,6]. The modal properties of the fluid-structure system by an experimental modal analysis with the impeller suspended in air and inside a water reservoir can be analysed [7,8].…”