Distributions of Solid/Liquid Two-Phase Flow Fields in Centrifugal Pump: A Simulation Study

The fields of solid/liquid two-phase flow,in centrifugal pump,were empirically approximated,mathematically formulated with standard κ-ε and Euler multiphase flow models,theoretically analyzed and numerically simulated with CFD software.The influence of the volume fraction and density of particles,κ and pressure on the erosion of impeller blades was investigated.The simulated results show that the volume fraction and density have a major impact.For instance,as the density increases,the uniform radial density distribution significantly changes into a gradient one,peaking at the inner edge of volute near the tongue-exit and resulting in serious erosion there.The increasing radial distributions of particles' velocity/density on the front-face are slightly higher than those on the back-face of blade.Serious erosions occur most likely at the inner-edges of front-face and outer-edges of back-face of blades,where the higher particle velocity and density produce stronger collision impact.