Experimental study on the unsteady evolution mechanism of centrifugal pump impeller wake under solid–liquid two-phase conditions: Impact of particle concentration
Wei Pu, Leilei Ji, Wei Li, Qiaoyue Yang, Zhenbo Liu, Yang Yang, Haoming Li, Wei Huang, Ramesh K. Agarwal
Abstract
To study the spatiotemporal evolution process of particle wakes behind the impeller in the centrifugal pump, this paper utilized high-speed photography to capture the particle motion characteristics under different solid-phase particle concentrations (1%, 1.5%, and 2%). First, this paper studies the changes in hydraulic performance of the centrifugal pump under solid–liquid two-phase flow conditions. It then introduces the evolution process of the impeller particle wake, comparing the differences in particle wake evolution under varying solid-phase concentrations. Finally, the impact of the solid-phase concentration on the wear of the volute's partitions is investigated. This study found that as the solid-phase particle concentration increases, the hydraulic performance of the pump gradually declines. Under the design conditions, when the solid-phase concentration increases by 0.5%, the efficiency of the centrifugal pump decreases by 0.56% and 0.35%. There is mutual transport of particles between adjacent wakes, and the movement of particle wakes within the volute passage is not equidistant over time. As the solid-phase particle concentration increases, wake cutting occurs at the volute partitions, and there is a significant solid–liquid separation between the particle wakes. The spatial evolution of the particle wakes is significantly influenced by the solid-phase concentration. Wear at the volute partitions intensifies with increasing solid-phase concentration and is also affected by changes in the particle wakes. The research results provide a basis for further exploration of the solid–liquid two-phase flow dynamics within centrifugal pumps.