Radial diffusers can improve the flow uniformity in pumps and affect the hydraulic performance of centrifugal pumps directly. The diffusion coefficient d is an important parameter in fluid machinery but it has seldom been used in the diffuser design of single-stage centrifugal pumps. To improve the design method of radial diffuser use in centrifugal pumps, the diffusion coefficient was introduced into the design of radial diffusers based on a single-arc hydraulic design method and it was found that the vane outlet angle, vane outlet thickness and vane number have a significant impact on the design results. A single-stage centrifugal pump with a radial diffuser was selected as the research model. The inner flow was simulated using the commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) program CFX and verified by experiment. The results indicate that the head and efficiency of the pump are best when the vane outlet angle is 6°. The flow area decreases and the flow velocity at radial diffuser outlet increase when the outlet thickness is greater than 2 mm. The hydraulic loss is minimum and the head and efficiency are better when the vane number is 8 at different flow rates. So, the optimal range of the diffusion coefficient for the model pump is around 1.6 to 2. The study indicates that it is feasible to design radial diffusers according to the diffusion coefficient. ARTICLE HISTORY

Experimental measurements to analyze the pressure fluctuation performance of a centrifugal pump with a vaned-diffuser, which its specific speed is 190. Results indicate that the main cause of pressure fluctuation is the rotor-stator interference at the impeller outlet. The head of the pump with vaned-diffuser at the design flow rate is 15.03 m, and the efficiency of the pump with a vaned-diffuser at the design flow rate reaches 71.47%. Pressure fluctuation decreases gradually with increasing distance from the impeller outlet. Along with the increase of the flow rate, amplitude of pressure fluctuation decreases. The amplitude of pressure fluctuation at the measuring points near the diffusion section of the pump body is larger than other measuring points. The variation tendency of pressure fluctuation at P1–P10 is the same, while there are wide frequency bands with different frequencies. The dominant frequency of pressure fluctuation is the blade passing frequency. The rotor-stator interference between the impeller and the vaned-diffuser gives rise to the main signal source of pressure fluctuation.

In order to study the pressure pulsation characteristics of a centrifugal pump with a guide vane, a pump with specific speed = 190 was chosen as the research object. The numerical simulation was carried out using the standard-turbulence model. The pressure pulsation characteristic was researched at a set monitoring point. The reliability of the numerical simulation was verified with experiment results. The pressure pulsation characteristic curves of each calculation domain were obtained by dimensionless data processing. The results elucidate that the rotor/stator interaction at the outlet of the impeller is the main source for the pressure pulsation. With increasing distance, the pressure pulsation gradually decreases; the pressure pulsation amplitude of the pressure surface is larger than the suction surface; the pressure pulsation in the flow channel of the guide vane remains the same; the pressure fluctuation near the outlet of the annular volute chamber is larger, and the pressure pulsation near the upstream of the flow channel is quite complicated. The pressure pulsation at the annular volute and axial symmetry is the same.

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.

In order to investigate the vibration characteristics of centrifugal pump, a centrifugal pump with vaned diffuser whose specific speed is 190 was chosen for this research. Both the experiments of energy performance and vibration characteristics of the pump were performed. The results indicate that when flow rate of the pump is 270 m3/h, the head is 15.03 m and the efficiency is 71.47%. The maximum efficiency is 71.71% when the flow rate of the pump is 233 m3/h and the head is 16.92 m. And a wide frequency band of vibration appears at 600 Hz at outlet flange of the pump. The vibration intensity at the outlet flange is largest. The vibration intensities at both sides of bearing casing are slighter than those at outlet flange and larger than those at motor base. The vibration intensity at the motor base is larger than that at pump base, and the vibration intensity at the pump body is the lowest. The vibration intensity of monitoring point M4 in the X direction under 0.8Qd is 1.27 mm/s, which is the maximum under three flow rates.