Investigation of energy dissipation mechanism and the influence of vortical structures in a high-power double-suction centrifugal pump

Abstract

The extensive applications of double-suction centrifugal pumps consume a considerable amount of energy. It is urgent to reveal the detailed energy dissipation generation and find the critical factor for pump performance enhancement. In this investigation, the internal flow field of a double-suction centrifugal pump was obtained by solving the Reynolds averaged Navier–Stokes equations. The entropy production method was utilized to calculate and visualize irreversible energy dissipation. The Omega vortex method was utilized to identify vortical structures and determine the temporal and spatial relationship between entropy production and vortices. The results indicate that the entropy production in the main flow regions was critical in hydraulic loss, accounting for 54%–71% of the loss, and turbulent dissipation in the main flow regions of the impeller and volute casing dominated the variation of pump efficiency. The near-wall entropy production in the impeller positively correlated with the flow rate, but the impact was insignificant in volute casing. Although the suction chamber contributed minimally to the hydraulic loss, the backflows at the impeller inlet were relieved near the ribs, and the dissipation at the impeller inlet was reduced when the blade leading edges passed the ribs. By adopting Omega vortex identification, wake vortices, separation vortices, and their interactions were determined to correlate strongly with hydraulic loss in volute channels and near cutwaters. Furthermore, these vortices were influenced by the back flows from the impeller sidewall gaps. Additionally, this study can also provide the foundational principles for the optimal design of this type of pump.