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Article history: Molten salt centrifugal pump is used to deliver high temperature molten salt, whose performance is
Received 20 January 2014 highly affected by the fluid viscosity. In order to investigate the external performance and internal flow
Received in revised form 20 January 2015 of molten salt pump for different viscous fluids, especially reveal the effect of viscosity on unsteady per-
Accepted 20 May 2015
formance, the unsteady flow in a molten salt pump was researched when the pump handles the fluids
with different viscosities by numerical simulation to quantitatively clarify the effects in this article.
The external performance estimated using the unsteady flow model was compared with experimental
Keywords:
results. By taking water as the working fluid, the velocity profiles near the volute tongue were validated
Molten salt pump
Viscosity
by the results of particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements. It shows that the numerical simulation
External performance results agree well with the experimental results. The shaft power increases with the increase of density
Internal flow and viscosity. Compared with delivering water, the head and efficiency show less change for delivering
Experimental research low viscosity fluids (l < 0.044 Pas), while for delivering high viscosity fluids (l > 0.044 Pas), they all
Numerical simulation decrease significantly. Flow steadiness in the molten salt pump is mainly affected by the viscosity and
the interference effect of blade. An increasing viscosity of fluid reduces the fluctuation in flow variables.
The results of the study have reference significance on the development of high-performance molten salt
pump and stable operation.
Ó 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2015.05.087
0017-9310/Ó 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
628 C. Shao et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 89 (2015) 627–640
with many ranges of industrial centrifugal pumps which constitute simplified based on the original molten salt pump. For example,
a significant database. Kergourlay et al. [10] investigated the the bending radius from the suction chamber to impeller was
effects of separated blades on the flow field of water in centrifugal smaller than that of original pump, and the section of the volute
pumps. The results show that adding the splitters has negative and was rectangle whose hydraulic performance was worse than trape-
positive effects on the pump behavior. It increases the head rise zoid. Therefore, the hydraulic performance of the model pump was
compared to the original impeller that is mainly due to the not as good as the original pump, but it can meet the requirement
increase of the impeller slip factor which helps conduction of the of the research in this paper [22]. Based on the improvement of the
flow. Anagnostopoulos [11] presented a quick numerical approach structure, the flow fields in most of impeller and volute and whole
for the analysis of flow and the design of impeller blades. In this of suction chamber can be measured by using PIV. The structure of
research, a numerical method for the two-dimensional and turbu- the model pump is more reasonable than that in references [23,24].
lent flows in the impeller of centrifugal pumps was developed. The primary parameters of the model pump are listed in Table 1.
Spence and Amaral-Teixeira [12] studied the geometrical varia- The 3D geometrical model of the pump is shown in Fig. 1.
tions on the pressure pulsations and performance characteristics
of a centrifugal pump by CFD method. The results of this paper pre- 2.2. Physical properties of pumped fluids
sented by concentrating on the selected locations around the pump
and provided the detailed information regarding the pressure pul- Water was chosen as working fluid when the pump external
sation close to the impeller outlet, in the volute and in the leakage performance and internal flow were researched experimentally
flow region. and numerically. The feasibility of the numerical model was veri-
There are many other valuable references covering the ongoing fied by comparing the numerical results with the experimental
research and review of the computational fluid dynamics to study results. Due to the difficulties of high temperature experiment,
the viscous flow in pump. A standard k–e two-equation turbulence the pump external performance and internal flow were researched
model was adopted to simulate the internal flow in centrifugal numerically when the pump transported the molten salts. The
pump by Zhou et al. [13,14]. Detached Eddy Simulation (DES) tur- physical properties of pumped fluids are listed in Table 2.
bulence model was adopted to simulate the internal flow in a
radial diffuser pump by Feng et al. [15]. Large eddy simulation 3. Experimental facility and principle
(LES) is also an effective method to simulate the flow field in var-
ious types of pumps (centrifugal pump [16,17], mixed-flow pump 3.1. Experimental facility
[18,19] and axial-flow pump [20]). Many researches have been
done in this area, but the external performance and internal flow The experimental facility shown in Fig. 2 was used to measure
of molten salt pumps, which delivery fluids with different viscosi- the performance parameters and flow fields of the molten salt
ties, need further research. Especially the effects of viscosity on the pump. It mainly consisted of a model pump, a turbine flowmeter,
flow steadiness need to be revealed. two digital pressure transmitter gages, a torque speed sensor, a
In this paper, the flow fields in the molten salt pump were mea- laser, a CCD camera, an electric motor and pipe system. The pipe
sured accurately by using particle image velocimetry (PIV) at the of the rig was made of stainless steel with suction pipe inner diam-
rated flow rate (25 m3/h), and the external performance was tested eter of 80 mm and discharge pipe inner diameter of 50 mm. The
by using water as working fluid. The simulated performance curves tank net volume was 4 m3. The flow rate was controlled by adjust-
and flow velocity have been compared with the measurements and ing the valve on the discharge pipe. Also, two digital pressure
PIV observations. Based on experimentally verified numerical transmitter gages were inserted in the pump inlet and outlet pipes.
model, the effects of viscosity on the external performance and
internal flow of the pump were investigated numerically by using 3.2. External performance measurement
five kinds of molten salts as working fluids.
The pump head under all conditions was measured using
2. Molten salt pump specifications and physical properties of Bernoulli equation which can be written in the following form:
pumped fluids
pd ps v 2 v 2s kf;d v 2d kf;s v 2s
H¼ þ ðZ d Z s Þ þ d þ ð1Þ
qg 2g 2g
2.1. Parameters of molten salt pump
where p is the fluid static pressure that is measured by digital pres-
In this paper, the model pump with rectangular volute, cylindri- sure transmitters (the accuracy is ±0.1%), q is the density, g is the
cal blade and half open impeller was developed based on the gravitational acceleration, v is the flow velocity, kf is the friction loss
GY50-315 molten salt pump [21]. Under the design condition, factor between the measurement points and the corresponding
the flow rate Qd, head Hd and rotational speed nd equal 25 m3/h, pump flange, and Z is the vertical distance of the pressure sensor
32 m, 1450 r/min, respectively. In order to measure full flow fields from the reference point. The subscripts d and s represent the dis-
in the pump conveniently, suction pipe and volute were made of charge side and the suction side of the pump, respectively.
plexiglas, and the other parts were made of stainless steel. Volumetric flow rate Q of pump was measured by turbine
Considering the applicability of PIV measurement and process- flowmeter (the accuracy is ±0.5%) on the discharge pipe, and the
ability of plexiglas, some structures of the model pump were fluid average velocity can be calculated by Eq. (2).
Table 1
Primary parameters of the model pump.
Pump inlet diameter Pump outlet Impeller outlet Blade inlet Blade outlet Blade wrap
Din/mm diameter Dout/mm diameter D2/mm width b1/mm width b2/mm angle u/°
80.0 50.0 315.0 28.0 10.0 120.0
Blade inlet established Blade outlet Blade thickness tb/mm Blade length l/mm Blade number Z Volute tongue
angle b1/° established angle b2/° setting angle u0/°
32.3 33.3 5.0 220.0 6 16.0
C. Shao et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 89 (2015) 627–640 629
X
v ¼ 0:001M : ð6Þ
dt
Table 2
Physical properties of pumped fluids.
Code name Pumped fluids Temperature (°C) Viscosity (Pas) Density (kg/m3)
Water Pure water 20 0.001 998.2
Molten salt #1 m(KNO3): m(NaNO3): m(NaNO2) = 53: 7: 40 (mass ratio) 200 0.00729 1938
Molten salt #2 m(KNO3): m(NaNO3): m(NaNO2) = 53: 7: 40 (mass ratio) 142 0.01453 1980
Molten salt #3 M(K2CO3): M(Na2CO3): M(Li2CO3) = 1: 1: 1 (mol ratio) 927 0.044 1972
Molten salt #4 M(K2CO3): M(Na2CO3) = 1: 1 (mol ratio) 927 0.08 1975
Molten salt #5 M(K2CO3): M(Na2CO3) = 1: 1 (mol ratio) 777 0.4 1986
630 C. Shao et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 89 (2015) 627–640
Table 3
270o Influence of cells on pump performance.
90o
vm2
vm1
vm3
vm7
vm5
vm6
270o
I–VIII were recorded at each time step. The average values of the efficiency. The errors between the predicted and experimental
pressure in the pump inlet and outlet and the impeller torque in a results arise from the necessary simplifications while modeling
period were adopted to calculate the external performance of the the pump. For example, the fluid between the impeller cover plate
molten salt pump. and the volute was not taken into account; therefore, the disc fric-
tion loss, leakage loss in wear-ring, and leakage loss in shaft sealing
5. Results and discussion were neglected during the numerical simulation. Practically,
among the three kinds of losses (mechanical loss, volume loss
5.1. Comparison between numerical results and experimental results and hydraulic loss) in the pump only the hydraulic loss was consid-
when transporting water ered in numerical simulation.
80 3.0 ler and the volute is clear. Partial fluid flows back to the impeller
70 2.5 passage and the velocity in the inlet of discharge pipe decreases
60 2.0 significantly due to shunt effect of the volute tongue. The velocity
50 1.5 near the volute tongue decreases dramatically, which is probably
40 related to the reflection on the surface of volute tongue, and the
30 reflection is clearly shown in the original image captured by CCD
20
camera.
10
0
The distribution of absolute velocity under different
blade-tongue angles shown in Fig. 8 was obtained by using slide
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
3
Q (m /h) mesh (SM) model. It can be seen that in the impeller the absolute
velocity increases along the radial direction at any relative position
Fig. 6. Performance curves of molten salt pump when pumping water. between the blade and the tongue. In the volute, the absolute
632 C. Shao et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 89 (2015) 627–640
y(mm)
y(mm)
60 21 60 18
18 15
15 12
40 12 40 9
9 6
6 3
3 20
20 0
0
0 0 B D
B F
0 30 60 90 120 150 0 30 60 90 120 150
x (mm) x(mm)
24
y(mm)
60 21
60 21
18 18
15 15
40 12 40 12
9 9
6 D 6
20 3 20 3
0 0
D
0 0 F
B F B
0 30 60 90 120 150 0 30 60 90 120 150
x(mm) x(mm)
80 80
D
24 24
y(mm)
y(mm)
60 21 60 21
D 18 18
15 15
40 12 40 12
9 9
6 6
20 3 20 3
0 0
0 0 B
B F F
0 30 60 90 120 150 0 30 60 90 120 150
x(mm) x(mm)
velocity decreases with the increase of circumference angle. The maximum flow velocity, which appears in the same position com-
velocity decreases dramatically in the inlet of the discharge pipe, pared to the experimental results, is about 24.0 m/s. Compared the
and decreases slightly in the discharge pipe. There is also a clear 3 parts in Fig. 8, it can be found that the velocity in the impeller
velocity dividing line between the impeller and the volute. The near the volute tongue changes obviously with the change of
C. Shao et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 89 (2015) 627–640 633
24
21
18
15
12
9
6
3
0
(a) =0
24
21
18
15
12
9
6
3
0
(b) =20
24
21
18
15
12
9
6
3
0
(c) =40
Fig. 8. Evolution of absolute velocity in the pump from the numerical simulation (m/s).
634 C. Shao et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 89 (2015) 627–640
blade-volute angle, while the velocity fluctuates slightly in the 5.2. External performance of molten salt pump when transporting
volute especially in the discharge pipe. different viscous fluids
Compared Fig. 7 with Fig. 8, it indicates that the velocities pre-
dicted by CFD are similar to the PIV measurement near the volute 5.2.1. H–Q curves
tongue. However, their differences cannot be ignored. Firstly, near Fig. 9 gives the numerical predicted performance curves of mol-
the volute tongue, the velocity component directing to the impeller ten salt pump when transporting different viscous fluids.
can be seen obviously in the numerical results, while it is not obvi- According to its definition, the pump head has no relationship with
ous in the experimental results. The reason is that the fluid density, so the viscosity was considered to be the main factor
between the impeller cover plate and the volute is not taken into which affects the head. In Fig. 9(a), under the same flow rate, the
consideration during the numerical simulation. Secondly, the posi- head shows decreasing tendency with the increase of viscosity.
tion where the maximum velocity occurs obtained by numerical Under the condition of low viscosity (l < 0.044 Pas), the change
simulation is closer to the blade surface than the experimental of head is not significant with the change of viscosity. Compared
results. This is mainly due to the measurement error caused by with delivering water at the rated flow (25 m3/h), the head
the reflected light on the blade surface. Thirdly, near the head of decreased about 2.7% for the molten salt #3. Therefore, the head
volute tongue, the CFD predicted fluid velocity is not consistent doesnot need to be corrected when delivering low viscosity fluids.
with the PIV observation. This is caused by the bright reflected But under the condition of high viscosity (l > 0.044 Pas), the
light on the head of the volute tongue, which can be seen in the change of viscosity results in the significant head change.
original pictures captured by CCD camera. Compared with delivering water at the rated flow (25 m3/h), the
In spite of some unavoidable errors between experiments and head decreased about 17.9% for the molten salt #5. Therefore,
simulations, the established numerical model is validated to pre- the effect of viscosity on head should be considered when deliver-
dict the external performance and internal flow in molten salt ing high viscosity fluids.
pump. Considering the difficulties of the experiment for transport- The decreasing amplitude of head is relatively small at low flow
ing high temperature molten salts, the numerical simulation is rate compared with that at high flow rate. The reason for this is
adopted instead of the experiment. All the analysis in the following that the relative velocity in the flow passage components increases
is based on the numerical simulation results. with the increase of flow rate, and the power consumption
42 12
water
40 molten salt #1
10 molten salt #2
38
molten salt #3
36 molten salt #4
8
molten salt #5
34
P (kW)
H (m)
32 6
water
30 molten salt #1
molten salt #2 4
28 molten salt #3
26 molten salt #4
molten salt #5 2
24
22 0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
3 3
Q m /h Q (m /h)
(a) H-Q curves (b) P-Q curves
80
70
60
50
40
water
30 molten salt #1
molten salt #2
20 molten salt #3
molten salt #4
10
molten salt #5
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
3
Q (m /h)
(c) -Q curves
Fig. 9. Performance curves of molten salt pump when transporting different viscous fluids.
C. Shao et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 89 (2015) 627–640 635
increases accordingly, therefore, the head decreases markedly. (l = 0.4 Pas) were chosen as the working fluids when researching
Although the viscosity of molten salt #1 is slightly higher than the internal flow in the molten salt pump.
water, for the water, the head decreases slightly compared with
the molten salt #1. That means the structure of the pump is not 5.3.1. Velocity fields at the same flow rate for different viscous fluids
optimal for delivering water. Fig. 10 illustrates the absolute velocity distribution on middle
section of molten salt pump for different viscous fluids. It is clear
5.2.2. P–Q curves that the absolute velocity all shows increasing tendency in the
Compared the P–Q curve for water with that for molten salt #1 impeller radial direction for the three fluids. For water and molten
(shown in Fig. 9(b)), it can be found that at the same flow rate the salt #3, the regularities of absolute velocity distribution are nearly
shaft power for delivering water is just around half of that for mol- same. Along the circumferential direction especially near the
ten salt #1. By the comparison of the P–Q curves for molten salt #1, impeller outside diameter, the absolute velocity distribution is
molten salt #2 and molten salt #3, it can be found that at the same not uniform, and high velocity area appears near the volute tongue.
flow rate the shaft power seems unchanged. By analyzing the phys- For molten salt #5, the absolute velocity is nearly same at the same
ical properties of the 4 kinds of fluids, it is easy to see the density of impeller diameter. The effect of impeller-volute interference on
the 3 kinds of molten salts is about twice of water. It indicates that absolute velocity weakens due to the high viscosity.
density is one of the main factors which affect the shaft power
under the condition of low viscosity (l < 0.044 Pas). From the P– 5.3.2. Pressure fields at the same flow rate for different viscous fluids
Q curves for molten salts #1 to #5, it can be found that these mol- Shown in Fig. 11 is the relative static pressure distribution on
ten salts almost have the same density, but the shaft power middle section of molten salt pump for different viscous fluids. It
increases with the increase of viscosity especially for the high vis- can be seen that the regularities of pressure distribution are similar
cosity fluids. This phenomenon indicates that for the same density for the 3 kinds of viscous fluids. The minimum pressure appears near
the viscosity also has effect on the shaft power. The reason lies in the inlet of the impeller, and the maximum pressure appears at the
the increasing shearing stress with the increase of viscosity while pump outlet. The static pressure increases in the radial direction of
encountering the same velocity gradient, and accordingly the shaft impeller. By the contrast of Fig. 11(a) and (b), it is found that the out-
power for delivering the fluids increases. let pressure for delivering molten salt #3 is about double of water,
and the density of molten salt #3 is also about double of water, while
5.2.3. g–Q curves the difference of viscosity between these 2 fluids is not significant. It
The Fig. 9(c) shows that the efficiency decreases with the increase states clearly that density is one of the main factors which affect the
of viscosity. This is mainly due to the high viscous friction loss pressure in the pump. By the contrast of Fig. 11(b) and (c), it is found
caused by the molten salt. Of course, according to the analysis above, that the outlet pressure for delivering molten salt #5 is much lower
it also can be speculated that with the increase of viscosity the than that for delivering molten salt #3, and the density of these 2
decreasing head and increasing shaft power will lead to the decrease kinds of fluids is similar, while their viscosity difference is signifi-
of efficiency. For delivering water, the best efficiency is 72.6% corre- cant. It indicates that with the increase of viscosity a large portion
sponding to the flow rate 25 m3/h. For delivering molten salt #5, the of energy transferred by the impeller consumes in viscous friction
best efficiency is 44.2% and the corresponding flow rate is about loss and doesnot transform to pressure energy. Therefore, the outlet
30 m3/h. Compared with delivering water, the best efficiency point pressure decreases and the head shows down. This conclusion is
moves towards the high flow rate for delivering molten salt #5. consistent with that obtained in Section 5.2.
This phenomenon indicates that, for high viscosity fluids, the inner
flow is more reasonable at the flow rate which is higher than rated 5.4. Unsteady performance of molten salt pump for different viscous
flow rate, viscosity loss is the main hydraulic loss, and other losses fluids
such as impact loss and flow separation loss are relatively small.
5.4.1. Circumferential velocity at the same position for different
5.3. Internal flow of molten salt pump for different viscous fluids viscous fluids in a period
Since the fluid flow variables periodically follow the impeller
According to the above analysis of external performance, water rotating angle, only one rotation period of fluid velocity is shown.
(l = 0.001 Pas), molten salt #3 (l = 0.044 Pas) and molten salt #5 For different viscous fluids, the circumferential velocities (vc) at
Fig. 10. Absolute velocity distribution on middle section of molten salt pump for different viscous fluids (m/s).
636 C. Shao et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 89 (2015) 627–640
Fig. 11. Relative static pressure distribution on middle section of molten salt pump for different viscous fluids (Pa).
monitoring points vm8–1, vm8–5 and vm8–9 in terms of relative difference of mean circumferential velocities for water
blade-volute angle (a) in a period are shown in Fig. 12. and molten salt #5 is about 43.2%.
As it can be seen in Fig. 12(a), affected by the boundary layer of As it can be seen in Fig. 12(b), the circumferential velocities in
the volute wall, the circumferential velocities close to the volute the middle of volute increase significantly compared with Fig. 12
wall are relatively small for these 3 kinds of fluids. The circumfer- (a), the value of circumferential velocities for water, molten salt
ential velocities for the water and molten salt #3 are nearly same, #3 and #5 reaches the same level, and the relative difference of
and they are higher than that for molten salt #5. The reason is that mean circumferential velocities for them is about 6.5%.
the viscosity of molten salt #5 is higher than others, and the flow is As it can be seen in Fig. 12 (c), the circumferential velocities
restrained by the large viscosity force near the volute wall. The close to the impeller further increase. The circumferential
2.0 10.4
10.2
1.8
10.0
1.6
water 9.8
molten salt #3 water
vc (m/s)
vc (m/s)
1.0 9.2
0.8 9.0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 0 10 20 30 40 50 60
α (°) α °
16
15
14
water
molten salt #3
molten salt #5
vc(m/s)
13
12
11
10
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
α °
velocities for water and molten salt #3 are nearly same, but they radial velocities for the water and molten salt #3 are nearly same,
are lower than that for molten salt #5. The reason is that the vis- and they are higher than that for molten salt #5. The reason is that
cosity of molten salt #5 is higher than others, and the flow is driven the viscosity of molten salt #5 is higher than others, and the flow is
by the impeller due to the large viscosity force near the impeller restrained by the viscosity force near the volute wall. In the middle
outlet. The relative difference of mean circumferential velocities of volute, the radial velocities increase significantly, and the value
for water and molten salt #5 is about 23.3%. of radial velocities for water, molten salt #3 and #5 reaches the
By the contrast of Fig. 12 (a)–(c), it is found that the fluctuation same level. At the point vm8–9 near the impeller, the value of
amplitude of circumferential velocity decreases with the increase radial velocity for molten salt #5 is always positive, and for water
of viscosity, and the increased viscosity of liquid can suppress and molten salt #3 is sometimes positive and sometimes negative.
the pulsation in velocity of fluid. In the middle of volute, the This indicates that the fluid has tendency to flow into the impeller
restraint effect of volute wall and driven effect of impeller reach when transporting low viscosity fluids.
the balance. At this position, the circumferential velocities are By the contrast of Fig. 13(a)–(c), it is found that the fluctuation
nearly same for these fluids. According to the fluctuation of veloc- amplitude of radial velocity decreases with the increase of viscos-
ity in Fig. 12, it can be seen that the circumferential velocities on ity, and the increased viscosity of liquid can suppress the pulsation
Section VIII reach the maximum value when the blade-volute angle of radial velocity. Because the monitoring point vm8–9 is closer to
is about 30° except at monitoring point vm8–9 (There are also the the impeller than other points, the velocity at this point is dis-
same trend at other monitoring points, which is not shown in this turbed by blade heavily. Therefore, the amplitude of radial velocity
paper). Because this monitoring point is too close to the impeller, at this point is lager than other points. The radial velocities on
the velocity at this point is disturbed by blade heavily. Section VIII reach the maximum value when the blade-volute angle
is about 40°. The radial velocities reach the minimum value when
5.4.2. Radial velocity at the same position for different viscous fluids in the blade-volute angle is about 18°, and under certain condition
a period the fluid trends to flow into the impeller. This indicates that the
For different viscous fluids, the radial velocities (vr) at monitor- disturbance of impeller to the radial velocity on Section VIII is
ing points vm8–1, vm8–5 and vm8–9 in terms of blade-volute heavy. The blade has the effect to drive the fluid to the volute wall,
angle (a) in a period are shown in Fig. 13. The plusminus sign and the driven effect increases when the blade is close to the
means the direction of radial velocity. If the value of radial velocity position.
is negative, the direction points to the impeller center, on the con-
trary, the direction points to the volute wall. 5.4.3. Circumferential velocity at the monitoring points on Section VIII
As it can be seen in Fig. 13, the radial velocities close to the For better illustrating the circumferential velocity versus the
volute wall are relatively small for these 3 kinds of fluids. The distance (d) to the volute wall, time-averaged circumferential
0.09 1.0
0.08
0.9
0.07
water 0.8
molten salt #3
vr (m/s)
vr(m/s)
0.06
molten salt #5
0.7
0.05 water
molten salt #3
0.6 molten salt #5
0.04
0.03 0.5
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 0 10 20 30 40 50 60
α (°) α (°)
(a) monitoring point vm8-1 (b) monitoring point vm8-5
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
vr(m/s)
0.5
0.0
water
-0.5 molten salt #3
molten salt #5
-1.0
-1.5
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
α (°)
velocity (v
c ) on Section VIII is obtained by processing the data at the same for the 3 kinds of viscous fluids. This indicates that, at this
the monitoring points (vm8–1 to vm8–9), as shown in Fig. 14. position, the restraint effect of volute wall and driven effect of
For water and molten salt #3, the circumferential velocities are impeller caused by fluid viscosity reach the balance, which is con-
nearly same. Near the volute wall, the velocity gradient is relatively sistent with the results analyzed in Fig. 12. The maximum circum-
large, and the velocity gradient for water and molten salt #3 is ferential velocities for water, molten salt #3 and #5 are 11.4, 11.5
lager than that for molten salt #5. From point vm8–2 to vm8–9, and 14.9 m/s, relatively. They all appear at the monitoring point
the velocity gradient is relatively small, and the velocity gradient vm8–9 (the distance is 40 mm from the point to the volute wall),
for water and molten salt #3 is smaller than that for molten salt which is near the impeller. It means that, the closer to impeller
#5. Near the monitoring point vm8–6 (the distance is 25 mm from and the higher viscosity, the stronger driven effect of impeller on
the point to the volute wall), the circumferential velocities reach fluid.
8 ing points on Section VIII. For the water, molten salt #3 and #5,
6 water when the time steps are 2122, 2243 and 2303 (the positions of
molten salt #3 dash lines shown in Fig. 15), respectively, the radial velocities
4 molten salt #5 reach the maximum value. By checking the relative position of
2 blade and volute tongue, it can be found that the blade-tongue
volute wall impeller angles (a) are all 40° for the 3 kinds of fluids at these time steps.
0 And at that time, the exit end of blade is passing through the
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
d (mm) Section VIII.
By analyzing the data in Fig. 15, the fluctuation amplitude of
Fig. 14. Time-averaged circumferential velocity at the monitoring points on
radial velocity (vr,amp) versus the distance (d) to the volute wall
Section VIII.
on Section VIII is obtained and shown in Fig. 16. The fluctuation
2.5 2.5
vm8-1
α=40° vm8-2
vm8-1
vm8-2
α=40°
2.0 vm8-3 2.0 vm8-3
vm8-4 vm8-4
vm8-5 vm8-5
1.5 vm8-6
1.5 vm8-6
vm8-7 vm8-7
vm8-8
1.0 vm8-8 1.0 vm8-9
vm8-9
vr (m/s)
vr (m/s)
0.5 0.5
0.0 0.0
-0.5 -0.5
-1.0 -1.0
-1.5 -1.5
2100 2110 2120 2130 2140 2150 2160 2170 2190 2200 2210 2220 2230 2240 2250 2260
time step time step
(a) water (b) molten salt #3
1.6
vm8-1 α=40°
vm8-2
1.4 vm8-3
vm8-4
vm8-5
1.2 vm8-6
vm8-7
vm8-8
1.0 vm8-9
vr (m/s)
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
2260 2270 2280 2290 2300 2310 2320
time step
Fig. 16. Fluctuation amplitude of radial velocity along the radial position on The work was supported by the National Natural Science
Section VIII. Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51306087 and 51205184), the
Natural Science Fund of Jiangsu Province of China (Grant Nos.
BK2012430 and BK2011810) and Jiangsu Province Process
Intensification and New Energy Equipment Technology Key
amplitude of radial velocity decreases in the direction far from the
Laboratories.
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