Numerical Investigation of a First Stage of a Multistage Centrifugal Pump: Impeller, Diffuser with Return Vanes, and Casing

Abstract

This paper deals with the numerical investigation of a liquid flow in a first stage of a multistage centrifugal pump consisting of an impeller, diffuser with return vanes, and casing. The continuity and Navier-Stokes equations with the <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M1"><mml:mi>k</mml:mi><mml:mtext>-</mml:mtext><mml:mi>ε</mml:mi></mml:math> turbulence model and standard wall functions were used. To improve the design of the pump's first stage, the impacts of the impeller blade height and diffuser vane height, number of impeller blades, diffuser vanes and diffuser return vanes, and wall roughness height on the performances of the first stage of a multistage centrifugal pump were analyzed. The results achieved reveal that the selected parameters affect the pump head, brake horsepower, and efficiency in a strong yet different manner. To validate the model developed, the results of the numerical simulations were compared with the experimental results from the pump manufacturer.