• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2007.05b
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• pp.2603-2608
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• 2007

Flows in the centrifugal compressor volute with circular cross section are numerically investigated. The computational grid for the calculation utilized a multi-block arrangement to form a butterfly grid and flow calculations are performed using commercial CFD software, CFX-TASCflow. The centrifugal compressor of this study has axial diffuser after radial diffuser because of the shape of inlet duct and installation constraints. Due to this feature the swirling flow pattern is different from the other investigations. The flow inside volute is very complex and three dimensional with strong vortex and recirculation through volute tongue. The calculation results show circumferential variations of the swirl and through flow velocity and pressure distribution. The mechanism deciding flow structure is explained by considering the force balance in volute cross section. And static pressure recovery and total pressure loss are estimated from the calculated results and compared with Japikse model.

• International Journal of Fluid Machinery and Systems
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.75-86
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• 2013

The effects of acoustic resonance and volute geometry on phase resonance are studied theoretically and experimentally using a centrifugal fan. One dimensional theoretical model is developed taking account of the reflection from the discharge pipe end. It was found that the phase resonance occurs, even with the effects of acoustic resonance, when the rotational speed of rotor-stator interaction pattern agrees with the sound velocity. This was confirmed by experiments with and without a silencer at the discharge pipe exit. The pressure wave measurements showed that there are certain effects of the cross-sectional area change of the volute which is neglected in the one dimensional model. To clarify the effects of area change, experiments were carried out by using a ring volute with a constant area. It was demonstrated that the phase resonance occurs for both interaction modes travelling towards/away from the volute. The amplitude of travelling wave grows towards the volute exit for the modes rotating towards the volute exit, in the same direction as the impeller. However, a standing wave is developed in the volute for the modes rotating away from the volute exit in the opposite direction as the impeller, as a result of the interaction of a growing wave while travelling towards the tongue and a reflected wave away from the tongue.

• Journal of computational fluids engineering
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.35-40
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• 2015

Centrifugal pumps consume considerable amounts of energy in various industrial applications. Therefore, improving the efficiency of pumps machine is a crucial challenge in industrial world. This paper presents numerical investigation of flow characteristics in volutes of centrifugal pumps in order to compare the energy consumption. A wide range of volumetric flow rate has been investigated for each case. The standard k-${\varepsilon}$ is adopted as the turbulence model. The impeller rotation is simulated employing the Multi Reference Frames(MRF) method. First, two different conventional design methods, i.e., the constant angular momentum(CAM) and the constant mean velocity (CMV) are studied and compared to a baseline volute model. The CAM volute profile is a logarithmic spiral. The CMV volute profile shape is an Archimedes spiral curve. The modified volute models show lower head value than baseline volute model, but in case of efficiency graph, CAM curve has higher values than others. Finally for this part, CAM curve is selected to be used in the simulation of different cross-section shape. Two different types of cross-section are generated. One is a simple rectangular shape, and the other one is fan shape. In terms of different cross-section shape, simple rectangular geometry generated higher head and efficiency. Overall, simulation results showed that the volute designed using constant angular momentum(CAM) method has higher characteristic performances than one by CMV volute.

• The KSFM Journal of Fluid Machinery
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• v.3 no.4 s.9
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• pp.7-14
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• 2000

This paper provides integrity evaluation and root cause analysis for defects observed at volute tongue, or cutwater, of the operating centrifugal pump in power plant. The cause of the cracks are analyzed and reviewed from the viewpoint of the operation and maintenance of the pumps, and the sample obtained from the cracked volute tongue of the pump are examined. At first, in-situ hardness test and microstructure examination were performed to understand the cause of cracking at volute tongue. The evaluation of structural integrity and the possibility of the crack propagation is also evaluated. Cracks were typical intergranular cracking and propagated along with prior austenite grain boundary. At easing volute tongue, the hardness was higher than ASTM requirement and a large amount of intergranular Cr carbide was precipitated. These were due to high C content in material. P content was also higher than ASTM requirement. Therefore, Cr carbide precipitation and P segregation at grain boundary, caused by higher C and P content in material, resulted in intergranular cracking of casing volute tongue. This procedure for integrity evaluation and root cause analysis is used to guide, and support the pump designer and manufacturer's material selection and process design to avoid a costly, unplanned outage of plant.

• 유체기계공업학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2001.11a
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• pp.264-270
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• 2001

The hydraulic performance analysis of an entire pump system composed of an inducer, impeller, volute and seal for the application on turbopumps is performed using three-dimensional Wavier-Stokes equations. A quasi-steady mixing-plane method is used on the impeller/volute interface to simulate the unsteady interaction phenomena. From this wort the effects of each component on the pump performance are investigated at design and off-design conditions through the analysis of flow structures and loss mechanisms. The computational results are in a good agreement with experimental ones in terms of the headrise and efficiency even though very complex flow structures are present. It is found that the asymmetric pressure distribution along the volute wall constitutes the main reason of the difference between experimental and computational results due to the limitation of the applying the quasi-steady method. Since the volute was found to be over-designed according to the pressure distribution of the volute wall, redesign of the volute has been performed resulting in an improved performance characteristic.

• International Journal of Fluid Machinery and Systems
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.218-226
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• 2017

Severe radial thrust under off-design operating conditions can be a harmful factor for centrifugal pumps. In the present work, effects of geometry of a double volute casing on the hydrodynamic performance of a centrifugal pump have been investigated focusing on off-design conditions. Three-dimensional steady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes analysis was carried out by using shear stress transport turbulence model. Numerical results for the hydrodynamic performance of the centrifugal pump were validated compared with experimental data. The hydraulic efficiency and radial thrust coefficient were used as performance parameters to evaluate the hydrodynamic characteristics of the centrifugal pump. The cross-sectional area ratio of the volute casing, the expansion coefficient of the rib structure, the distance between the rib starting point and volute entrance, and radius and width of the volute entrance, and length of the rib structure, were selected as geometric parameters. Results of the parametric study show that the performance parameters are significantly affected by the geometric variables and operating conditions. Optimal configurations of the double volute casing based on the design of experiments technique show outstanding performance in terms of the efficiency and radial thrust coefficient.

• The KSFM Journal of Fluid Machinery
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• v.5 no.2 s.15
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• pp.15-21
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• 2002

The hydraulic performance analysis of an entire pump system composed of inducer, impeller, volute and seal for the application of turbopumps is numerically performed using three-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations. A quasi-steady mixing-plane method is used on the impeller/volute interface to simulate the unsteady interaction phenomena. From this work, the effects of each component on the pump performance are investigated at design and off-design conditions through the analysis of flow structures and loss mechanisms. The computational results are in a good agreement with experimental ones in terms of the headrise and efficiency even though very complex flow structures are present. It is found that the asymmetric pressure distribution along the volute wall constitutes the main reason of the difference between experimental and computational results, due to the limitation of the quasi-steady method. Since the volute was found to be over-designed by the pressure distribution of the volute wall, re-design of the volute has been performed, resulting in an improved performance characteristic.

• International Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.68-73
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• 2009

In this paper, a numerical study has been carried out to investigate the influence of volute geometries on the performance of a sirocco fan. In order to achieve an optimum volute design and explain the interactions between the different geometric configurations in the volute system, three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics and the 'design of experiment' method have been applied. Several geometric parameters, such as the volute expansion angle, the cut-off position and the bell mouth shape, are employed to improve efficiency and performance. $2^k$ factorial designs were performed to screen the most influential parameters and interactions, and showed that the cut-off position and the bell mouth shape are the most significant parameters. The optimum design was selected as a result of the response surface methodology, and effects of these parameters and their interactions were presented. From the results of computational analyses and experimental data, the performance and efficiency of the sirocco fan were successfully improved. Also, detailed effects of geometric variables of the volute system on the fan performance were discussed.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.531-538
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• 2013

The primary function of centrifugal compressor volute is to flow from the impeller and diffuser to the pipe system. The strength of the scroll vortex and flow pattern in the volute vary with the operating point. This is largely caused by the interaction between the impeller and the volute flow fields. The recirculation flow around the tongue and the scroll vortex can be used to understand the characteristics of the volute flow at off-design points. The present study aims to find the characteristics of a flow pattern in the diffuser and volute of a centrifugal compressor from the rectangular cross section of the volute. Measurements are carried out using PIV. The results obtained in this study show that the separation region around the tongue is reduced and that the recirculation flow increases as the flow coefficient decreases.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2005.11a
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• pp.85.1-85.1
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• 2005