Flow at the Centrifugal Pump Impeller Exit With Circumferential Distortion of the Outlet Static Pressure

The effects of circumferential outlet distortion of a centrifugal pump diffuser on the impeller exit flow were investigated. A fence with sinusoidal width variation was installed at the vaneless diffuser exit. The flow field was measured at the impeller exit with and without the fence, using a hot film probe and an unsteady pressure sensor. Flow parameters varied with the circumferential position and the mean flow parameters plotted against the local flow rate at each circumferential position showed loops along the quasi-steady curves, which were obtained from the result without the fence. Simple theoretical calculations were used to predict the velocity components at the impeller exit with the relative flow angle or total pressure assumed. Good result was obtained when the relative flow angle was assumed to vary quasi-steadily, not constant with the local flow rate. The radial velocity was also reasonably predicted when the total pressure was assumed to vary quasi-steadily. A simple method is proposed to predict the impeller exit flow with downstream blockage in two-step sequence: the first step deals with the diffuser alone to obtain static pressure distribution at the diffuser inlet, while the second step deals with the impeller alone to obtain velocity components distribution at the impeller exit.