Experimental Investigations on the Inner Flow Behavior of Centrifugal Pumps under Inlet Air-Water Two-Phase Conditions

Qiaorui Si, Haoyang Zhang, Gérard Bois, Jinfeng Zhang, Qianglei Cui and Shouqi Yuan
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Qiaorui Si: National Research Center of Pumps, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China
Haoyang Zhang: National Research Center of Pumps, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China
Gérard Bois: LMFL, FRE CNRS 3723, Arts et Métiers ParisTech, 59046 Lille, France
Jinfeng Zhang: National Research Center of Pumps, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China
Qianglei Cui: National Research Center of Pumps, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China
Shouqi Yuan: National Research Center of Pumps, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China

Energies, 2019, vol. 12, issue 22, 1-14

Abstract: Centrifugal pumps are widely used and are known to be sensitive to inlet air-water two-phase flow conditions. The pump performance degradation mainly depends on the changes in the two-phase flow behavior inside the pump. In the present paper, experimental overall pump performance tests were performed for two different rotational speeds and several inlet air void fractions ( α i ) up to pump shut-off condition. Visualizations were also performed on the flow patterns of a whole impeller passage and the volute tongue area to physically understand pump performance degradation. The results showed that liquid flow modification does not follow head modification as described by affinity laws, which are only valid for homogeneous bubbly flow regimes. Three-dimensional effects were more pronounced when inlet void fraction increased up to 3%. Bubbly flow with low mean velocities were observed close to the volute tongue for all α i , and returned back to the impeller blade passages. The starting point of pump break down was related to a strong inward reverse flow that occurred in the vicinity of the shroud gap between the impeller and volute tongue area.

Keywords: two-phase flow pattern; rotor-stator interaction; centrifugal pumps; overall performance; visualization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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