Geometrical effects on performance and inner flow characteristics of a pump-as-turbine: A review

Abstract

A pump-as-turbine is a hydraulic machine that can operate as a pump and turbine at the same time. Pump-as-turbine happens to be the most appropriate method for meeting the world’s energy demands, particularly in rural and isolated areas of a country. Furthermore, the operating cost of microhydropower systems is lower compared to conventional hydrodynamic turbines, but it requires high initial investment. Pump-as-turbine has been applied in many engineering fields such as irrigation, sewage, reverse osmosis, water distribution systems, farms, small pump storage power house, and pressure dropping valves. However, pump-as-turbine operates inefficiently at part-load due to lack of flow control device. In addition, the pump generates high flow instabilities in pump-as-turbine mode due to the shift of the best efficiency point toward higher head and discharge. This study extensively discusses the flow mechanism, modifications, and flow instabilities in the pump-as-turbine mode operation. First, the mechanism of the pump-as-turbine can be described as drawing out mechanical energy from the flow in the reverse mode. Since the energy drawn mainly depends on the major hydraulic components of the pump (impeller and volute), many studies have been conducted on the impeller and volute. It can be concluded that high amount of hydraulic losses is generated in pump-as-turbine mode operation. This can partly be attributed to the fixed geometrical parameters such as the stationary volute. To increase the usage of pump-as-turbine, it is very crucial to predict their performance in advance before manufacturing, which requires the understanding of the flow behavior as a result of geometrical parameters. In order to improve the energy conversion and understand the flow behavior in the centrifugal pump functioning as pump-as-turbine, the key geometrical parameters should be carefully designed. The designs of the main geometrical parameters do affect not only the hydraulic performance of pump-as-turbine but also the operational instability. The operational instability of hydraulic machines mainly depends on the pressure and the velocity fluctuation intensity generated within the flow passage as a result of the impeller–volute interaction. The magnitudes of the instabilities have the tendency to cause noise, vibration, harshness, and cavitation which reduces the life span of the hydraulic machine. Moreover, appropriate selection of the pump and unavailability of pump data contribute to the challenges faced. Finally, this review proposes specific solutions in terms of geometrical modifications and improvement of the computational design methods to handle the hydraulic losses faced during the pump operation; thus, this study can serve as a point of reference for a pump-as-turbine performance optimization.