Analysis the Effect of the Volute Diffuser on Unsteady Pressure Pulsation in a Centrifugal Pump at Large Operating Conditions

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ABSTRACT

Impeller-volute interaction phenomenon is a major causes of high-pressure pulsation in a centrifugal pump. Such the pressure pulsation have a considerable impact on performance, vibration, stability and noise in centrifugal pumps. A numerical simulation is conducted to analyze the influence of the volute diffuser geometry on the pressure fluctuation during steady and unsteady calculation with the same impeller for several flow rate values. The main objective is to analyze the characteristics of pressure fluctuations inside the pump with radial and tangential diffuser. For a radial diffuser pump, the obtained pressure fluctuation amplitudes are lower than that in the case of a tangential diffuser. The spectral analysis of the pressure fluctuation was achieved under several flow rates for radial and tangential volute diffuser at four monitoring points set at impeller and volute. The results of the existing analysis has proven that the volute diffuser shape affected the pressure pulsation. In contrast, the tangential diffuser lead to increase of pressure amplitudes compared with radial diffuser. However, numerical results were compared with the experimental data, and an acceptable agreement was obtained. The results obtained in this paper can provide a useful reference for designing the type of volute diffuser in pump.

KEYWORDS

Impeller-volute interaction; Centrifugal pump; radial diffuser; tangential diffuser; unsteady pressure pulsation; FFT analysis

Cite this paper

Issa Chalghoum, Elaoud Sami. (2020) Analysis the Effect of the Volute Diffuser on Unsteady Pressure Pulsation in a Centrifugal Pump at Large Operating Conditions. International Journal of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, 5, 82-89