Determination of radial force in hydrodynamic pump using numerical modelling

Abstract

This paper deals with determination of radial force for a centrifugal pump impeller using the numerical modelling as a tool. Fluent software package was applied to investigate the flow in a centrifugal pump with given parameters Qv = 0.007 m3s-1, H = 80 m, n = 2 900 min-1 designed at the Victor Kaplan Department of Fluid Engineering, Energy Institute, Technical university Brno. The incompressible, unsteady flow (and steady to compare) was modelled in 3D geometry consisting of inlet part, impeller and volute. Results obtained by numerical modelling were compared with predictions of radial force using empirical formulas defined by several authors.