Parametric CFD study of the hydraulic and energetic performance in centrifugal pumps as a function of geometrical parameters

Abstract

In this work, the hydraulic and energetic performance of a centrifugal pump is studied in CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics), to achieve optimization in its performance through a parametric analysis. Variations were made in pump parameters such as diameter, number of blades and speed of rotation, to study their influence over the general performance of the pump, by using a CFD package; the results obtained were validated in a test bench, to guarantee the prediction capacity of the simulations. In the same way, a theoretical analysis was carried out, comparing the results with the Euler equation and corrections with Stodola equation. An analysis of mesh independence was carried out, to optimize the simulation process and computational resources. The results allowed to conclude that the reduction in the thickness of the pump casing, which has the effect of a larger diameter of the impeller, leads to an increase in the effective head of the pump; similar results are obtained with the increase in the number of blades and the 1350 Jorge Duarte et al. increase in the speed of rotation, although in the latter case, it is less accentuated due to the reduction in volumetric efficiency.

Improvement of Grid Independence Test for Computational Fluid Dynamics Model of Building Based on Grid Resolution

“…It is the most extensively used grid independence test method [12] and compares the flow rate, temperature, and indicators for analysis of different simulation models to select the optimal grid. For the grid conditions, coarse, medium, and fine grids were selected and then tested [13][14][15][16][17]. However, this method has a problem in that it selects a large grid size for the coarse grid because the grid spacing between the grid candidate groups is generally large.…”