Influence of Blade Outlet Angle on Performance and Internal Flow of Centrifugal Pump for Low Viscous Fluid Food

Abstract

There are many kinds of pumps for fluid foods depending on the characteristics of the fluid, i.e. a sanitary pump made from the stainless steel, a screw pump and so on. The purpose of this research is establishment of the pump design method for the low viscous fluid food based on the internal flow condition. In this research, the centrifugal pump having small number of the blade is used to decrease the shear loss and keep wide flow passage. Moreover, a open impeller is adopted in this centrifugal pump in consideration of the manufacturing precision and simple maintenance of the pump. Four impellers having the different blade outlet angles are prepared and the performance test is conducted using the experimental apparatus. The internal flow condition of each type of the impeller near the hub is clarified by the numerical analysis and the suitable impeller for low viscous fluid food is considered based on the experimental and numerical analysis results.