Investigation of turbulence and blade orientation effects in a radial diffuser pump by laser Doppler velocimetry

Abstract

In this article, the unsteady flow field in a radial diffuser pump has been investigated by laser Doppler velocimetry measurements at the design condition Q_des and also at three off-design conditions 0.5Q_des, 0.75Q_des, and 1.15Q_des. Both the upstream effect and the downstream effect originating from the unsteady interactions are quantitatively examined, and these effects are also compared with the turbulence effect. The analysis of the experimental results shows that the upstream effect is only limited to the impeller rear part for all examined flowrates. The downstream effect is comparable to the turbulence effect before the diffuser inlet throat at Q_des and 1.15Q_des. However, the turbulence effect dominates totally over the downstream effect at part-flow conditions 0.5Q_des and 0.75Q_des.

Keywords

rotor—stator interactions radial pump laser Doppler velocimetry turbulence blade orientation effect

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