Performance improvement of forward-curved impeller with an adequate outlet swirl using in centrifugal pump as turbine

Tao Wang, Ru Xiang, He Yu and Min Zhou

Renewable Energy, 2023, vol. 204, issue C, 67-76

Abstract: Pump as turbine (PAT) is a type of economical energy recovery device that is widely used in micro-hydropower plants and energy recovery. A special impeller with forward-curved blades can dramatically improve the PAT's performance relative to an original impeller with backward-curved blades because the inlet angle created by the former more effectively matches volute outlet flow. The blade outlet angle is another important factor in energy conversion. To investigate the effects of blade outlet angle on the performance of a special impeller, four outlet velocity moments were chosen according to the same inlet velocity moment value vu1r1 (0.02vu1r1, 0, −0.02vu1r1, -0.04vu1r1, were used). Four special impellers with different blade outlet angles were modeled and simulated via verified computational fluid dynamics. The results show that, the highest efficiency among PATs at −0.02vu1r1 was higher than that at 0.02vu1r1 by 1.46%. A suitable negative outlet velocity moment also helps eliminate swirl at the impeller outlet caused by the asymmetric inlet velocity moment and helps reduce the formation of vortex in the draft tube. This further decreases hydraulic loss and improves the operating stability of PAT. This paper presents a method for determining the blade outlet angle of the special impeller of PAT.

Keywords: Pump as turbine; Special impeller; Blade outlet angle; Velocity moment; Computational fluid dynamics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:renene:v:204:y:2023:i:c:p:67-76

DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2023.01.011

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