Hydraulic characteristics of molten salt pump transporting solid-liquid two-phase medium

Analysis of Internal Flow and Wear Characteristics of Binary Mixture Particles in Centrifugal Pump Based on CFD-DEM

Solid-liquid two-phase flow centrifugal pumps are widely used in many fields closely related to economic development, such as energy exploitation, and the petrochemical industry. Many scholars have studied the influence of solid particles with different parameters on the transportation performance of centrifugal pumps but have mainly focused on the study of low-concentration single-component particles, and the research on the transportation of high-concentration binary mixture particles in centrifugal pumps is insufficient. In this paper, two kinds of glass beads (0.4 mm and 2 mm) were mixed as a solid phase medium, representing small particles and large particles, respectively. The effects of a high concentration (Cv = 10%) of binary mixture particles on the transport and wear characteristics of a solid-liquid centrifugal pump were analyzed by simulation and experiment. Computational Fluid Dynamics-Discrete Element Method (CFD-DEM) and Archard wear model were used for simulation, realized by Fluent software and EDEM software. The results show that the large particles have a greater effect on the performance decline than the small particles, and the increase of the proportion of large particles has a greater effect on the efficiency decline than the head decline. The wear degree of the flow channel in the pump changes obviously with the particle ratio, and the overall wear is small when the particle ratio is 1:2.

Influence of Blade Thickness on Solid–Liquid Two-Phase Flow and Impeller Wear in a Ceramic Centrifugal Slurry Pump

The impeller blades of ceramic slurry pumps are usually very thick for the purpose of prolonging the service life. In this paper, numerical simulations and wear test were conducted to investigate the influence of blade thickness on the solid–liquid two-phase flow and impeller wear in a ceramic centrifugal slurry pump. The wear test was conducted for CFD validation. The numerical results show that the incident angles of solid particles increase with increasing blade thickness, which results in larger wrap angles of the solid particle trajectories. The increasing wrap angles of the solid particle trajectories offset the region that the collisions between the blade pressure side and the solid particles side take place towards the impeller exit and lead to more impacts between the solid particles and the blade suction side. The numerical results are in good accordance with the wear pattern of the tested impellers, which demonstrates that the numerical method adopted in this paper is predictable in the abrasion of the impeller of a ceramic centrifugal slurry pump. The experimental results show that an increase in the blade thickness alleviates the abrasion of the leading edges and the pressure side of the impeller blades; however, it also aggravates the abrasion of the blade suction side and decreases the pump performance.

Performance Improvement of a Liquid Molten Salt Pump: Geometry Optimization and Experimental Verification

In order to enhance the hydraulic efficiency of a liquid molten salt pump, the improvement on the pump was carried out through numerical and experimental methods. The internal flow field obtained by the numerical simulation was analysed. The results show that there are low-velocity area in the scroll region and large curvature of the streamline at the outlet. Geometric modification was made by trimming the back-blades of the impeller and filleting the sharp corner of the outlet pipe. The modified pump performance was verified by the experiments. The hydraulic efficiency, the pressure fluctuation, vibration characteristics between the original and modified pump were compared. The results showed that the hydraulic efficiency of the modified pump increased 7.4%. In addition, the pressure fluctuation and vibration intensity were also reduced compared with the original pump. This result shows that the geometric modification improves not only the hydraulic performance but also the structural properties.

Optimization of Tank Bottom Shape for Improving the Anti-Deposition Performance of a Prefabricated Pumping Station

High flexibility of prefabricated pumping stations in collecting and transporting storm water has been recognized. Nevertheless, flows inside such a complex system have rarely been reported. The present study aims to reveal water-sand flow characteristics in a prefabricated pumping station and to optimize geometric parameters of the tank to mitigate sand particle deposition. Five tank schemes, varying in the ratio of the diameter to the height of the tank bottom (D/L), were investigated. Flows in the pumping station were simulated using the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) technique. Test data were used to validate the numerical scheme. Three-dimensional water-sand flows in the pumping station were described. Underlying mechanisms of sand particle deposition were explained. The results indicate that the risk of deposition is high at the tank bottom side, close to the tank inlet. Both the tank bottom geometry and the inlet suction of the pump contribute to sand particle deposition. The averaged sand volume fraction at the pump inlet reaches its minimum at D/L = 3. Sand particle velocity at the pump inlet varies inversely with D/L. The highest intensity of the vortex at the pump inlet arises at D/L = 3. The best anti-deposition performance of the pumping station is attained at D/L = 3.