Haijun Yan

Detection of Cavitation in a Venturi Injector With a Combined Method of Strain Gauges and Numerical Simulation

The fertilizer suction capability of a Venturi injector is dependent on the vacuum pressure in the throat portion. As the vacuum level drops below the saturation vapor pressure, the pressure decreases to a particular value corresponding to the maximum pressure difference (Δpmax) between inlet and outlet pressures, and critical cavitation is likely to occur, leading to an unstable suction flow rate and low fertilization uniformity. A new method of using strain gauges to detect cavitation in Venturi injectors was explored experimentally and verified numerically under various operating conditions. The standard deviation (SD) of the measured strain values and the simulated values of the vapor-phase volume fraction (Vf) were used to evaluate the influence of cavitation. The results showed that both the rate of increase (ηm) of the average SD and the average growth rate (AGR) of the simulated cavitation length reach relatively large values at the maximum pressure difference (Δpmax), where the measured suction flow rate simultaneously reaches a maximum. In addition, SD and Vf shared similar variation trends at pressure differences larger than the corresponding Δpmax under various conditions. This new cavitation detection method has been proved to be feasible and reliable. It helps to determine accurately the value of Δpmax at different inlet pressures and to ensure that the Venturi injector runs in a safe operating-pressure range.

Effect of structural optimization on performance of Venturi injector

As one of the main fertilization devices, Venturi injector has been widely used in small and medium-sized pipe irrigation systems. However, the pressure loss produced by it during fertilizer injection decreases fertilization quality and irrigation uniformity. The structural optimization of the Venturi injector was carried out using orthogonal experimental design and CFD technology. An injector sample with the optimal combination of structural parameters and the highest injection efficiency was processed to test the performance of the injectors before and after optimization. The injection rate, the maximum injection rate, the flow ratio of the injection rate to the outlet flow rate and other performance parameters were significantly improved while the critical pressure differential was obviously reduced, which indicated that the range of working pressure of the injector was remarkably expanded. Additionally, the feasibility and accuracy of the structural optimization scheme were verified by the experiment.

Investigation of the cavitation fluctuation characteristics in a Venturi injector

The suction flow rate in a Venturi injector increases to a maximum and appears to be unstable when critical cavitation occurs. This study analyzes changes in the cavitation length in high-speed videos of a Venturi injector with critical cavitation to find periodic fluctuations in the cavitation cloud. Pressure fluctuation measurements show a dominant low frequency fluctuation that is almost as large as the oscillation frequency seen visually for the same conditions. The variation of the cavitation numbers and the measured transient outlet pressure show that critical cavitation occurs in the Venturi injector when the peak-to-peak pressure difference is greater than a critical value. Moreover, when the cavitation numbers become very small in the cavitation areas, the peak-to-peak pressures begin to decrease. The relationship between the suction performance and the outlet pressure fluctuations has a significant inflection point which can be used to determine proper working conditions. These experimental statistics provide a pressure range based on the inlet and outlet pressures for which the improvement of suction performance will not substantially change the outlet pressure fluctuations. Both the high-speed photography and the pressure measurement show the periodic oscillations of the cavitation cloud in a Venturi injector and can be used to detect the occurrence of critical cavitation.