Internal flow visualization and performance characteristics of a disc pump under gas-liquid two-phase flow conditions

Yaguang Heng, Zhengsu Chen, Qifeng Jiang, Gérard Bois and Weibin Zhang

Energy, 2025, vol. 333, issue C

Abstract: Disc pumps have been successfully applied in the field of multiphase transportation. The present study is focused on disc pump performance under gas-liquid two-phase flow conditions, and the two-phase internal flow field of a disc pump is first visualized via high-speed photography. Different measurement procedures are applied to obtain the pump two-phase performance, and the disc pump characteristics are analyzed by combining these measurements with the visualized internal flow pattern. The results show that the present disc pump reaches an IGVFmax (maximum inlet gas void fraction) of 34 % at 1500 rpm and 49 % at 2000 rpm under nominal initial conditions, and the IGVFc (critical inlet gas void fraction), which corresponds to the sharp decrease point of the pump performance, is close to 9 %. When IGVF <9 %, the visualization results show that the internal flow pattern is close to ideal flow, and the disc impeller has a strong break-up effect on bubbles, which makes the two-phase mixture always homogenous and continuous. When IGVF >9 %, gas-liquid separation becomes obvious and leads to a reverse flow pattern, which directly reduces pump performance. Hysteresis effect is observed in the operating map at 1500 rpm and disappears when the rotational speed is increased to 2000 rpm. All the experimental results indicate that disc pumps have great advantages in the field of gas-liquid two-phase flow transportation.

Keywords: Disc pumps; Gas-liquid two-phase flow; High-speed photography; Flow visualization; Internal flow and performance analyses (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:energy:v:333:y:2025:i:c:s0360544225031226

DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2025.137480

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