Abstract
The valuation of the hydraulic performance of a centrifugal pump with pre-whirl regulation of the inlet guide vanes was studied experimentally by varying the pre-whirl angle from −60° to 60° with distances between the inlet guide vanes and the impeller inlet of 280 mm, 380 mm and 460 mm. The efficiency-flow curves and the characteristic curves were obtained for the pump for various operation conditions. The experiment results demonstrated that the pre-whirl regulation widened the high efficiency zone and improved the hydraulic performance for off-design conditions with the proper pre-whirl angle. The axial distance between the inlet guide vanes and the impeller inlet influenced the pre-whirl regulation effect of the inlet guide vanes with the best pre-whirl regulation effect obtained for an axial distance of 380 mm. These results showed that an appropriate axial distance between the inlet guide vanes and the impeller inlet can improve the fluid flow at the impeller entrance with pre-whirl regulation for centrifugal pumps.
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Tan, L., Cao, S., Wang, Y. et al. Influence of axial distance on pre-whirl regulation by the inlet guide vanes for a centrifugal pump. Sci. China Technol. Sci. 55, 1037–1043 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11431-012-4756-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11431-012-4756-2