Synergistic effects of vapor and gaseous cavitation and mass-transfer mechanism in a mechanical pump

Abstract

Dynamic gas–liquid mass-transfer processes are extensively encountered in gas–liquid mixture transport systems, where mechanical pumps pressurize the mixture and are accompanied by flow and mass-transfer instabilities. Herein, our proposed gaseous cavitation model was innovatively developed to revolutionize the independent unidirectional absorbed or evolved mass transfers. Complex gas–liquid behaviors under the synergetic effects of gaseous and vapor cavitations were achieved for the first time in an on-orbit refueling mechanical pump. Four coupled mass-transfer processes, namely, evolution, evaporation, absorption, condensation, and gas–liquid distribution, were investigated through numerical calculations. The results indicated that when the solution was close to critical saturation and conversion of the mass-transfer direction, a surge in the mass-transfer rate, and more intense hydrodynamic instability occurred. The vapor drove the accumulation of the evolved gas along the edge of the vapor in the impeller, where the evolved-dominated mass-transfer bands existed on the suction surfaces of the long blade, exhibiting the degassing characteristics of the vapor cavity, and other regions belonged to absorption-dominated region. Continuous dissolution induced by significant positive pressure gradient led to the maximum absorbed oxygen concentration at the impeller outlet. The maximal increments of absorbed oxygen in the suction chamber, impeller, and volute were 98%, 447%, and 694%, respectively, and the volume fractions were attenuated by 18.3%, 12.5%, and 5.0%, respectively. Notably, an increase in the gas volume fraction was the dominant reason for exacerbating the instability of the impeller forces, and the range of the radial force tended to be narrow and concentrated as the concentration increased.