PARAMETRIC INVESTIGATION OF A CENTRIFUGAL SLURRY PUMP WHILE HANDLING CLEAR WATER

The performance of centrifugal slurry pump impellers strongly depends upon the complex configuration of the asymmetrical flow-field in the axial direction which is highly unsteady. The flow-field, in turn, is considerably affected by design parameters of volute casing and impeller geometry. Although many studies have focused on their optimization in water pumps, few studies have been conducted about centrifugal slurry pumps. The current study investigates the performance of a centrifugal slurry pump experimentally and numerically on, using clear water instead of slurry mixtures to avoid the effects of nonlinear intense the slurry mixtures. Additionally, a parametric study is carried out numerically to investigate the effects of blade configuration on the performance of slurry pump. Blade number, blade height and blade thickness are considered as the affecting parameters. The results show that the increase in blade number leads to an increase at head and shaft power. However, the hydraulic efficiency is variable and depends on flow rates. Around operation conditions of the studied pump, the impellers which have three and four blades are more efficient than impellers with two and five blades. Furthermore, by increasing of blade height from 30 mm to 50 mm, the performance of the slurry pump increases only at high flow rates. On the other hand with the decreases in blade thickness from 50 mm to 30 mm, the performance of centrifugal slurry pump increases at all flow range.