Gérard Bois

PIV Measurements in the Impeller and the Vaneless Diffuser of a Radial Flow Pump in Design and Off-Design Operating Conditions

This paper presents and discusses the results of an experimental program that has been made on an air test rig of a radial flow pump. The tested impeller is the so-called SHF impeller. Many experimental data have already been produced (tests in air and in water) on that geometry and these results are still used as databases for the validation of CFD codes. For the present study, an air test rig has been chosen for optical access facilities and measurements were realized with a vaneless diffuser. The 2D Particle Image Velocimetry technique has been used and measurements of flow velocities have been made simultaneously in the outer part of the impeller and in the vaneless diffuser. Measurements have been realized in five planes, in the hub to shroud direction, for various relative flow rates (design and off-design operating conditions). First, the paper focus on the evolutions of the phase averaged velocity charts in the impeller and the diffuser. Limitations of the phase averaging technique clearly appear in the very low partial flow rates and this will be related to previous pressure measurements analysis establishing the occurrence of rotating stall within the impeller for such operating conditions. The paper also proposes an analysis of the rates of fluctuations of the velocity charts and the evolutions in the various measuring planes as the relative flow rate becomes lower.

Transient Behavior of Turbomachineries: Applications to Radial Flow Pump Startups

A theoretical analysis of the fast transients of turbomachineries, based on the study of unsteady and incompressible fluids mechanics equations applied to an impeller, is proposed. It leads to internal torque, internal power, and impeller head of an impeller during transient periods. The equations show that the behavior of a pump impeller is not only depending on the acceleration rate and flow rate, as it is usually admitted, but also on velocity profiles and their evolution during the transient. Some hypotheses on the flow in a radial flow pump are proposed. They are validated by comparison with the experimental results of a single stage, single volute radial flow pump during some fast acceleration periods. The model is also used to analyze the behavior of the pump during a fast startup.

Experimental Study of a Cavitating Centrifugal Pump During Fast Startups

The start-up of rocket engine turbopumps is generally performed only in a few seconds. It implies that these pumps reach their nominal operating conditions after only a few rotations. During these first rotations of the blades, the flow evolution in the pump is governed by transient phenomena, based mainly on the flow rate and rotation speed evolution. These phenomena progressively become negligible when the steady behavior is reached. The pump transient behavior induces significant pressure fluctuations which may result in partial flow vaporization, i.e. cavitation. An existing experimental test rig has been updated in the LML laboratory (Lille, France) for the start-ups of a centrifugal pump. The study focuses on cavitation induced during the pump start-up. Instantaneous measurement of torque, flow rate, inlet and outlet unsteady pressures, and pump rotation velocity enable to characterize the pump behavior during rapid starting periods. Three different types of fast start-up behaviors have been identified. According to the final operating point, the start-up is characterized either by a single drop of the delivery static pressure, by several low-frequency drops, or by a water hammer phenomenon that can be observed both a the inlet and outlet of the pump. A physical analysis is proposed to explain these three different types of transient flow behavior.

Rotor-Stator Interactions in a Vaned Diffuser Radial Flow Pump

The paper presents an analysis of unsteady effects associated with rotor stator interactions in a vaned diffuser radial flow pump. The experimental data have been obtained by 2D Particle Image Velocimetry at mid height between hub and shroud, in the impeller outlet zone and within a vaned diffuser passage. Unsteadiness is discussed first in the impeller outlet zone and then along a passage of the vaned diffuser.Copyright

Analysis of Unsteady Flow Velocity Fields Inside the Impeller of a Radial Flow Pump: PIV Measurements and Numerical Calculation Comparisons

PIV measurements were performed at mid hub to shroud section inside the impeller of a vaned diffuser pump model working with air. The measurements were restricted to the outlet section of the impeller where the diffuser blades interacted with the impeller flow. Each PIV measuring plane was related to one particular impeller blade to blade channel and analysed according to different relative positions of the vaned diffuser. Two frame change models were considered: the so-called frozen rotor approach for different impeller passage positions relative to the vaned diffuser and a fully unsteady calculation of the whole pump. Comparisons between numerical and experimental results are presented and discussed for a specific mass flow rate corresponding to an off-design point for the impeller and a design point for the vaned diffuser.Copyright

An Analytical Modeling of the Central Core Flow in a Rotor-Stator System With Several Preswirl Conditions

In the most part of an enclosed rotor-stator system with separated boundary layers, the flow structure is characterized by a central core rotating as a solid body with a constant core-swirl ratio. This behavior is not always observed in an isolated rotor-stator cavity, i.e., without any centripetal or centrifugal throughflow, opened to the atmosphere at the periphery: Recent works have brought to evidence an increasing level of the core-swirl ratio from the periphery to the axis, as in the case of a rotor-stator with superposed centripetal flow The present work is based on an asymptotical approach in order to provide a better understanding of this process. Assuming that the boundary layers behave as on a single rotating disk in a stationary fluid on the rotor side, and on a stationary disk in a rotating fluid on the stator side, new analytical relations are obtained for the core-swirl ratio, the static pressure on the stator, and also the total pressure at midheight of the cavity. An experimental study is performed: Detailed measurements provide data for several values of the significant dimensionless parameters: 1.14 ≤ 10 -6 × Re ≤ 1.96, 0.05 ≤ G ≤ 0.10, and 0.07≤10 4 × Ek ≤ 2.65. The analysis of the results shows a good agreement between the theoretical solution and the experimental results. The analytical model can be used to provide a better understanding of the flow features. In addition, radial distributions of both core-swirl ratio, dimensionless static pressure on the stator, as well as dimensionless total pressure at midheight of the cavity which are of interest to the designers, can be computed with an acceptable accuracy knowing the levels of the preswirl coefficient K p and the solid body rotation swirl coefficient K B .

Analysis of flow velocities within the impeller and the vaneless diffuser of a radial flow pump

Abstract Two-dimensional particle image velocimetry has been used in order to analyse the flow in the outlet part of a centrifugal pump (impeller and vaneless diffuser). Tests have been carried out in air. The paper first describes the main characteristics of the centrifugal pump and the associated test facilities. An analysis of the main results in design operating conditions of the SHF (Société Hydro-technique de France) impeller is then proposed.

Two-phase numerical study of the flow field formed in water pump sump: influence of air entrainment

In a pump sump it is imperative that the amount of non-homogenous flow and entrained air be kept to a minimum. Free air-core vortex occurring at a water-intake pipe is an important problem encountered in hydraulic engineering. These vortices reduce pump performances, may have large effects on the operating conditions and lead to increase plant operating costs.This work is an extended study starting from 2006 in LML and published by ISSA and al. in 2008, 2009 and 2010. Several cases of sump configuration have been numerically investigated using two specific commercial codes and based on the initial geometry proposed by Constantinescu and Patel. Fluent and Star CCM+ codes are used in the previous studies. The results, obtained with a structured mesh, were strongly dependant on main geometrical sump configuration such as the suction pipe position, the submergence of the suction pipe on one hand and the turbulence model on the other hand. Part of the results showed a good agreement with experimental investigations already published. Experiments, conducted in order to select best positions of the suction pipe of a water-intake sump, gave qualitative results concerning flow disturbances in the pump-intake related to sump geometries and position of the pump intake. The purpose of this paper is to reproduce the flow pattern of experiments and to confirm the geometrical parameter that influences the flow structure in such a pump. The numerical model solves the Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations and VOF multiphase model. STAR CCM+ with an adapted mesh configuration using hexahedral mesh with prism layer near walls was used. Attempts have been made to calculate two phase unsteady flow for stronger mass flow rates and stronger submergence with low water level in order to be able to capture air entrainment. The results allow the knowledge of some limits of numerical models, of mass flow rates and of submergences for air entrainment. In the validation of this numerical model, emphasis was placed on the prediction of the number, location, size and strength of the various types of vortices coming from the free surface. Contours of vorticity at free surface, air cores, isoline of pressure surface were particularly examined for some cases. Streamlines issued from the free surface and the volume of fraction of air allows visualizing the air entrainment.

On the Flow Behavior in Rotor-Stator System with Superposed Flow

The flow between a rotor and a stator at high Reynolds number and small Ekman number is divided into three domains, two boundary layers adjacent to the discs separated by a central core. In the present work, a simple theoretical approach provides analytical solutions for the radial distribution of the core swirl ratio valid for a rotor-stator system with a superposed radial inflow rate. At first, the flow in the rotor boundary layer is assumed to behave as expressed by Owen and Rogers (1989) in the case of a turbulent flow on a rotating single disc. On the stator side, a necessary compensation flow rate must take place according to the conservation of mass. It is found that this compensation flow rate cannot be estimated with a good accuracy using the hypotheses of a stationary disc in a rotating fluid by Owen and Rogers (1989). Thus, two innovative weighting functions are tested, leading to new analytical laws relating the core swirl ratio K to the coefficient of flow rate Cqr introduced by Poncet et al. (2005). The adequacy between the theoretical solutions and numerous results of the literature is clearly improved and the discussion allows a better understanding of the flow behavior.

Numerical Investigation of Pressure Fluctuation in Centrifugal Pump Volute Based on SAS Model and Experimental Validation

This paper presents an investigation of pressure fluctuation of a single-suction volute-type centrifugal pump, particularly volute casing, by using numerical and experimental methods. A new type of hybrid Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes/Large Eddy Simulation, referred to as the shear stress transport-scale-adaptive simulation (SAS) model, is employed to study the unsteady flow. Statistical analysis method is adopted to show the pressure fluctuation intensity distribution in the volute channel. A test rig for pressure pulsation measurement is built to validate the numerical simulation results using eight transient pressure sensors in the middle section of the volute wall. Results show that the SAS model can accurately predict the inner flow field of centrifugal pumps. Radial force acting on the impeller presents a star distribution related to the blade number. Pressure fluctuation intensity is strongest near the tongue and shows irregular distribution in the pump casing. Pressure fluctuation is distributed symmetrically at the cross-section of the volute casing because the volute can eliminate the rotational movement of the liquid discharged from the impeller. Blade passing frequency and its multiples indicate the dominant frequency of the monitoring points within the volute, and the low-frequency pulsation, particularly in the shaft component, increases when it operates at off-design condition, particularly with a small flow rate. The reason is that the vortex wave is enhanced at the off-design condition, which has an effect on the axle and is presented in the shaft component in the frequency domain.