Numerical Simulation of a Gas-Liquid Centrifugal Pump under Different Inlet Gas Volume Fraction Conditions

In order to study the influence of inlet gas volume fraction (IGVF) on performance of a gas-liquid centrifugal pump, three-dimensional turbulent flow of a single-stage gas-liquid centrifugal pump has been simulated by using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Both steady and unsteady simulations have been conducted for different inlet gas volume fraction conditions of the pump. The gas phase distribution, the internal flow field and pressure field of the pump were obtained with inhomogeneous two-fluid model. The result showed that many gas accumulation zones accompanied vortices appears in the impeller as IGVF increases, and surge would occur as IGVF reaches a certain value. The change of IGVF would change the magnitude and direction of the impeller radial force.