Numerical investigation of fluid flow between the impeller and casing on disk friction for a centrifugal pump

Pumps consume about 20% of whole electricity power in the world. Centrifugal pump is one of the most common pumps that works by the transfer of angular momentum to the fluid. The behavior of such a fluid flow in the side chamber, may affect the pump performance. The side chamber is defined the free space between the fixed (pump casing) and the rotating (pump impeller) parts. Steady, fully 3D computations of the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations using a commercial CFD code are conducted in order to study the flow field in the whole pump including both side chambers. Numerical results are validated by comparison with the existing experiments. The impact of fluid flow in hub and shroud side chambers with the volute is investigated qualitatively by using 2D stream lines. Evaluation of the empirical equations shows that the frictional torque may be decreased more than 10%, by using the proper gap size. Considering this situation, the changes in the flow pattern and the value of power loss resulting from friction in hub and shroud side chamber is studied. It reveals that the variation in friction depends on the initial flow pattern in cavity. Finally, in order to obtain the relationship between the power loss and the flow rate, nondimensional coefficients are derived. These coefficients show that the change in the power loss due to the volumetric flow rate, is the same as its change with the gap changing, but their slopes are not equal.