Unsteady flow characteristic of low-specific-speed centrifugal pump under different flow-rate conditions

Abstract

To investigate the unsteady flow characteristics in centrifugal pump, the flow field in a low-specific-speed centrifugal pump with complex impeller is numerically simulated under different conditions. The RNG κ-ɛ turbulence model and sliding mesh are adopted during the process of computation. The results show that the interaction between impeller and volute results in the unstable flow of the fluid, which causes the uneven distribution of pressure fluctuations around the circumference of volute. Besides the main frequency and its multiple frequency of pressure fluctuations in the centrifugal pump, the frequency caused by the long blades of complex impeller also plays a dominant role in the low-frequency areas. Furthermore, there exists biggish fluctuation phenomenon near the tongue. The composition of static pressure fluctuations frequency on the volute wall and blade outlet is similar except that the fluctuation amplitude near the volute wall reduces. In general, the different flow rates mainly have influence on the amplitude of fluctuation frequency in the pump, while have little effect on the frequency composition.