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3D Numerical Simulation of Horizontal Split casing Pump

Conference Paper · December 2012

DOI: 10.13140/2.1.2754.0487

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 Proceedings of the Thirty Ninth National Conference on Fluid Mechanics and Fluid Power
December 13-15, 2012, SVNIT Surat, Gujarat, India

FMFP2012___192_____

3D Numerical Simulation of Horizontal Split casing Pump

Vishal K Chauhan Vishal A Soni
Jyoti Ltd, Jyoti Ltd,
Vadodara, Gujarat, Vadodara, Gujarat,
India India
vishu_343@yahoo.co.in soni_vishal2002@yahoo.com

Kiran C Patel Jaymin D Desai Shahil S Charania

Jyoti Ltd, Jyoti Ltd, Jyoti Ltd,
Vadodara, Gujarat, Vadodara, Gujarat, Vadodara, Gujarat,
India India India
cfx@jyoti.com desai_jaymin@yahoo.com shahil_157@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT
The fluid flow behavior inside double suction
pump is studied which is used for high discharge
and low head. In such pumps, the interaction of
fluid flow between stationary suction elbow and
INTRODUCTION
Numerical simulation of Horizontal split
casing pump was carried out which was designed to
generate the total head (H) of 25 m and capacity (Q)
of 0.036 m 3 /s. CFD Analysis of the pump was
P P

rotating impeller is complex in nature. The curved
portion of suction elbow introduces some
instabilities in the fluid flow. Also complex shape
and construction of suction elbow with cutwater
causes non-uniform flow at impeller. This type of
fluid flow simulations helps to visualize complex
flow patterns and wakes generated at rotor-stator
interaction and helps to design more optimized
geometry of suction elbow and impeller inlet so that
more uniform flow is achieved at impeller inlet. All
simulations are carried out considering
incompressible fluid with 3D Steady state RANS
equations.
CFD, Horizontal split casing pump, Rotor-stator
Interaction, Numerical Simulation, 3D RANS.
carried out for 3 different operating points (100% -
BEP, 80%, 120%).
The complete 3D geometry of pump was
numerically simulated to analyze the fluid flow
behavior inside the very complex shaped geometry
of pump, especially the suction casing part of the
pump. Additionally because of very complicated
shape of suction casing along with cutwater, the
fluid expresses the instability during its interaction
with the impeller.
For the flow analysis, 3D steady state
Incompressible flow analysis was carried out for
pump using commercially available code ANSYS v.
12.1.

1
HORIZONTAL SPLIT CASING PUMP

Horizontal split casing pump (fig. 1) is used

for low head and high discharge. It is of double
suction type pump having two impellers arranged
side by side. Because of its very complex geometry
it is very much necessary that fluid flow behavior
should be studied in order to have its optimum
performance.

Fig . 2 Flow pattern in inlet casing

Tongue
1

Fig . 1 Horizontal Split (HS) casing Pump

1 - Inlet (Suction) Casing

2 - Impeller
3 - Volute Casing

For having the better performance of the

pump its inlet (suction) casing (fig. 3) is required to
be optimally designed.
For horizontal split casing pump an inlet
casing (Component No. 1 in fig. 1) is required to
deflect the fluid from the inlet nozzle mainly
arranged normally to the axis - into axial direction.
The most important hydraulic requirement is to
design the inlet casing so as to achieve as uniform a
velocity distribution as possible at the impeller inlet
[1].
When the fluid passes through the suction
Fig . 3 Inlet (suction) casing of HS Pump
casing (fig. 3), flow around the hub generate
"circumferential" components in the velocity
distribution at the impeller inlet. As a result pre-
rotation is generated over roughly one half of the
impeller circumference and counter-rotation in the
second half (fig. 2).
However the flow through both halves is not
uniform either since the liquid impinges on the rib
which is absolutely indispensible in each and every
inlet. Hence counter-currents near the hub occur in
the region of rib. In the half with pre-rotation the
approach flow angle increases compared to an

2
approach flow with 90 deg. and conversely flow software ICEM CFD with tetra-hedral elements.
angle decreases in the second half [1]. Meshing of impeller was carried out
It is known from experience that in design of
side suction inlet a certain amount of pre-rotation of
the incoming fluid is desired. To obtain this
condition, the baffle (or splitter) is provided. This
splitter is rotated 30 to 45 deg. in the direction of
pump rotation. The splitter will locate the radial
section of zero flow and area will continuously
increase in both direction away from it. HS pump
has an advantage of having good NPSH capability
[2]. This phenomena causes our attention to be
focused on the optimum performance of suction
casing.

NUMERICAL SIMULATION

3D RANS equations were numerically solved

for viscous and incompressible fluid. CFD Fig . 5 Meshing of Suction Casing
simulation of HS pump was carried out using
commercially available code ANSYS 12.1 having 4
basic steps as shown in fig. 4 :

Hydraulic Modeling

Meshing

Physics Definition

Solving the N-S Equations

Fig . 4 Basics steps of CFD

Hydraulic Modeling
Hydraulic model of the pump was prepared
using software ProE as shown in fig. 1. hydraulic
model of the pump includes suction casing, volute
casing and Impeller.
Meshing
Meshing of suction casing and volute casing
were carried out using commercially available
Fig . 6 Meshing of Impeller
using software TurboGrid 12.1 using hexa -hedral
elements.
Meshing details are given in the Table 1.
Meshing quality for all the components was
achieved within the limit of approximately 0.5.
Meshing of all components are shown in fig.
5,6 and 7.

3
Table : 1 Meshing details of pump

Component Element type Nodes

Suction Tetra
766537
Casing INLET
Impeller Hexa 687414
Volute
Tetra 568217
Casing

OUTLET

Fig . 8 Physics definition of HS Pump

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

For detailed study of flow near impeller

inlet, velocity vector and velocity streamlines were
plotted near impeller inlet for best operation point.
Figure 9 shows velocity vector plot near region of
tongue and at inlet of impeller, which validates the
fact of rotational flow near this region. It is clearly
visible that flow velocity varies along periphery of
impeller inlet. Also fig. 10 shows the pre-rotation
and counter-rotation of
Fig . 7 Meshing of Volute Casing

Physics Definition

Physics of flow was defined for HS pump

using CFX PRE software with appropriate
boundary conditions(fig. 8).
SST (Shear Stress transport) turbulence
model with automatic wall function was used for
simulation along with atmospheric pressure at inlet
and mass flow rate at outlet. Advection scheme and
turbulence numerics used was high resolution.
Auto timescale was set and convergence criteria Fig. 9 Velocity vector plot near tongue region (at
was max. 10 -4 [3].
P P
BEP).
Here in fig. 8 whole assembly of pump is flow (enlarged view) near tongue region. Figure 11
shown. In this case it is necessary to extend the shows the surface velocity streamlines with swirling
domain at inlet, because of this we are providing flow near region of tongue and impeller inlet.
fully developed flow to inlet of pump.

4

Pre-rotation
Counter-rotation
Fig. 10 Velocity vectors at tongue region
(Enlarged view) (at BEP).
Fig. 11 Velocity streamlines in suction casing (at
BEP).
Figure 12 shows the CFD analysis results
for 100% case (BEP). Results are plotted in terms
of velocity vectors, velocity streamlines and
pressure contours.
Velocity streamlines shown in fig. 12 (a) and
12 (b) expresses the presence of swirl at the inlet of
impeller, this causes the flow approaching the inlet
to be non uniform and having the pre-rotation on
one half and counter rotation on second half. The
position of splitter blade (tongue) also plays a vital
role in the quality of flow.
Velocity vectors plotted in fig. 12 (c) and (d) shows
the circulation in the discharge volute as well as in
suction casing.
Figure 12 (e) and (f) shows the pressure
contours plotted on horizontal as well as vertical
section of suction casing. Pressure contours show
the variation of pressure in suction casing which
leads to notable amount of swirl in the casing itself.
5
Along with this, pressure variation is also observed
at the inlet of impeller.
Same situation prevails for velocity
distribution in the suction casing.
Figure 12 (g) and (h) shows the variation
of velocity at the inlet of impeller. Such a large
variation of velocity at the inlet of impeller leads to
different angles of attack along span of blade than
the angles for which impeller blades were designed
for.
Flow quality near impeller inlet (rotational
level) critically affects the cavitation condition in
the pump. Because higher amount of swirl results in
poor suction capability of pump.
Main requirement for better performance of
pump is to have an optimum design of suction
casing with minimum swirl.
Figures 13, 14 and 15 shows the effect of
operating point on the flow distribution in the
suction casing with operation point of 100%,80%
and 12% of discharge respectively.
In all 3 cases as it can be seen that when
fluid flows through the passage of suction casing
and impinges on the tongue, a swirl is generated.
The location of this swirl is different in all 3 cases
and it depends not only location on tongue but also
on discharge.
Apart from this second major effect of
discharge, on the performance of pump is the
suction velocity. Higher the discharge, higher will
be the velocity and so higher will be chances of
origination of cavitation.
Mixing swirl location
near impeller inlet
Fig. 13 Velocity vector plot near tongue region
(at 100% Q).
 Fig. 12 (a) Fig. 12 (b)

Fig. 12 (c) Fig. 12 (d)

Fig. 12 (e) Fig. 12 (f)

Fig. 12 (g) Fig. 12 (h)

Fig. 12 CFD results at 100% (BEP) point. Velocity streamlines in suction casing (a) Side view (b)
Isometric view, Velocity vectors (c) On horizontal section of pump (d) On vertical
section of pump, Pressure contours (e) On horizontal section of suction casing (f) On
vertical section of suction casing, velocity contours (g) On horizontal section of suction
casing (h) On vertical section of suction casing.

6

Mixing swirl location
near impeller inlet
Fig. 14 Velocity vector plot near tongue region
(at 80% Q).
Mixing swirl location
near impeller inlet
Fig. 15 Velocity vector plot near tongue region
(at 120% Q).
Figures 16, 17 and 18 show the CFD results
for 3 different operating points (100%, 80% and
120%) in terms of velocity streamlines at hub,
middle and shroud of impeller.
Velocity streamlines reflect the picture of
flow dynamics inside the impeller, which is greatly
responsible for task of impeller for which it is
designed for (generation of head).
At part load operation (fig. 17) (80%) flow
exhibits separation from the surface of blade, hub as
well as shroud. Hence, pump won't be able to
operate with good efficiency. But because of the
swirling flow (fig. 17 (a), (b), (c)) impeller is able
to generate higher head than at the BEP (100%).
In case of overload operating point (120%)
flow expresses the streamline flow without any type
of circulation or swirling region.
At best efficiency point flow will be smooth
and attached to the surface with less separation
compared to that at part load.
7
Figure 19 (a), (b), (c) shows the velocity
vector plots for incidence at tongue for 3 different
operating points.
It is clearly visible that incidence of flow at
tongue is better for 100% and 120% compared to
that at 80%. The incidence angle at tongue plays a
very critical role in rotor-stator interaction
phenomena, which is very much necessary for
controlling the vibrations caused by the fluid
hydraulic pressure force.
Figure 20 (a), (b), (c) shows the velocity
vector plots for spiral casing domain. At the
interface of impeller and spiral casing velocity
vector distribution is visible, which generates the
pressure pulsations. It is also responsible for losses
that takes place inside the spiral casing. Apart from
this as shown in figures the separation that takes
place inside the diffuser region further causes head
loss.
Figure 21 (a), (b), (c) shows the velocity
vector plots at the normal section of spiral casing.
These figures are indication of existence of
circulation within the spiral casing normal to flow
passage of spiral casing while flow leaves the
impeller and originates the losses.
Figure 22 shows the plot of head vs.
discharge in terms of normalized format calculated
using CFD. Head and discharge values were
normalized in terms of numerically calculated
variable value at best efficiency point.
As head reduces as discharge increases, the
trend of head vs. discharge plot (fig. 22) seems to
be quite obvious.
Figure 23 shows the plot of efficiency vs.
discharge in normalized form which was
numerically obtained. Also plot of efficiency
variable shows the obvious trend for pump,
showing maximum value at 100% operating point.
Fig. 16 (a) Fig. 16 (b) Fig. 16 (c)

Fig. 17 (a) Fig. 17 (b) Fig. 17 (c)

Fig. 18 (a) Fig. 18 (b) Fig. 18 (c)

Fig. 16 Velocity streamlines for 100% (a) at Hub (b) on Middle (c) at Shroud
Fig. 17 Velocity streamlines for 80% (a) at Hub (b) on Middle (c) at Shroud
Fig. 18 Velocity streamlines for 120% (a) at Hub (b) on Middle (c) at Shroud
8
 Fig. 19 (a) Fig. 19 (b) Fig. 19 (c)

Fig. 20 (a) Fig. 20 (b) Fig. 20 (c)

Fig. 21 (a) Fig. 21 (b) Fig. 21 (c)

Fig. 19 Velocity vector plots of incidence at tongue (a) for 100% (b) for 80% (c) for 120%
Fig. 20 Velocity vector plots at the central plane of spiral casing (a) for 100% (b) for 80% (c) for 120%
Fig. 21 Velocity vector plots in the sections of spiral casing (a) for 100% (b) for 80% (c) for 120%

9
 1.08 1.05

1 1

Efficiency (Normalized)
Head (Normalized)

0.92 0.95

0.84 0.9

0.76 0.85

0.68 0.8

0.6 0.75
0.6 0.75 0.9 1.05 1.2 1.35 0.5 0.65 0.8 0.95 1.1 1.25

Discharge (Normalized) Discharge (Normalized)

Fig. 22 Head (Normalized) vs. Discharge Fig. 23 Efficiency (Normalized) vs. Discharge
(Normalized) (Normalized)

CONCLUSION Centrifugal Pumps - Design and

Application, second ed. Gulf publishing
In case of horizontal split casing (double Company, pp. 79,84.
suction) pump, design of suction (inlet) casing plays [3] Ansys help files.
very critical role in its performance. Flow dynamics
inside the suction casing decides the performance
and governs the suction capability of pump. An
optimum geometry of suction casing provides better
suction capability as well as better performance of
pump. So, care must be taken while designing the
suction casing in order to optimize the performance
of pump.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors of the paper are greatly thankful

to Jyoti Ltd. for their immense support throughout
the research work and facilitating CFD Analysis
Center with latest software & state of the art
hardware resources.

REFERENCES

[1] Gülich, J.L., 2010. Centrifugal Pumps,

second ed. (English). Springer, pp. 435-
436.
[2] Lobanoff, V. S., 1992. Rose, R. R.,

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