Numerical analysis of pressure pulsation in vertical submersible axial flow pump device under bidirectional operation

Abstract

In order to analyze the pressure pulsation characteristics of a single-conduit vertical submersible axial-flow pump device under bidirectional operation, the unsteady numerical simulation of the pump device was carried out based on computational fluid dynamics. The pressure pulsation coefficient and fast Fourier transform were used to analyze the pulsation of each monitoring point in the time–frequency domain. The results show that the pressure pulsation at different positions of the pump device is mainly affected by the impeller rotation, and the amplitude is large at the blade frequency and its harmonic frequency. In the positive operation, the main frequency of pressure pulsation at each monitoring point at the inlet of the impeller is three times the rotating frequency, and in the reverse operation, the main frequency of pressure pulsation at each monitoring point is 0.5 times the rotating frequency. The amplitude of pressure pulsation at each monitoring point at the inlet of the impeller is less than that of the positive operation, while the amplitude of pressure pulsation at the outlet of the impeller and the guide vane is larger than that of the positive operation. In the positive and reverse operation, the axial force of the impeller is significantly affected by the inlet velocity, and the amplitude of the axial force is small in the rotation period. The axial force increases with the increase of flow rate. The radial force of the impeller is significantly affected by the inflow flow pattern. The radial force changes obviously in the rotation period, and the radial force does not change regularly with the flow rate. The radial force of the impeller under reverse operation is 7.75 times that under positive operation.