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CFD Analysis and Design Effects in a Radial Pump Impeller

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WSEAS TRANSACTIONS ON FLUID MECHANICS Issue 7, Vol. 1, July 2006 ISSN: 1790-5087 763

CFD Analysis and Design Effects in a Radial Pump Impeller

JOHN S. ANAGNOSTOPOULOS
School of Mechanical Engineering / Fluids Section
National Technical University of Athens
9 Heroon Polytechniou ave., Zografou, 15780 Athens
GREECE
j.anagno@fluid.mech.ntua.gr

Abstract: The direct flow analysis in hydraulic turbomachines using Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD)
methods can provide a quite illuminating picture of the developed flow field and its detailed characteristics. A
numerical model for the simulation of the 3-dimensional turbulent flow in centrifugal pump impellers is
developed in the present work, solving the Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes equations with the control
volume approach and on Cartesian grids. The latter can be constructed by a very fast and fully automated
algorithm, whereas an effective numerical technique for solving the partially filled grid cells that are formed on
the irregular boundaries of the computational domain is also incorporated. The computations for the steady
flow field in a particular impeller are presented and analyzed, and the characteristic performance curves are
constructed. The impeller geometry is represented by a number of controllable design variables, providing the
capability of modifying the impeller shape and testing different configurations. This technique, combined with
the automated grid generation algorithm facilitates the investigation and assessment of the effects of impeller
design on its hydrodynamic behaviour. The results of such parametric studies conducted in the present work
show that a remarkable gain in hydraulic efficiency may be achieved by optimizing the impeller geometry.

Key-Words: Centrifugal pumps; Radial flow impeller; Numerical modelling; RANS equations; Cartesian grids;
Design optimization.

1 Introduction design. However, the challenge of improving the


A wide variety of centrifugal pump types have been hydraulic efficiency requires the inverse design
constructed and used in many different applications process, in which a significant number of alternative
in industry and other technical sectors. However, designs must be evaluated. Despite the great
their design and performance prediction process is progress in the latest years, even CFD analysis
still a difficult task, mainly due to the great number remains rather expensive for the industry, and the
of free geometric parameters, the effect of which need for faster mesh generators and solvers is
cannot be directly evaluated. The significant cost imperative [4].
and time of the trial-and-error process by The mesh generation process is a laborious task
constructing and testing physical prototypes reduces for many CFD codes, and the quality of the final
the profit margins of the pump manufacturers. For mesh depends considerably on the user’s
this reason CFD analysis is currently being used in experience. An alternative practice in complex
the design and construction stage of various pump domains is the use of Cartesian grids that require a
types [1-4]. Unsteady and dynamic phenomena, as much reduced construction effort. However such
the rotor-stator interaction can be also studied with grids cannot be everywhere body-fitted, and for this
the aid of CFD [5], the use of which reduces reason various numerical techniques have been
significantly the new pump development costs. The developed to improve the accuracy in these regions
average reduction is estimated to 65% during 2005 [7-8].
[6]. A Cartesian mesh approach is also followed in
The numerical simulation can provide quite the present work, where an advanced numerical
accurate information on the fluid behaviour in the technique is incorporated in order to eliminate the
machine, and thus helps the engineer to obtain a grid generation cost and to represent with adequate
thorough performance evaluation of a particular accuracy the complex geometry of a centrifugal
pump impeller. The latter is parameterized using a
764 WSEAS TRANSACTIONS ON FLUID MECHANICS Issue 7, Vol. 1, July 2006 ISSN: 1790-5087

reduced number of controlling geometric variables, All the dependent variables are stored at the cell
facilitating the investigation of their individual or centers of a uniform Cartesian mesh and the
combined effects on the flow and the impeller governing equations are discretized with the finite
performance. The results of the predicted flow field volume approach using a hybrid difference scheme
in the pump impeller illustrated in Fig. 1, as well as [10]. The system of the linearized form of the above
of a parametric study concerning the variation of equations is numerically solved by a preconditioned
several design variables are then presented and bi-conjugate gradient (Bi-CG) solver [11]. Fully
discussed. developed velocity profile is assumed for the flow at
the inlet section of the tube, where the reference
pressure is set to zero, and no-slip boundary
conditions are applied at all internal solid surfaces.
Due to the periodic symmetry of the impeller
geometry, the computational domain can be
restricted to a section of 2π/z degrees, where z is the
number of blades, using periodicity boundary
conditions at the lateral planes.

(a)
Figure 1. The examined radial impeller.

2 Numerical Method
2.1 Flow equations
The steady, incompressible, Reynolds Averaged
Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations are employed for
the flow calculations in polar coordinates and a
rotating with the impeller system of reference. The (b)
governing conservation equations are expressed in
vectorized form as follows:
r
Continuity: ∇⋅w = 0 (1)
Momentum:
r r r r r 1 1 r
w ⋅ ∇w = −2ω × w + ω 2 ⋅ r − ⋅ ∇p + ⋅ ∇ ⋅ τ (2)
ρ ρ
r
where w is the relative fluid velocity, ω is the
r
angular rotation speed of the impeller, r is the radial
distance and p, ρ are the fluid pressure and density,
r
respectively. The viscous stress tensor τ includes
both the viscous and the turbulence viscosity terms:
τ ij = 2 µ ⋅ sij − ρ ⋅ wi′ ⋅ w′j (3)
Figure 2. Parameterization of the impeller
where µ is the fluid dynamic viscosity and sij is the
geometry: a) side view; b) top view.
strain tensor. The second term on the right side of
the above relation represents the Reynolds stresses
due to turbulent motion. Since the Reynolds number
in a typical pump is high (Re > 104), the standard k-ε 2.2 Geometry parameterization
model is adopted for the turbulence closure [9], by The geometry of the particular radial flow impeller
solving additional conservation equations for the examined here (Fig. 1) corresponds to a model
turbulence kinetic energy production, k, and its impeller constructed in the Lab, and can be
dissipation rate, ε. represented using a relatively small number of
parameters; most of them are shown in Fig. 2 and
WSEAS TRANSACTIONS ON FLUID MECHANICS Issue 7, Vol. 1, July 2006 ISSN: 1790-5087 765

their values are given in Table 1. The rotation speed


and the main impeller dimensions, namely the exit
( A P − γV S P ) ⋅ Φ P = ∑γ A Φ +γ S
i
i i i V U ,
diameter and width D2 and b2, as well as the blade (4)
inlet and exit angles, β1 and β2, respectively,
determine the nominal head and volume flow rate of
AP = ∑ i
γ i Ai , i = E , W , N , S ,U , D

the impeller. The computational domain is extended where Ai are the linking coefficients between the
to a certain radial distance beyond the impeller variable ΦP and its neighboring values at the
outlet (here up to r = 125 mm, not shown in Fig. 2), adjacent grid cells, and SU, SP include the rest source
to prevent any backward influence of the free vortex terms. The geometric coefficients γi and γv represent
conditions set at the exit boundary. the free portion (not blocked by the solid boundary)
The blades are constructed as circular arcs, and of the cell faces and volume, respectively, and they
they have constant width and both edges rounded, are automatically computed by a pre-processing
allowing for both pump and turbine operation mode algorithm, along with the rest geometric quantities.
of the impeller. The rest parameters constitute the The fluid variables (velocities, pressures, etc) are
free design variables that can be modified in order to evaluated at the centroid of the Cartesian cells,
improve the performance and hydraulic efficiency which may not coincide with the geometric centre of
of the impeller for this particular nominal operation a boundary cell (Fig. 3). The wall boundary
point. conditions are also set automatically to every
Table 1. Impeller standard dimensions. boundary cell (e.g. cells P1 to P4 in Fig. 3), with the
aid of a special algorithm that computes the normal
Parameter Size distance from the wall and the exact bounded area
Suction tube Di = 60 mm within each grid cell.
Inlet diameter D1 = 70 mm In addition to its simplicity and generality, that
makes PFC method easily applicable to 3-
Exit diameter D2 = 190 mm
dimensional geometries of any complexity, the
Exit width b2 = 9 mm conservation property is retained and the accuracy
Hub size Dh = 80 mm of the boundary representation remains satisfactory
Hub height Lh = 20 mm even with a coarse grid, and without affecting the
Shroud inlet Rs = 10 mm stability of the solver.
Shroud inlet Ls = 25 mm
Blades number 9 P2
Inlet angle β1 = 26 deg E

Outlet angle β2 = 49 deg fluid D free cell


P4 partly filled
Blade thickness s = 5 mm P1 blocked
C
solid
B
2.3 Numerical grid
The important advantage from the use of Cartesian P3
grids for complex geometries is the elimination of A
the computational effort and the automation of the
grid generation process. However the grid lines can
not in general fit in with the flow boundaries, Figure 3. Example of the PFC grid method.
therefore there are cells partly filled by the fluid that
must be properly handled, as illustrated in the 2-
dimensional example of Fig. 3. The numerical grid used for the present
The Partly-Filled-Cells (PFC) method is calculations has a number of approximately 200,000
implemented for that purpose in the present work. It nodes, which was found to be a good compromise
is a cell-cut, sharp-interface grid technique between the results accuracy and the computation
developed and successfully tested in various studies speed. An indicative picture of the grid
in the past [12-13]. A desirable feature of the configuration is given in Fig. 4 at the leading edge
method is that the same general form of the region of a blade.
linearized flow equations can be used for all the grid
cells, regardless of their blocked portion:
766 WSEAS TRANSACTIONS ON FLUID MECHANICS Issue 7, Vol. 1, July 2006 ISSN: 1790-5087

r2
Mu =
∫ r1
[(rr × nr ) ⋅ p + (rr × τrw ) ⋅ cot β ]⋅ b ⋅ dr
(9)
+
∫ (rr × τrw ) ⋅ dA
A
r
where n is the local unit vector normal to the
r
surface, τ w the wall shear stress, β the blade angle,
and b the impeller width. The first integral term on
the right represents the torque developed on the
impeller blades due to the pressure and the friction
forces, and includes both the pressure and the
suction side of the blades. The second integral
Figure 4. Detail of the grid lines arrangement. stands for the torque on the internal shroud and hub
surfaces, and contains only the friction forces, since
the pressure forces does not have a circumferential
2.4 Hydraulic efficiency calculation component.
The hydraulic efficiency ηh of the impeller is
defined as the ratio of the net energy added to the
passing fluid, divided by the energy given at the 3 Results
impeller shaft. The specific energy (energy per unit 3.1 Flow analysis
weight of the fluid) can be expressed by the At first the numerical model is applied to calculate
corresponding heads, H and Hu, therefore the the flow field developed in the standard design
efficiency is given by: impeller (Table 1), for various load conditions and
H for a constant rotation speed of 1500 rpm. The
ηh = (5)
Hu ‘nominal’ volume flow rate is taken 31 m3/h to
comply with the corresponding laboratory model
The net fluid head H is obtained by energy pump design point.
balance at the inlet and the outlet of the impeller, Fig. 5a shows the resulting contours of pressure
using the following flux-weighted relation (Fig. 2b): and the velocity vectors at two grid levels that cross
⎛ p 2 − p1 c 22 − c12 ⎞ the impeller normal to- and through its axis of

1
Η = H 2 − H1 = ⋅ ⎜ ⎟ ⋅ dq (6)
⎜ ρ g + 2g
rotation. Increased flow velocity can be observed at
Qu ⎟
⎝ ⎠ the blade inlet due to the blockage of the flow,
whereas on the contrary the pressure is reduced.
where c is the absolute velocity of the fluid, Qu the
Further downstream the contours become smooth
volume flow rate through the impeller and g the
between the blades and the pressure increases
gravity acceleration, while the subscripts 1 and 2
continuously towards the exit of the computational
denote impeller inlet and exit conditions,
domain.
respectively. The right-hand side integral is
The minimum pressure appears, as expected, at
approximated by a summation over the radial flow
the suction side and near the leading edge of the
rates δq at all grid cells facing the inlet or the exit
blade (Fig. 5b). The flow seems to enter almost
circumference of the impeller
parallel to the blade (Fig. 5b) and the streamlines
The impeller head Hu can be calculated from the
follow a regular pathway between the blades, except
definition equation of the absorbed power at the
of the upper section near the shroud, where some
shaft:
recirculation can be observed (Fig. 5c).
N u = ρ ⋅ g ⋅ Qu ⋅ H u (7) Fig. 6 illustrates the corresponding flow field for
a much reduced flow rate, equal to 20% of the
where Nu is analogous to the torque Mu developed ‘nominal’. The different flow characteristics can be
on the impeller: clearly observed: The pressure gradients are lower
Nu = ω ⋅ M u (8) throughout the domain and the minimum values are
higher (Fig. 6a, 6b). However, a strong recirculation
The latter can be computed based on the
is established within almost the entire blade-to-blade
conservation of angular momentum law, via the
region which, according to the theory, rotates in the
following relation (Fig. 2b):
reverse direction than the impeller.
WSEAS TRANSACTIONS ON FLUID MECHANICS Issue 7, Vol. 1, July 2006 ISSN: 1790-5087 767

(a) (a)

(b)
(b)

(c)
(c)

Figure 6. Flow field analysis for Qu = 6,2 m3/h.


Legend as in Fig. 5.

Figure 5. Flow field analysis for Qu = 31 m3/h:


a) Pressure contours and velocity vectors; b) stream
lines and minimum pressure at the blade leading
edge; c) stream lines between the blades.

The results for the case of a double volume flow


rate (62 m3/h) were finally obtained and they are
shown in Fig. 7. Now the pressure and the velocity
fields exhibit higher gradients but no important
recirculation is observed in the impeller. However,
due to the higher radial flow velocity at the blades
inlet, the stagnation line is moved towards the Figure 7. Stream lines and minimum pressure at the
suction side of the blade leading edge, consequently blade leading edge for Qu = 62 m3/h.
768 WSEAS TRANSACTIONS ON FLUID MECHANICS Issue 7, Vol. 1, July 2006 ISSN: 1790-5087

the minimum pressure is displaced to the opposite,


pressure side, while its value becomes even lower 3.3 Parametric studies
than in ‘nominal’ conditions (Fig. 5b). After the evaluation stage the numerical model is
applied to study and assess the effect of various
design parameters of the impeller on its
3.2 Impeller performance hydrodynamic performance and efficiency. The
The numerical model is then applied to reproduce blade inlet width, b1, is considered at first, which
the performance characteristic curves of the can be modified by changing the value of the shroud
standard impeller at 1500 rpm, covering the entire height Ls (Fig. 2). The geometry is progressively
load range from 20% to 200% of the ‘nominal’ varied between the two extremes shown in Fig. 9,
value. The computed curves are drawn in Figs. 8a and the corresponding results for the net head and
and 8b and the first observation is that the maximum the hydraulic efficiency are plotted in Fig. 10.
hydraulic efficiency is achieved for Q ≈ 22,5 m3/h,
which is lower than the considered ‘nominal’ value (b)
(a)
of 31 m3/h. However, a better estimation of the latter
for the simulated geometry with the aid of the inlet
triangle of velocity vectors gives about 25 m3/h and
agrees better with the numerically obtained point.

20 90
(a) Figure 9. Modified shroud geometry: a) Ls = 19
18 87 mm; b) Ls = 50 mm.
Efficiency, ηh (%)
Head, H (m)

16 84 17 94
standard
design
14 81

Efficiency, ηh (%)
16 91
Head, H (m)

12 Hydraulic efficiency 78
Net fluid head 15 88
10 75
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Flow rate, Q (m3/h) 14 Hydraulic efficiency 85
Net head
3 -0.2
(b)
13 82
20 30 40 50
Shroud geometry, Ls (mm)
2 -0.4
Pmin (bar)
Nu (KW)

Figure 10. Effect of shroud height modification.


1 -0.6
Minumum pressure Maximum efficiency is achieved for a higher Ls
Impeller power value (35 mm compared to the standard value of 25
0 -0.8 mm), namely for a greater blade inlet width. It
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Flow rate, Q (m 3/h) seems that this configuration results in a smoother
turning of the flow and it is associated with smaller
Figure 8. Impeller performance curves. hydraulic losses at the entrance to the blade region.
If the inlet width is reduced quite below that
optimum value then the inlet section cannot any
The net fluid head and the impeller power longer guide properly the flow and the efficiency
curves, plotted in Figs. 8a and 8b, respectively, drops (Fig. 10). On the other hand, in the case of a
exhibit a smooth pattern and a reasonable variation, very large inlet width the efficiency decreases again,
typical for radial flow impellers, verifying thus the due mainly to the increased friction losses along the
reliability of the PFC grid technique. As expected, wider blade surface (Fig. 9b). The net head in Fig.
an increase of the volume flow rate above a safety 10 increases continuously with the blade width,
limit deteriorates the suction characteristics of the since the acting blade surface becomes greater, and
impeller. The minimum pressure values in Fig. 8b hence the energy transfer rate increases.
are drastically reduced for Q > 50 m3/h, indicating The performance curves for the net head and the
that intense cavitation may occur in the impeller. hydraulic efficiency of the optimum inlet width
WSEAS TRANSACTIONS ON FLUID MECHANICS Issue 7, Vol. 1, July 2006 ISSN: 1790-5087 769

impeller were then computed and they are compared two extremes of Fig. 14, and using the impeller with
with the standard design ones in Fig. 11. This graph the previously found optimum shroud shape. The
reveals that a remarkable enhancement of the particular hub design shows only a slight effect on
hydraulic efficiency can be achieved, and moreover the hydraulic efficiency, less than one percentage
this gain is observable at all loading conditions. The unit, throughout the entire variation range. It seems
net head with the optimum shroud is also increased that its role in guiding the flow is not so important,
at higher loads, whereas the minimum pressure and its contribution to the friction losses is small
values do not drop below –0,4 bar, even for the and not strongly depended on its shape. However, a
greatest flow rate tested (comp. Fig. 8b). more projected hub (Fig. 14a) causes greater
blockage and results in higher inlet flow velocities,
20 95 thus reducing the minimum pressure developed at
the blade inlet (Fig. 14c).
18 91

Efficiency, ηh (%)
Head, H (m)

16 87
(a) (b)
14 83
Head, optimum
Efficiency, optimum
12 Head, standard 79
Efficiency, standard
10 75
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 16 90
standard design
Flow rate, Q (m3/h) (c)
15.8 89

Efficiency, ηh (%)
Head, H (m)

Figure 11. Comparison between standard and


15.6 88
optimal impeller performance.
15.4 87

In a second study the radius of the rounded 15.2 Hydraulic efficiency 86


corner of the shroud (Rs, Fig. 2a) is varied from zero Net head
(Fig. 12a) to a maximum value of 20 mm (Fig. 12b), 15 85
and the results obtained within that range are drawn 0 4 8 12 16 20
Shroud rounded inlet, Rs (mm)
in Fig. 12c. As expected, the sharp corner is
associated with increased hydraulic losses that cause Figure 12. Shroud geometry modifications: a) Rs =
a reduction in efficiency by about 3 percentage units 0; b) Rs = 20 mm; c) Performance curves.
(Fig. 12c). The losses are quickly diminished with
the rounding and they are almost minimized above
Rs = 10 mm, showing that the standard impeller
design has a well-rounded shroud shape. Also, the (a) (b)
net head curve acquires its maximum values above
the same rounding radius.
The blade inlet diameter D1 (Fig. 2) is modified
next between a minimum and a maximum value, as
-0.1 90
shown in Fig. 13. The blade inlet angle, β1, is also
(c)
properly varied in order to always retain similar -0.2 88
Efficiency, ηh (%)

relative inflow conditions. As can be observed in standard


design
Pmin (bar)

Fig. 13c, the standard design impeller operates at the -0.3 86


maximum efficiency region. However, the
efficiency becomes lower for greater D1 values -0.4 84

because the hydraulic losses increase at the blade


-0.5 Hydraulic efficiency 82
leading edge, where the blade peripheral velocity Minimum pressure
and the relative fluid velocity acquire higher values. -0.6 80
For the same reason, the suction efficiency of the 60 70 80 90
Blade inlet diameter, D1 (mm)
impeller becomes worse and the minimum pressure
exhibits quite lower values (Fig. 13).
Finally, the hub shape is changed by regulating Figure 13. Blade inlet diameter variation: a) D1 =
its height and width (Lh and Dh, Fig. 2) between the 62 mm; b) D1 = 94 mm; c) Performance curves.
770 WSEAS TRANSACTIONS ON FLUID MECHANICS Issue 7, Vol. 1, July 2006 ISSN: 1790-5087

inverse design and CFD analysis, ASME


(a)
Transactions, Journal of Fluids Engineering,
(b)
Vol.127, 2005, pp. 330-338.
[3] F.A. Muggli and P. Holbein, CFD calculation of
a mixed flow pump characteristic from shutoff
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-0.1 93 Journal of Fluids Engineering, Vol.124, 2002,
standard design
(c) pp. 798-802.
-0.2 92 [4] M. Asuaje, F. Bakir, S. Kouidri, and R. Rey,

Efficiency, ηh (%)
Inverse design method for centrifugal impellers
Pmin (bar)

-0.3 91
and comparison with numerical simulation
-0.4 90
tools, International Journal for Computational
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Hub height, Lh (mm) Interaction on a Diffuser Pump with Identical
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