Author(s): Yongxue Zhang; Min Su; Hucan Hou; Zizhe Wang; Pengfei Song
Linked Author(s):
Keywords: Centrifugal pump; Inlet guide vane; Numerical simulation; Experimental research; Performance analysis
Abstract: In order to improve the hydraulic performance of centrifugal pump at off-design condition, inlet guide vane is adopted for pre-whirl regulation, derived from inlet guide vane pre-whirl regulation method applied to blower and Kaplan turbine industry. Based on the Two-dimensional flow theory, the inlet guide vane is designed by quasi-orthogonal and point-by-point integration methods. Subsequently, the 3D turbulent flow fields of centrifugal pump with seven different vane setting angles are simulated. The distributions of pressure field and velocity field are analyzed as well as the centrifugal pump performance. Numerical simulation results show that inlet guide vane can reduce the incidence loss and recirculation loss effectively and improve the hydraulic performance of pump dramatically at off-design condition. In order to verify the reliability of numerical stimulation and test the performance of pump installed with inlet guide vanes, the hydraulic performance experiments are conducted. Taking the centrifugal pump IS150-125-250 as research model, the concerned characteristic parameters involving head and efficiency have been investigated under different vane setting angles. The results show that the numerical data are quite consistent with the actual operating conditions. Compared with no vane conditions, the efficiency of centrifugal pump with pre-whirl vanes has been greatly improved. The head curve offsets toward to the left bottom and shifts the best efficiency point to small flow rate range with the increase of the positive pre-whirl angle while it performs in an opposite way with the negative pre-whirl angle regulation. However, the efficiency of centrifugal pump drops quickly when the pre-whirl angle increases to a certain value. Thus the pre-whirl regulation with inlet guide vane can enhance the high efficiency operation area of centrifugal pump and then achieve the purpose of comprehensive energy conservation.
Year: 2013