Investigation of cavitation properties of a mobile pumping unit

Abstract

BACKGROUND: In the introduction to the article, a review of publications on cavitation, vibration and noise in centrifugal pumps, including the issues of cavitation erosion of impellers, is carried out.
 AIMS: Comparison of cavitation properties of a centrifugal pump of a mobile pumping unit with and without a pre-engineered screw by computational fluid dynamic (CFD) modeling.
 METHODS: The calculation of the flow part of a pre-injected impeller stage is described and the CFD model of its hydrodynamic simulation is described. In the CFD model, Navier-Stokes equations averaged over the Reynolds number and the working fluid continuity equation were used. A two-phase fluid model was used to simulate cavitation.
 RESULTS: The final results of the calculations carried out in the above models are presented. Calculations were obtained for a pump with impeller with and without an upstream stage (screw). For the impeller without a screw, the cavitation margin of 4.7 m was obtained, which is critical for such a pump. For a pump with an impeller with an upstream auger the cavitation margin is 1,7 m, that is much better and allows to show efficiency of such solution.
 CONCLUSIONS: The requirement of hydrodynamic modeling for selection of optimal flow part of centrifugal pump to improve its cavitation characteristics is formulated.