Numerical Investigations on the Transient Performance of a Centrifugal Pump

Centrifugal pumps are an integral part of plants used in process industries. The flow structure within a centrifugal pump is very complex due to the interaction between the rotating impeller and the geometric features around it. In the present study, numerical investigations on a centrifugal pump have been carried out using a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) based solver. This study employs finite volume technique in order to analyse the influence of variations in the rotational speed of the pump on its head. The instantaneous behaviour of a centrifugal pump with varying rotational speeds is studied using the Sliding Mesh technique. The performance parameters of a centrifugal pump have been predicted using numerical simulations. The results indicate that as the rotational speed of the centrifugal pump decreases, the head developed by the pump also decreases, where the effects of varying rotational speeds are dominant in the volute region. Furthermore, the complex interaction between the impeller blades and the tongue region has been analysed in the present study.