Flow Characteristics in Volute of a Double-Suction Centrifugal Pump with Different Impeller Arrangements

As an important type of centrifugal pump, the double-suction pump has been widely used due to its high efficiency region and large flow rate. In the present study, the complex flow in volute of a double-suction centrifugal pump is investigated by numerical simulation using a re-normalization group (RNG) k-epsilon model with experimental validation. Axial flows are observed in volute near the impeller outlet and compared with four staggered angles. The net area-weighted average axial velocities decrease as the staggered angle increases. The axial flows are mainly caused by the different circumferential pressure distribution at the twin impeller outlet. The dominant frequencies of the axial velocities for different staggered angles are f(BP) and its harmonic. The pressure fluctuations in most regions of the volute are obtained by superimposing the pressure generated by the two impellers.