INVESTIGATION THE FLOW FIELD IN THE IMPELLER OF A SLURRY PUMP USING COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS (CFD)

Abstract

In this paper, the impeller of a slurry pump is designed, and the flow field is investigated using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). To ensure particle transportation with a solid particle concentration of up to 30%, the impeller is designed with equal blade widths at the entrance and outlet of the impeller (b1=b2) and a small number of blades (Z = 4). The flow through the impeller is simulated using the shear stress transport model SST k-w. Based on the simulation results of the velocity and pressure fields in the impeller, performance curves such as the head curve and efficiency curve with different rotation speeds are built. In addition, the influence of size and particle concentration on the efficiency and head of the pump was also investigated. The results show that as the size and concentration of particles increase, the head and efficiency decrease.