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Study of the effect of solid particle volume fraction on cavitation characteristics in a centrifugal pump

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Abstract

The effect of solid particles volume fraction on cavitation characteristics during solid–liquid two-phase transportation was investigated in a centrifugal pump. The turbulent diffusion force, interphase drag force, and other forces between solid–liquid–gas three-phase are considered in this paper. The numerical simulation of cavitation flow in the solid–liquid flow field in the centrifugal pump is performed under designed flow condition, with the numerical simulation results being verified by experiments. The results show that when the volume fraction of solid particles is the same, the influence of the volume change of the bubbles in volute on critical net positive suction head is greater than that caused by the change of the volume of the bubbles in impeller. The average volume of bubbles in volute corresponds to the critical net positive suction head change trend. The size of separation vortexes generated by the sand-laden fluid on the suction surface of the blade is less with varying volume fractions of solid particles, whereas the size of the separation vortexes formed by tongue and VIII section of volute is bigger. The shaft frequency or the blade passing frequency is the main frequency of pressure pulsation at different positions in the pump. However, the structural instability of the flow field in the pump is attenuated by the volume fraction of solid particles, resulting in complex changes in the amplitude of the main frequency at different positions in the pump.

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Abbreviations

C v :

Volume fraction of solid particles

C TD :

The turbulent diffusion coefficient

d :

Particle diameter

f :

Frequency

f d :

Axial frequency

f n :

Blade frequency

F TD,p :

Turbulent diffusion force of solid particles

F D,l :

Drag force on the liquid phase

F D,v :

Drag force on the solid phase

F D,p :

Drag force on the gas phase

F v :

Evaporation coefficient

F c :

Condensation coefficient

H d :

Design head

n :

Rated speed

n s :

Design specific speed

p inlet :

The inlet pressure of the pump

p v :

The vaporization pressure of clean water at 25 ℃

Q :

Flow

Q d :

Design flow

T :

The rotation time for one rotation

σt ,l :

The turbulent Schmidt number of the continuous phase

α :

The volume fraction

ρ :

The density

u :

The velocity

μ :

The viscosity coefficient

l:

The liquid phase

p:

The gas phase

v:

The solid phase

ZGB:

The Zwart-Gerber-Belamri model

NPSHa:

The available net positive suction head

NPSHc:

The critical net positive suction head

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Funding

This work was financially supported by the National Key Research and Development Program [No. 2018YFB0905200], and the National Natural Science Foundation of China [No. 52009115].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Fluid and Power Machinery, Ministry of Education, Xihua University, Chengdu, 610039, China

    Jiaxing Lu & Xiaobing Liu

  2. Key Laboratory of Fluid Machinery and Engineering, Sichuan Province, Xihua University, Chengdu, 610039, China

    Jiaxing Lu & Xiaobing Liu

  3. School of Energy and Power Engineering, Xihua University, Chengdu, 610039, China

    Jiaxing Lu, Jian Wang, Xiaobing Liu, Zhaoyun Luo & Qi Chen

Authors
  1. Jiaxing Lu
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  2. Jian Wang
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Correspondence to Jiaxing Lu.

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Lu, J., Wang, J., Liu, X. et al. Study of the effect of solid particle volume fraction on cavitation characteristics in a centrifugal pump. Meccanica 57, 2947–2961 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11012-022-01591-9

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