Study on Fiber Clogging Mechanism in Sewage Pump Based on CFD–DEM Simulation

Shuihua Zheng, Chaojie Yang, Chaoshou Yan, Min Chai and Zenan Sun
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Shuihua Zheng: Institute of Process Equipment and Control Engineering, College of Mechanical Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310023, China
Chaojie Yang: Institute of Process Equipment and Control Engineering, College of Mechanical Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310023, China
Chaoshou Yan: Institute of Process Equipment and Control Engineering, College of Mechanical Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310023, China
Min Chai: Institute of Process Equipment and Control Engineering, College of Mechanical Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310023, China
Zenan Sun: Institute of Process Equipment and Control Engineering, College of Mechanical Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310023, China

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 5, 1-19

Abstract: A large number of solid particles and fibrous impurities are always entrained in the fluid transported by a sewage pump, which can easily lead to the blockage of the sewage pump. In view of this, CFD–DEM simulations were conducted in this paper to reveal the fiber clogging mechanism in the sewage pump. A CFD–DEM coupling method with a fiber model was established and verified by an experimental benchmark, i.e., the rectangular flow channel. The method was then applied to a model sewage pump to, after mesh independence tests, analyze the effects of flow rate and fiber length on fiber motion and clogging. The results showed that the position of fiber retention coincides with the position of the vortex, mainly located at the inlet of the impeller, the head of the blade, the middle of the blade, and the tongue in the pump. In the case of a low flow rate, the fiber was more likely to cause blockage in the head of the blade, and in the case of a large flow rate, the fiber would wind around the tongue in the pump. At the same flow rate, long fiber was more likely to stay on the blade’s suction surface.

Keywords: sewage pump; fiber blockage; CFD–DEM; reflux vortex (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: 2022
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