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Hydrodynamic optimization of the impeller and diffuser vane of an axial-flow pump

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Abstract

Enhancing the hydraulic performance of an axial-flow pump is necessary for increasing the working efficiency and reducing the costs of the pump. In the present study, the impeller and diffuser vane geometry of an axial flow pump are optimized to improve the total efficiency and total head. The internal flow field was obtained by solving the steady-state Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations in the k-ω shear stress transport reattachment modification turbulence model. The structure was modeled on a hexahedral mesh with a small y+ value at all walls. The total efficiency and total head were chosen as the objective functions in two multi-objective optimizations: one for the impeller with four design variables (shroud chord length, hub chord length, inlet blade angle at mid span, and stagger angle at mid span), the other for the diffuser vane with four design variables (hub radius at the trailing edge, hub position at the leading edge, hub blade angle at the leading edge and middle blade angle at the leading edge). These design variables were selected because they sensitively affect the objective functions, as confirmed using the screening technique based on the 2k factorial method. The blades were optimized by an approximation function based on the following surrogate models: response surface approximation, kriging meta, and a radial basis neural network. After optimizing the impeller, the total efficiency and total head were 0.974 % and 21.028 % higher respectively, than those of the reference impeller, and after optimizing the diffuser vane, the total efficiency and total head were 3.097 % and 10.205 % higher, respectively, than those of the reference model.

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Abbreviations

n a :

Specific speed

n :

Rotational speed

Q :

Flow rate

H :

Pressure head

H t :

Total head

φ :

Flow rate coefficient

D :

Impeller diameter

ψ :

Head coefficient

ϕ :

Rotational speed coefficient

η :

Total efficiency

ζ :

Torque

ω :

Angular velocity

P outlet :

Total pressure at outlet

P inlet :

Total pressure at inlet

ρ :

Density of the water

g :

Gravitational acceleration

L s :

Shroud chord length

ξ m :

Stagger angle at mid span

R h :

Radius of hub

L h :

Hub chord length

β m :

Inlet blade angle at mid span

C p :

Pressure coefficient

P :

Pressure in stationary frame

P in :

Averaged pressure in stationary frame at the inlet

V :

Velocity at tip of the impeller

L ds :

Shroud meridional length of the diffuser

L dh :

Hub meridional length of the diffuser

β dh :

Hub blade angle at leading edge

β dm :

Middle blade angle at leading edge

R dh :

Hub radius at trailing edge

Z h :

Hub position at leading edge

β d :

Blade angle at leading edge

N 1, N 2, N 3 :

Number of grid

r :

Grid refinement factor

p :

Apparent order

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP) grant funded by the Korea government (MOTIE) (2021202080026A, Development of Variable Operating Technology for Medium and Large Size Pump).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Convergence Manufacturing System Engineering (Green Process and Energy System Engineering), University of Science and Technology, 217, Gajeong-ro, Yuseong-gu, Deajeon, 34113, Korea

    Duc-Anh Nguyen & Jin-Hyuk Kim

  2. Carbon Neutral Technology R&D Department, Korea Institute of Industrial Technology, 89 Yangdaegiro-gil, Ipjang-myeon, Seobuk-gu, Cheonan-si, Chungcheongnam-do, 31056, Korea

    Duc-Anh Nguyen, Sang-Bum Ma, Sung Kim & Jin-Hyuk Kim

Authors
  1. Duc-Anh Nguyen
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  2. Sang-Bum Ma
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jin-Hyuk Kim.

Additional information

Duc-Anh Nguyen is an integrative student of the University of Science and Technology (UST) and he works at the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology (KITECH) Campus, Korea. He received his Bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from Ha Noi University of Science and Technology (HUST), Viet Nam, in 2020. His research interests include computational fluid dynamics, turbomachinery, and heat transfer.

Sang-Bum Ma received his Ph.D. degree from Inha University, Republic of Korea, in 2020. He is currently pursuing his research in fluids engineering at Korea Institute of Industrial Technology (KITECH), Republic of Korea. His researches were mainly for designing turbomachinery by using computational fluid dynamics and design optimization based on machine-learning.

Sung Kim received his Ph.D. degree in Fluid Engineering at Hanyang University, Korea, in 2019. He is currently a Senior Researcher in the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology (KITECH). His research interests are turbomachinery (pumps, fans, compressors, turbines, and pump-turbines) design, numerical analyses, optimization techniques, and experimental tests.

Jin-Hyuk Kim is currently a Principal Researcher at Korea Institute of Industrial Technology (KITECH) and an Associate Professor at University of Science and Technology (UST), Korea. His research interests are fluid machinery (fans, compressors, pumps, hydraulic turbines, and pump-turbines) designs and developments; steady and unsteady numerical analyses; fluid induced vibrations; advanced optimization methods; flow measurements, flow visualizations, and experimental techniques.

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Nguyen, DA., Ma, SB., Kim, S. et al. Hydrodynamic optimization of the impeller and diffuser vane of an axial-flow pump. J Mech Sci Technol 37, 1263–1278 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-022-1217-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-022-1217-0

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