Numerical Simulation of the Influence of Design Parameters on Gas-liquid Transport Characteristics of Centrifugal Pump

Abstract

Traditional centrifugal pumps have obvious advantages for transporting pure liquidmedia, but the existence of gas phase will cause the decline of head and efficiency, and even air blockage. Therefore, it is strongly necessary to design a gas-liquid pump with superior performance. There are various parameters that can affect the multiphase centrifugal pump performance and energy consumption. The blade outlet angle and blade number are the most critical. In this paper, CFD method is used to study the influence of outlet angle and blade number on gas-liquid transport of centrifugal pump. The results show that the boosting pressure of centrifugal impeller decreases with the increases of gas volume fraction and the boosting pressure for impeller of lower outlet angle decreases to a greater degree when the gas volume faction increases. The hydraulic performance of impeller with blade number of 6 and 8 is compared, which shows impeller with blade number of 8 has higher boosting pressure and higher efficiency than blade number of 6 under the same gas-liquid working condition. This paper will provide reference for the design of multi-phase pump to meet the requirements of gas-liquid flow.