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Pressure fluctuation characteristics in the pressurization unit of a multiphase pump

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Abstract

The tip clearance induces the tip leakage vortex (TLV), which has a great impact on the pressure fluctuation characteristics of the multiphase pump. To investigate the effect of the tip clearance on the pressure fluctuations, based on the Reynolds time-averaged Navier-Stokes equation and the shear stress transfer (SST) k - ω turbulence model, the three-dimensional turbulent flow in the pump is numerically simulated for different tip clearances in the water and gas-liquid two-phase cases by using the ANSYS CFX software and the results are verified with experimental data. It is shown the greater pressure fluctuation intensity corresponds with the TLV both in the water and gas-liquid two-phase cases. In the meantime, the location of the maximum pressure fluctuation intensity is related to the tip clearance size. In addition, for different tip clearances, the pressure fluctuation intensity with the rotor and stator interaction (RSI) is relatively larger. The difference is that when Rtc = 1.5 mm , the pressure fluctuation intensity near the impeller middle point is also relatively larger. On the whole, the pressure fluctuation intensity in the gas-liquid two-phase case is larger than that in the water case. Furthermore, the gas causes the frequency of the high-amplitude pressure fluctuation in the impeller and the diffuser to be shifted from 7 fn (fn denotes impeller rotational frequency) and 3 fn to the low-frequency region, respectively. The pressure fluctuations at the blade-passing frequency (BPF) and the multiple BPFs gradually disappear. Meanwhile, the amplitude at the dominant frequency in the gas-liquid two-phase case is at least one order of magnitude smaller than that in the water case, and the peak-to-peak value of the pressure fluctuation is also much smaller.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Central Leading Place Scientific and Technological Development Funds for Surface Project (Grant No. 2021ZYD0038), the Open Research Fund Program of State Key Laboratory of Hydroscience and Engineering, Tsinghua University (Grant No. sklhse-2021-E-03) and the Key Scientific Research Fund of Xihua University (Grant No. Z1510417).

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Authors and Affiliations

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

    Guang-tai Shi & Xiao-bing Liu

  2. College of Water Resources and Civil Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100083, Canada

    Zong-ku Liu & Xue-lin Tang

  3. State Key Laboratory of Hydroscience and Engineering and Department of Energy and Power Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

    Guang-tai Shi & Ye-xiang Xiao

  4. Beijing Engineering Research Centre of Safety and Energy Saving Technology for Water Supply Network System, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100083, China

    Zong-ku Liu & Xue-lin Tang

Authors
  1. Guang-tai Shi
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  2. Zong-ku Liu
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  5. Xiao-bing Liu
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Correspondence to Guang-tai Shi.

Additional information

Projects supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2018YFB0905200)

Biography

Guang-tai Shi (1985-), Male, Ph. D., Associate Professor

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Shi, Gt., Liu, Zk., Xiao, Yx. et al. Pressure fluctuation characteristics in the pressurization unit of a multiphase pump. J Hydrodyn 33, 1230–1241 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42241-022-0108-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42241-022-0108-2

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