2018 Volume 63 Issue 9 Pages 641-650
The Progressive Cavity Pump (PCP), which is a type of the positive displacement pumps, is widely used for slurry transfer. Wear of the PCP rotor and stator is one of the important factors affecting product lifetime. The present study focuses on the importance of fluid force causing particle entrapment into the sliding portion between the rotating shaft and fixed surface. The authors hypothesized that the approaching distance of the particles to the minimum clearance point is one of the major factors influencing the particle entrapment. In this paper, a theoretical model, based on a rotating shaft and a static flat plate, for particle entrapment into the sliding portion of rotor and stator in a PCP is proposed, and validated experimentally. The particle behavior near the minimum clearance point can be estimated using the diagram obtained from the theoretical model.
