Investigation on the Flow Field Upstream of a Centrifugal Pump Impeller

Abstract

The flow upstream of a centrifugal pump impeller has been investigated by both experimental test and numerical simulation. For experimental study, the flow field at four sections in the pump suction is measured by using PIV method. For calculation, the three dimensional turbulent flow for the full flow passage of the pump is simulated based on RANS equations combined with RNG k-ε turbulence model. From those results, it is noted that at both design load and quarter load condition, the pre-swirl flow whose direction is the same as the impeller rotation exists at all four sections in suction pipe of the pump, and at each section, the pre-swirl velocity becomes obviously larger at higher rotational speed. It is also indicated that at quarter load condition, the low pressure region at suction surface of the vane is large because of the unfavorable flow upstream of the pump impeller.