Influence of Blade Wrap Angle on the Hydrodynamic Radial Force of Single Blade Centrifugal Pump

To investigate the effect of blade wrap angle on the hydrodynamic radial force of a single blade centrifugal pump, numerical simulation is conducted on the pumps with different blade wrap angles. The effect of the wrap angle on the external characteristics and the radial force of a single blade centrifugal pump was analyzed according to the simulation result. It is found that, with the increase of the blade wrap angle, the head and efficiency of the single blade centrifugal pump are improved, the H-Q curve becomes steeper, and the efficiency also increased gradually, while the high-efficiency area is narrowed. The blade wrap angle has a great effect on the radial force of the single blade centrifugal pump. When the blade wrap angle is less than 360°, the horizontal component of the radial force is negative and the value is reduced with the increase of the wrap angle of the blade. When the wrap angle is larger than 360°, the horizontal component of the radial force is positive and the value increases with the increase of the wrap angle. Under part-loading conditions, the radial force of the single blade pump is significantly reduced with the increase of the blade wrap angle. When the wrap angle is smaller than 360°, the radial force decreases with the flow rate increase. In the condition that the wrap angle is larger than 360°, the radial force increases with the flow rate increase.

Multi-objective optimization design of a centrifugal impeller considering both aerodynamic efficiency and structural machinability

Purpose This study aims to complete the optimization design of a centrifugal impeller with both high aerodynamic efficiency and good structural machinability. Design/methodology/approach First, the design parameters were derived from the blade loading distribution and the meridional geometry in the impeller three-dimensional (3D) inverse design. The blade wrap angle at the middle span surface and the spanwise averaged blade angle at the blade leading edge obtained from inverse design were chosen as the machinability objectives. The aerodynamic efficiency obtained by computational fluid dynamics was selected as the aerodynamic performance objective. Then, using multi-objective optimization with the optimal Latin hypercube method, quadratic response surface methodology and the non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm, the trade-off optimum impellers with small blade wrap angles, large blade angles and high aerodynamic efficiency were obtained. Finally, computational fluid dynamics and computer-aided manufacturing were performed to verify the aerodynamic performance and structural machinability of the optimum impellers. Findings Providing the fore maximum blade loading distribution at both the hub and shroud for the 3D inverse design helped to promote the structural machinability of the designed impeller. A straighter hub coupled with a more curved shroud also facilitated improvement of the impeller’s structural machinability. The preferred impeller was designed by providing both the fore maximum blade loading distribution at a relatively straight hub and a curved shroud for 3D inverse design. Originality/value The machining difficulties of the designed high-efficiency impeller can be reduced by reducing blade wrap angle and enlarging blade angle at the beginning of impeller design. It is of practical value in engineering by avoiding the follow-up failure for the machining of the designed impeller.

Numerical Investigation of an Open-Design Vortex Pump with Different Blade Wrap Angles of Impeller

The blade wrap angle of impeller is an important structural parameter in the hydraulic design of open-design vortex pump. In this paper, taking a vortex pump with a cylindrical blade structure as the research object, two kinds of different blade wrap angle of vortex pump impellers are designed. The experiment and numerical simulation research is carried out, and the results of external characteristics and internal flow field are obtained under different flow rate. The results show that when ensuring that other main structural parameters remain unchanged, the efficiency and head of open-design vortex pump increase with the blade wrap angle decreases. In the case of blade wrap angle increasing, the length of rotating reflux back from lateral cavity to inlet is longer. For the same type of vortex pump, the length of rotating reflux to inlet decreases with the increase of flow rate. At the inlet area of impeller front face, there is an area where liquid flows back to the lateral cavity. The volute section shows that after passing through the impeller and lateral cavity, the liquid is discharged to the pump outlet with strong spiral strength. It is found that the blade wrap angle decreases and the shaft power increases, while the pump efficiency increases. The impeller blade wrap angle of vortex pump can be considered to select a smaller value.

Influence of Blade Shape Geometry on Very Low Specific Speed Centrifugal Pump Performance

Direct or inverse design methods for centrifugal pumps play an important role in investigating their performance. In this paper, a very low specific speed centrifugal pump impeller of ns = 9.5 (metric), three blades and 222° wrap angle. This pump was investigated using the direct design method to achieve the blade shape geometry and examine the blade angle distribution. As the blade angle progression affects the pump performance, four models with different blade angle distribution were used to perform the hydrodynamic and suction performance of the pump. The linear and non-linear derived correlation models were designed firstly using ANSYS-BladeGen module then studied numerically using ANSYS-CFX module to solve the three-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations. Validation of the numerical simulation of the investigated centrifugal pump was done using experimental data. Numerical results show that the change in the blade angle distribution has an influence on the blade wrap angle. Consequently, the variation in the blade wrap angle affects the pump head and the relative velocity distribution. The pressure gradient varies in the pump with changing the blade length. Using the velocity streamline and the velocity vector, the eddies existence and distribution in the blade suction side affect the relative velocity distribution and the pump performance. It was found that the blade with the smallest length decreases the pump head and have best velocity distribution.