Optimization for a centrifugal pump transporting brine using orthogonal design based on CFD-DEM simulation

Abstract

Abstract To enhance the reliability of a centrifugal pump transporting brine solutions with crystallization, the effect of impeller geometrical configurations on crystal particle behaviors was investigated by an orthogonal design based on CFD-DEM coupled method. In this work, the main impeller geometrical configurations were set as the blade inlet angle α1, blade outlet angle α2, wrap angle φ, and outlet width b2. In the meanwhile, the L9(34) orthogonal design containing 4 factors with 3 levels was applied in this study. Given the crystal particle features, CFD-DEM coupling method was utilized to study inner flow in a pump with crystal particles. Current results indicated that the blade outlet angle α2 could significantly affect the collisions between particles and blades. Moreover, a low-speed region at the blade pressure side in the optimal impeller has been reduced, declining the probability of the crystal particles adhering to the impeller.