• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.29 no.7 s.238
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• pp.773-783
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• 2005

Internal flow measurement of very low specific-speed semi-open impellers has been carried out by PIV in order to understand better the internal flow patterns that are responsible fur the unique performance of these centrifugal pumps operating in the range of very low specific speed. Two types of impellers, one equipped with six radial blades (Impeller A) and the other with four conventional backward-swept blades (Impeller B), are tested in a centrifugal pump operating at a non-dimensional specific-speed of $n_s=0.24$. Complex flow patterns captured by PIV are discussed in conjunction with the overall pump performance measured separately. It is revealed that Impeller A achieves higher effective head than Impeller B even though the flow patterns in Impeller A are more complex, exhibiting secondary flows and reverse flows in the impeller passage. It is shown that both the localized strong outward flow at the pressure side of each blade outlet and the strong outward through-flow along the suction side of each blade are responsible for the better head performance of Impeller A.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.29 no.7 s.238
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• pp.784-794
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• 2005

In the very low specific speed range ($n_s=0.24$ < 0.25, non-dimensional), the efficiency of centrifugal pump designed by a conventional method is very low in common. Therefore, positive-displacement pumps have long been used widely. Recently, since the centrifugal pumps are becoming higher in rotational speed and smaller in size, there expects to develop a new centrifugal pump with a high performance to replace the positive-displacement pumps. The purpose of this study is to investigate the internal flow characteristics of a very low specific speed centrifugal pump and to examine the effect of internal flow pattern on pump performance. The results show that the theoretical head definition of semi-open impeller should be revised by the consideration of high slip factor in the semi-open impeller, and the leakage flow through the tip clearance results in a large effect on the impeller internal flow. Strong reverse flow at the outlet of semi-open impeller reduces the absolute tangential velocity considerably, and the decreased absolute tangential velocity increasese the slip factor with the reduction of theoretical head.

• Journal of Advanced Marine Engineering and Technology
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.685-692
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• 2006

In a general centrifugal pump, if it is operated in a two-phase flow the activity of the impeller usually degrades and occasionally losses its function. However, the effect of break down of centrifugal pump due to entrained air has not been clarified yet. This paper shows the air-water two-phase flow characteristics of closed type and semi-open type impellers. In a sing1e-phase flow, closed-type impeller has higher efficiency and head. But in air-water two-phase flow semi-open type impeller's rates of decreases of efficiency and head are decreased.

• The KSFM Journal of Fluid Machinery
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• v.9 no.1 s.34
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• pp.9-18
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• 2006

In the range of very low specific speed ($n_s<0.25$, non-dimensional), the performance of a centrifugal pump is much different from that of a centrifugal pump of normal ns and the efficiency of the pump drops rapidly with the decrease of $n_s$. In order to examine the reason of unstable performance characteristics of the very low $n_s$- centrifugal pump, the internal flow of the pump with a semi-open impeller is measured by a PTV(Particle Tracking Velocimetry) system. The purpose of this study is to make clear the internal flow characteristics and to obtain basic knowledge of the pump performance. The results show that the leakage flow through tip clearance give a strong effect on the flow pattern of impeller passage. A large vortex in the impeller passage and a strong reverse flow at impeller outlet are formed in the range of small flow rates, and the vortex and the reverse flow together reduce the absolute tangential velocity at the impeller outlet and cause the performance instability.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.345-350
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• 2014

A special usage impeller pump for ballast water treatment is part of an offshore plant's structure. It has to maintain a high corrosion resistance in an extreme environment, in which it can contact several kinds of aqueous solutions. The duplex stainless steel used in such severe environments is known to have corrosion resistance and excellent mechanical properties. This study estimated the performance of an impeller pump system designed using duplex stainless steel through a computational fluid dynamics analysis. As a result, it was determined that the pressure drop increases and the impeller performance is lowered if the equivalent roughness is enlarged. The surface precision of the duplex stainless steel must be consistently maintained. If thisis the case, it was determined that the existing STS steel can be substituted for the Duplex stainless steel.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Marine Engineers Conference
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• 2005.11a
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• pp.43-44
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• 2005

The effect of break down of centrifugal pump due to entrained air has not been clarified yet. Thus, air-water two-phase flow experimental apparatus was installed to clarify the effect of break down. The performance results of a single-phase flow satisfied reappearance. Also, the heads coincided well impeller types.

• The KSFM Journal of Fluid Machinery
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• v.3 no.3 s.8
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• pp.12-18
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• 2000

In this study, experimental and numerical analyses are carried out to investigate the performance of centrifugal pump with various air admitting conditions. Experiments on the pump performance under air-water two-phase flow are accomplished using a centrifugal pump with semi-open type impeller having three, five and seven blades, respectively. Also, the numerical analysis of turbulent air-water two-phase flow using the finite volume method has been carried out to obtain the pressure, velocities and void fraction on the basis of a so-called bubbly flow model with the constant size and shape of cavity. The results obtained through this study show the reasonable agreements within the range of bubbly flow regime. There are promising developments concerning application of the present study for the flow in a centrifugal pump with two-phase flow conditions and efforts must be followed to improve the turbulence model and two-phase flow model for turbomachinery.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2000.04b
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• pp.568-573
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• 2000

In this study, experimental and numerical analyses are carried out to investigate the performance of centrifugal pump with various air admitting conditions. Experiments on pump performance under air-water two-phase flow n accomplished using a centrifugal pump with semi-open type impeller having three, five and seven blades, respectively. Also, the numerical analysis of turbulent air-water two-phase flow using finite volume method has been carried out to obtain the pressure, velocities and void fraction on the basis of a so-called bubbly flow model with the constant size and shape of cavity. The results obtained through this study show the reasonable agreements within the range of bubbly flow regime. There are promising developments concerning application of the present study for the flow in a centrifugal pump with two-phase flow conditions and efforts must be followed to improve the turbulence model and two-phase flow model for turbomachinery.