8th Asian International Fluid Machinery Conference

October 12-15, 2005 •Yichang, China

CFD SIMULATION OF FLOW IN MODEL PUMP SUMPS

FOR DETECTION OF VORTICES

Okamura, Tomoyoshi
Graduate School of Engineering
Yokohama National University
Yokohama, Japan

Kamemoto, Kyoji
Graduate School of Engineering
Yokohama National University
Yokohama, Japan

ABSTRACT

Demand is high for reducing the size of sumps to reduce construction costs of urban drainage
pump stations. As a result of the reduction in size, undesirable vortices like air-entrained and
submerged vortices are apt to appear in the sumps because of increases in flow velocities.
Based on criteria in the JSME Standard, the appearance of such vortices is not permissible for
conventional sumps, experiments with scale models usually have been done to assess the
performance of these sumps. However, those tests are expensive and time-consuming, and
therefore, alternative CFD methods for evaluating sump performance have been expected.
The JSME Standard “
Standard Method for Model Testing the performance of a Pump Sump”
was revised in March 2005 by a committee of the Turbomachinery Society of Japan. The
committee also established a benchmark for flows in model sumps applying ten CFD codes.
The calculated results were compared for flow patterns, locations of vortices, and their
vorticity. Although the simulated flow patterns near the bell are almost all the same, the
calculated values of the local vorticity were much more different among the various codes. It
was confirmed that the existence of air-entrained and submerged vortices could be predicted
by applying a newly developed identification method for vortices.

Organized and Sponsored by the Chinese Fluid Engineering Institution

1. INTRODUCTION

A rise in the awareness of containing construction costs had led to a significant reduction
in the size of pump systems in Japan. As a result of smaller system, however, it has been
reported that undesirable vortices like air-entrained vortices or submerged vortices are
common in the sumps because of an increase in flow velocities. According to criteria in the
(1)
JSME Standard , the appearance of such vortices is not permissible for ordinary pump
sumps, experiments with scale models usually have been performed to assess performance of
a sump or to improve the design configuration of a sump. However, such endeavors are
expensive and time-consuming, and therefore, development of alternative methods for
evaluation of sump performance has been expected. On the other hand, Computational Fluid
Dynamics (CFD) techniques have been applied successfully to design fluid machinery with
higher performances, so the CFD method may meet this expectation. A few CFD
computations have been applied to predict the flow and the number, location and vorticity of
individual vortices in the pump sump and good agreements were obtained between
computation and experiments (3) (4).
The JSME Standard S004-1984 entitled “
Standard Method for Model Testing the
Performance of a Pump Sump”(1)(2) has been revised and reissued under the name TSJ
Standard S002:2005 in March 2005 by the Turbomachinery Society of Japan (TSJ)(5). The
revision was carried out by the Revision of Standard for Pump Intake Model Testing
Committee of TSJ (RSPIMT Committee). In the future, CFD technique is expected to be
applied as the standard in order to assess the number, frequency, and intensity of the vortices
in pump sumps. So one of the RSPIMT Committee’
s main activities included conducting a
survey of the state of the art concerning CFD simulation of flows and vortices in pump sumps.
The committee established a benchmark study for flows and vortices in model sumps. The
purpose of the benchmark is to determine the accuracy and reliability of the CFD codes
which are used in universities and the industrial field to predict the appearance of vortices in
pump sumps. It is also intended to identify and investigate the formation of air-entrained and
submerged vortices near the pump. In this paper the results of a benchmark study for the flow
and vortices in model sumps is presented.

2. VORTICES OBSERVED IN PUMP SUMP

According to TSJ standard S002, vortices in the pump sump are classified as shown in
Fig. 1(2). In the benchmark the following types of vortices (b) (c) and (e) are discussed.

(1) Air entraining vortex

This vortex is called a free surface vortex based on the American National Standard for
Pump Intake Design (6). The vortex starts at the free water surface and is sucked into the
pump bell. When the vortex is fully developed, a full air core to pump bell is established.
(2) Submerged vortex
This vortex is also referred to as a sub-surface vortex (6) and starts at the bottom surface or
the side walls of the sump and enters the pump bell as shown in Fig. 1 (e). This is a kind of
vortex cavitation caused by low pressure at the vortex core.

(a) Dimple vortex (b) Intermittently (c) Continuously (d)Coaxial vortex (e)Submerged
air entraining air entraining vortex
vortex vortex

Fig. 1 Vortex classification (2)

3. BENCHMARK STUDY

A benchmark study was carried out to survey the computational accuracy and reliability
for predicting the likelihood of the vortices in the sumps by using CFD codes. The
computations were made by committee members consisting university faculty members and
engineers working for pump manufacturers. The computational results have not been
compared with the experimental ones yet. The comparison will be made at the end of fiscal
2005 year after the completion of the model sump test.

3.1 Model sump configuration and flow conditions

Figure 2 shows the model pump sump geometry applied to the benchmark test. The free
surface vortices, i.e., the air entrained vortices, are mainly observed in this sump. The
sub-surface vortices, i.e., submerged vortices, are observed in the sump shown in Fig. 3. The
center of the pump is set at a little bit off from the center of the sump passage to induce the
vortices. The flow and boundary conditions for the computation are indicated in Table 1. The
submergence in case III is greater than the other cases to ensure suppression of the
air-entrained vortices.

3.2 Contributed CFD codes

 Y
3800

140 160
X Z

Inlet section Horizontal section

Exit section 110
Z
X
Dummy pump Y

700
0

240
130
100
X
Vertical cross section
Pump inlet
Fig. 2 Model sump configuration for air-entraining vortex

Y
3800
300 Z

140 160
50
100

Inlet section Baffle X

110
Horizontal section
Exit section Z Y

Dummy pump
0 X
700
540

Pump inlet
360

130

130

Vertical cross section X

Fig. 3 Model sump configuration for submerged vortex

Table 1 Flow conditions for computation

Vortex types to Sump Flow rate Submergence
Case
be observed Configuration m3/min mm
Steady air
I entrained vortex Fig.2 1.1 240
Unsteady air
II entrained vortex Fig.2 1.1 260
Steady submerged
III vortex Fig.3 1.8 540
 A total of ten committee members participated in testing this benchmark. Table 2 shows
the characteristics of the contributed CFD codes. The contributed codes consist of
commercial CFD codes like STAR-CD, CFX5.6, Fluent, and Scryu, and two in-house codes.
The seven codes indicated as C, D, E, F, G., H and I are based on the Reynolds Averaged
Navier Stokes (RANS) equation. However, Code A, which is called “Virtual Fluid System
3D”is based on a vortex method. It has several advantages. First, it does not use the
turbulence model. Consequently it can simulate the unsteady flow without requiring an

Table 2 Characteristics of CFD codes contributing to establishment of benchmark

Code symbol A B C D E
Virtual Fluid
Code name In-house code CFX5.6 CFX5.6 STAR-CD
System 3D
Numerical
Vortex method FEM* FVM
**
FVM
**
FVM
**
method
Difference Third order Second orde Second orde
None MARS
scheme TVD-MUSCL upwind upwind
Turbulence
None None k-εmodel k-εmodel RNG k-εmodel
model
Preprocessor In-house code In-house code CFX-Pre ICEM CFD GAMBIT
Unstructured Unstructured
Analytical grid None Structured Structured
(Tetra mesh) (Hexa mesh)
Number of 13k panels 1,020k
580k 600k 180k
grids (Case II) (Case III)
In-house code
Post- Star-CD,
MicroAVS and Commecial Fieldview CFX-Post
processor Fieldview
code
Stream line,
Evaluation Stream line, Stream line, Velocity vector,
Vorticity, Flow and vortex
method for Vortex center Vorticity, Pressure pressure,
Pressure at core line
vortices line at vortex core vorticity
vortex core
Code symbol Ｆ Ｇ Ｈ I Ｊ

Code name STAR-CD Scryu/Tetra Scryu/Tetra5.0 Fluent In-house code

Numerical ** ** ** ** ***
FVM FVM FVM FVM FDM
method
Difference MUSCL Second orde
MARS MUSCL method CIP
scheme method upwind
Turbulence SST (Share
k-ε
RNG k-εmodel k-εmodel None
model Stress Transport)
Preprocessor CADAS Scryu/Tetra Scryu/Tetra-Post GAMBIT In-house code
Unstructured Unstructured Unstructured
Analytical grid Unstructured Structured
(Tetra mesh) (Tetra mesh) (Hexa mesh)
Number of
1,920k 330k 990k 980k 330k
grids
Post- In-house code Scryu/Tetra
Scryu/Tetra-Post Fieldview In-house code
processor and Field view and Fieldview
Evaluation Flow pattern Velocity vector, Velocity
Pressure at
method for and vortex core Vorrtex core line vorticity, vortex distribution,
vortex core
vortices line center line vorticity
Notes : FEM* :Finite element method, FVM**: Finite volume method,
FDM***: Finite difference method
adjustment of any parameters like artificial viscosity. The system also does not need the grid
generation during pre-processing, except when the panels are installed on the boundary walls.
Since the vortex flow is essentially unsteady, the vortex method is suited for simulating the
vortex flow.

3.3 How to detect the inception of a visible vortex

The diameters of vortices are usually much smaller compared with the computing grid size.
So the pressure at the vortex core is not obtained easily through the calculations. To
compensate for the lack of vortex resolution in numerical simulations, a stretching vortex
model is applied to the local flow field around semi-analytically identified vortex positions.
Since the detailed description of this method is presented in references (7) (8), the brief
explanations are made here as follows.

(1) Air entrained vortex

The criteria expressed by Eqs. (1) and (2) is applied to determine the visible inception of
a free surface vortex,
pc
1 , (1)
ph
where p c is the pressure drop at the vortex core and p h is the static head at the vortex
element.

fd F 24
 r 1 , (2)
fb 4 Re

where f d is the drag force acting at a unit length of water surface vortex dimple, based on
s approximation and caused by the down flow. Further, f b is the force acting on the
Stokes’
bubble in the direction from the high pressure region to the low pressure region like buoyancy.
The Froude number is defined as Fr and
w
Fr  , (3)
gr0
where Re means Reynolds number defined as
wr0
Re  , (4)
ν
where w is the down flow velocity toward suction bell and r0 means the vortex core radius.

(2) Submerged vortices

Equation (5) is applied to determine the visible inception of a sub-surface vortex.
 Δp c
1 , (5)
p   p cr

where Δp c  p   p c , p c is the static pressure at the vortex core, p  is the atmospheric

pressure and p cr is the critical cavitation inception pressure and is nearly equal to the
saturated vapor pressure.

4. COMPUTATIONAL RESULTS

4.1 Case I

(1) Flow patterns and vortex features

The typical calculated results showing streamlines and vortex core lines are shown in Figs.
4, 5, and 7. It is difficult to assess the vortices near the pump bell by examining only the
streamlines and flow patterns as shown in Fig. 4. The database which records the
experimentally obtained vortices in the model sump to the computational vortices is
necessary to evaluate all of the vortices. As shown in Figs. 5 and 7, the vortex core lines are

Fig. 4 Calculated streamlines using Code B (Case I)

Fig. 5 Calculated vortex core lines using Code E (Case I)

indicated clearly and the features of the vortex cores can be evaluated. Since the intensity of
the vortex is expressed by the magnitude of the vorticity, this method, which uses vortex core
lines, is effective at detecting vortices. But since whether the vortex core will be a cavity or
not is not determined, the criteria based on the experimental and analytical database must be
constructed.

Vortices ①−④ are predicted to be air-entrained

Fig.6 Calculated vortex core lines using Code C and evaluated results
regarding vortex visibility

Water surface

Air-entrained
Submerged

Bottom

Fig.8 Calculated vortex core lines using Code

Fig.7 Calculated vortex core lines F and evaluated results regarding vortex
using Code G visibility
 Figures 6 and 7 show the evaluated results as to whether the vortices are visible or not by
using the method described in section 3.3 of this paper. The features of the vortices are
evaluated by the index value indicated by the color bar in the figures. According to these
figures, numerous vortices are observed. The experiment has not been conducted yet, so the
frequency and the number of vortices are not confirmed experimentally. In this case the
steady flow calculation was made. Since the disappearance and union of the vortices are not
taken into account in the calculation, each occurring vortex cannot be subtracted from the
calculation. Actually, many generated weak vortices will vanish and only a few strong
vortices will remain. So the predicting accuracy of vortices’occurrence may be reduced when
the approaching flow fluctuation is great.

(2) Flows at entrance of bell

3.0 2.5
B B
2.0
C C
2.0
D D
1.5
E E
Velocity Vy  ｍ /ｓ

Velocity   Vx m/s

1.0 H
1.0 H
F
F
0.0 0.5

0.0
-1.0
-0.5

-2.0
-1.0

-3.0 -1.5
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350
Distance from side wall mm
Distance from side wall mm

Fig. 9 Velocity in x direction distributions Fig. 10 Velocity in y direction distributions

2.5 100000
B B
2 D
H 10000
E H
1.5 F
Axial velocity   Vz   m/s

C 1000 G
F
1 E
Vorticity 1/s

100 C
0.5
10
0

1
-0.5

-1 0.1

-1.5 0.01
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350
Distance from side wall  Y  mm Distance from side w all  mm

Fig. 11 Axial velocity distributions Fig. 12 Vorticity distributions

 The calculated velocity distributions in x, y, and z directions at the pump bell are shown
in Figs. 9 to 11, where the x ordinate of the pump center is 140 mm. The remarkable
differences are not observed in the results obtained by contributed computational codes. At
the edge of the bell, the strong down flows are observed. The up-flows accelerate rapidly in
the bell. Figure 12 shows the vorticity distribution at the bell inlet. Significant differences are
observed in each result. If the value of the vorticity is different from other vortices, the
calculated vortex core pressure will differ. As a result of the varying core pressure, the
predicting accuracy as to whether the vortex core becomes a cavity or not will be greatly
affected by the vorticity value. This difference may be caused by the calculating accuracy of
the code itself and the grid size and geometries. Since the comparison of the computational
results with experimental ones has not been done yet, the code having the highest accuracy
and reliability is not clarified yet.

4.2 Case II

The computational results for Case II (mainly related submerged vortex) are shown in

Vorticity Vorticity

Fig.13 Vortex core lines obtained by Code E

Vorticity

Fig.14 Vortex core lines obtained by Code I

 Visible vortex
criteria index

Fig.15 Calculated vortex core lines by Fig.16 Calculated vortex core lines by
Code C and evaluated results Code F and evaluated results
regarding vortex visibility regarding vortex visibility

Figs. 13 to 6. Figures 13 and 14 show the vortex core lines and the color bar indicates the
magnitude of the vorticity. The vortex core lines with high vorticity will become submerged
vortices. The starting points of such vortices are located on the bottom surface and the back
side wall. On the other hand, Figs 14, 15 and 16 show the evaluated results whether the
vortices are visible or not by using the method described in section 3.3. In Fig. 15 the vortex
below the bell and the vortex beginning at the baffle edge are estimated to be submerged
vortices. In Fig.16, the submerged vortex is predicted to start at the corner, formed from the
back side wall and the bottom surface. In case II many vortices’occurrences are predicted.
The predicted locations and intensity of the vortices vary among vortices and depend on the
codes.

4.3 Case III (Unsteady Vortices)

The computational results for Case III are shown in Figs.17 and 18. In this case the
submergence is higher than that in Case I and the incipient air entraining vortex occurs.
Furthermore the unsteadiness of vortex inception is great. Figure 17 shows the calculated
results of the pressure drop at the vortex elements and forces acting on the vortex elements
using Code A and applying the vortex method. It is observed that the pressure drop and the
force fluctuate irregularly. Figure 18 shows the group of the vortex elements which exist 10
mm below the plane of the free water surface and at which occurrences of the air entrainment
are predicted by the criteria described in section 3.3. The locations ① and ② of starting
points of the air entrained vortices are similar with those shown in Fig. 6 obtained by the
steady flow analysis. But the number of vortex elements at location ③ is much lower. This
may be the one of the differences between the steady flow analysis and the unsteady analysis.
This suggests that some modification concerning unsteadiness is necessary to compare the
steady flow computational results to predict the frequency and location of the suction
vortices.

: H=260mm
102
101 ①
pc / ph

100
10-1 ②
0 1 2 3 4 5
T [s]

: H=260mm
10 2
③
10 1
fd / fb

10 0
10 -1
0 1 2 3 4 5
T [s]

Fig.17 Pressure drop at the center of vortex Fig.18 Vortex elements predicted
element (upper) and force acting on the that the air entraining will occur by
vortex element (lower) obtained by Code A Code A

5. CONCLUSIONS

The following remarks are based on the benchmark study on the flow and vortices in the
pump suction sump.
1) The flows at the pump bell entrance section are not remarkably different from the
computational results obtained by using ten contributed CFD codes but a great difference
is observed in the magnitude of the vorticity. This may be caused by the variation in the
numerical methods and analytical grid sizes and geometries.
2）A predicting method for the inception of the visible air entrained vortices, proposed in
section 3.3 is confirmed to be practically effective. The inception of the vortices occurs
under essentially unsteady conditions so that the quantitative criteria taking into account
the unsteadiness must be established.
3) To increase the reliability of the 3D flow simulation, further investigations on unsteady
flow are needed.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The investigations presented in this paper have been obtained within RSPIMT Committee
of Turbomachinery Society of Japan. The authors are grateful to the committee members for
providing the results discussed in the paper.

RSPIMT COMMITTEE

The RSPIMT Committee of the Turbomachinery Society of Japan consists of the

following 23 members.
Chairman: Prof. Kyoji Kamemoto, Yokohama National University,
Secretaries: Dr. Tomoyoshi Okamura, Yokohama National University and Associate Prof. Jun
Matsui, Yokohama National University,
Members:
Prof. Toshiaki Ikohagi, Tohoku University,
Prof. Hiroshi Tsukamoto, Kyushu Institute of Technology,
Mr. Tatsunori Sugita, Tokyo Metropolitan Government,
Mr. Makoto Togo, Tokyo Metropolitan Government,
Dr. Tatsuo Naka, National Institute for Rural Engineering,
Mr. Teruyuki Miyauchi, Association of Pump System Engineering,
Dr. Yukihiro Yamamoto, Public Works Research Institute,
Dr. Yuzuru Eguchi, Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry,
Mr. Kazunori Shimatani, Tokyo Electric Power Company,
Mr. Motoaki Shiobara, Tokyo Electric Power Company,
Mr. Fumio Tajiri, Kansai Electric Power Company,
Mr. Akio Ido, DMW Corporation,
Mr. Hiroyuki Inoue, Kubota Corporation,
Mr. Minoru Iwasaki, Hitachi, Ltd.
Mr. Yoshitomi Katsube, Tsurumi Manufacturing Co., Ltd.,
Dr. Akira Manabe, Hitachi Industries Co., Ltd.,
Mr. Tsuyoshi Tomita, Ebara Corporation,
Mr. Kou Fujino, Ebara Corporation,
Dr. Hideaki Maeda, Torishima Pump MFG. Co. Ltd., and
Mr. Yasuharu Yamamoto, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.

REFERENCES

(1) JSME Standard S004-1984, “Standard Method for Model Testing the Performance of a
Pump Sump ”, The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers, Jan. 1984, (in Japanese).
(2) Toyokura, T. and Kamemoto, K, “
Introduction of the JSME Standard to Establish a Set of
Basic Rules for Model Testing of Pump Sump Performance”
, Proc. of IAHR Symposium on
Scale Effects in Modelling Hydraulic Structures, IAHR, Sept. 1984, 6.3-1-6.3-6.
(3)Rajendaran, V.P., Constantinescu, G.S. and Patel, V.C., “
Experiments on Flow in a Model
Water-Pump Intake Sump to Validate a Numerical Model”
, Proc. of FEDSM’
98, 1998 ASME
Fluids Engineering Division Summer Meeting, June21-25,1998, Washington, DC.
(4)Ansar, M., Nakato, T. and Constantinescu, G., “
Numerical simulations of inviscid
three-dimensional flows at single-and dual-pump intakes”
, Journal of Hydraulic Research,
Vol. 40, 2002, NO.4, 461-470.
(5) TSJ S 002:2005, “
Standard Method for Model Testing the Performance of a Pump Sump”
,
The Turbomachinery Society of Japan, March 1, 2005, (in Japanese).
(6) “
American National Standard for Pump Intake Design”American National Standards
Institute, Inc., Nov. 1998.
(7) Iwano, R. “
Onset Condition of Vortex –Induced Gas Entrainment at Free Surface”
, Proc.
of Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers, No.930-9, pp.594-596(1993), (in Japanese).
(8) Shibata, T., Iwano, R., Nagahara, T. and Okamura, T. “
A Numerical Method for Predicting
, Proc. of 20th IAHR Symp.,
the Cavitation Inception of a Submerged Vortex in a Pump Sump”
August 6-9, 2000, Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S.A., CFD-G03 (2000).

NOMENCLATURE

fd : drag force acting at a unit length of water surface vortex dimple, based on Stokes ’
s
approximation,
fb : force acting on the bubble in the direction from the high pressure region to the low
pressure region,
w
Fr : Froude number defined as Fr  ,
gr0
Δp c  p   p c ,
pc : pressure drop at the vortex core,
p cr : critical cavitation inception pressure, nearly equal to the saturated vapor pressure,
ph : static head at the vortex element,
p : atmospheric pressure,
wr0
Re : Reynolds number defined as Re  ,
ν
r0 : vortex core radius,
w: down flow velocity toward suction bell.