Technique for Adequate CFD-Modeling of the Pump With Hydro-Drive of the Low-Pressure Stage

Abstract

This article describes the technique for CFD-modeling of a powerful two-stage pump with the following main parameters: main rotor speed is 13,300 rpm, inlet pressure is 0.2 MPa, pressure head is more than 3,000 meters with mass flow of 250 kg/s. The main feature of investigated pump is the hydro-drive of the low-pressure stage of turbine with variable rotational speed. There are two highlights in this work in comparison with the previous ones. The first one is how to choose the rotating speed of hydro-turbine. The second one is the CFD-modeling of cavitation processes. The core part of proposed technique is the determination of rotational speed during CFD-simulation by special methodology. Another feature is the cavitation modeling to be sure that there is no cavitation in pre-pump at quite low inlet pressure and variable rotor speed. Also, recommendations about program tools (ANSYS CFX, NUMECA AutoGrid5, ANSYS ICEM CFD) are a significant part of the discussed technique, as well as modeling features (fluid domain restriction, meshing, turbulence models choosing, convergence checking, post-processing). The adequacy of CFD-model was evaluated by comparing predicted characteristics of the pump with the experimental ones derived from the test rig. The differences amounted to less than 10%. The obtained technique can be used in the future research for performance improving and efficiency increasing of pumps with hydro-drive of the low-pressure stage by CFD-tools.