Design Improvement of Radial Flow Submersible

Pump using CFD

By
Aakarsh Jain
13MMET05

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NIRMA UNIVERSITY
AHMEDABAD-382481
May 2015
Design Improvement of Radial Flow Submersible
Pump using CFD

Major Project Report

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements

For the Degree of
Master of Technology in Mechanical Engineering
(Thermal Engineering)

By
Aakarsh Jain
(13MMET05)

Guided By
Dr. R N Patel
Prof. S V Jain

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NIRMA UNIVERSITY
AHMEDABAD-382481
May 2015
 Declaration

This is to certify that

1. The thesis comprises of my original work towards the degree of Master of Technology in
Mechanical Engineering (Thermal Engineering) at Nirma University and has not been
submitted elsewhere for a degree.

2. Due acknowledgment has been made in the text to all other material used.

Aakarsh Jain

13MMET05

ii
 Undertaking for Originality of the Work

I, Aakarsh Jain, Roll. No. 13MMET05, give undertaking that the Major Project entitled
“Design Improvement of Radial Flow Submersible Pump using CFD” submitted by me,
towards the partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Technology
in Mechanical Engineering (Thermal Engineering) of Nirma University, Ahmedabad, is the
original work carried out by me and I give assurance that no attempt of plagiarism has been
made. I understand that in the event of any similarity found subsequently with any published
work or any dissertation work elsewhere; it will result in severe disciplinary action.

__________________
Signature of Student

Endorsed by

(Signature of Guide)

Date:
Place:Ahmedabad

iii
 Certificate

This is to certify that the Major Project Report entitled “Design Improvement of Ra-
dial Flow Submersible Pump using CFD” submitted by Mr Aakarsh Jain (13MMET05),
towards the partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of Degree of Master of Tech-
nology in Mechanical Engineering (Thermal Engineering) of Institute of Technology, Nirma
University, Ahmedabad is the record of work carried out by him under our supervision and
guidance. In our opinion, the submitted work has reached a level required for being accepted
for examination. The result embodied in this major project, to the best of our knowledge,
has not been submitted to any other University or Institution for award of any degree.

Prof. S V Jain
Co-Guide,
Associate Professor,
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Institute of Technology,
Nirma University,
Ahmedabad.

Dr R N Patel Dr K Kotecha
Guide, Director,
Professor and Head Institute of Technology,
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Nirma University,
Institute of Technology, Ahmedabad
Nirma University,
Ahmedabad.

iv
 Acknowledgments

It is my great pleasure to express thanks and profound gratitude to my university Guide,

Dr. R N Patel HOD of Mechanical Engineering Department, Institute of Technology, Nirma
University, Ahmedabad and Co-Guide Prof. S V Jain Associate Professor of Mechanical
Engineering Department, Institute of Technology, Nirma University, Ahmedabad, for their
valuable guidance and continual encouragement throughout the semester. I am thankful to
them for their valuable suggestion and conceptual clarity of the topic in detail that helped
me a lot during this work.
I am very much thankful to Dr. K Kotecha (Director, IT, NU) and Dr. V J Lakhera
(PG Co-ordinator, IT, NU) who have directly or indirectly helped me during this dissertation
work.
I am thankful to all staff members of Duke Plasto Technique Pvt. Ltd., Palanpur for
their kind support in project work.
I am also thankful to all faculty and staff members of Department of Mechanical Engi-
neering, Nirma University, Ahmedabad for their special attention and suggestions for work.
The blessings of God and my family made the way for this dissertation work. I am very
much grateful to them.
The friends, who always bear and motivated me throughout this training, I am thankful
to them.

Aakarsh Jain

v
 Abstract
The demand of high efficient and energy saver submersible pumps has increased a lot.
This made manufacturers to improve the current design and manufacturing process of pumps.
For improving the design of pumps, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) softwares have
turned to be very useful before actual manufacturing of pump. The CFD technique is very
useful as it saves cost and time for prototyping and testing different models. It also helps in
better understanding the pump phenomena.
In the present study, CFD analysis of 8-stage radial flow submersible pump (discharge:
7 lps and head: 18 m per stage) manufactured by M/s Duke Plasto Techniques Pvt. Ltd.
Palanpur is carried out. The analysis was carried out by altering various parameters like grid
and turbulence model to reach best efficiency point. From the analysis, it was concluded
that shear stress transport turbulence model gave the nearer result to experiment with grid
size of about 25 lakh elements. The numerical analysis was carried out at different mass
flow rates and operating pressure. To improve the efficiency of pump, the impeller blades
were redesigned and its modeling was done using SolidWorks 14. The CFD analysis of the
modified impeller was done and results were compared with existing model. The modified
impeller led to around 5% improvement in pump efficiency.
Contents

Declaration ii

Certificate iv

Acknowledgments v

Abstract vi

Table of Contents ix

List of Figures x

List of Tables xii

Nomenclature xiii

1 Introduction 1
1.1 Company Profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.2 Types and Construction of Submersible Pump . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.2.1 Radial flow pumps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.2.2 Mixed flow pumps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

2 Literature Review 6
2.1 CFD Analysis of Pump . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.2 Design Improvement in Pump . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.3 Motivation for Present Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2.4 Objectives of the Present Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

3 CFD Analysis of Submersible Pump 15

3.1 Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.1.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

vii
 3.1.2 Working of CFD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
3.2 Data Collection of Submersible Pump . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3.2.1 Pump Specification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3.2.2 Performance curves for submersible pump . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
3.2.3 2D drawings of impeller and bowl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
3.3 Geometry Creation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
3.4 Grid Generation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
3.5 Boundary Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
3.6 Simulation in CFX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
3.6.1 Assumptions in CFX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
3.6.2 Solution technique . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
3.6.3 Performance Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
3.6.3.1 Head . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
3.6.3.2 Mass flow rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
3.6.3.3 Total moment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
3.6.3.4 Input power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
3.6.3.5 Output Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
3.6.4 Non-dimensional parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
3.6.4.1 Head number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
3.6.4.2 Flow number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
3.6.4.3 Power number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
3.6.4.4 Hydraulic efficiency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
3.7 Results and Discussions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
3.7.1 Grid independence test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
3.7.2 Selection of turbulence model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
3.7.3 Static pressure contours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
3.7.4 Velocity vectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
3.7.5 Comparison with model test data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

4 Improvement in Blade Design of Radial flow Impeller 33

4.1 Blade Design Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
4.1.1 Proposed dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
4.1.2 Blade profile generation in CAD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

5 CFD Analysis of Submersible Pump with Modified Impeller 38

5.1 Fluid Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
5.2 Grid Generation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

viii
 5.3 Boundary Conditions and Solution Technique . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
5.4 Results and Discussions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
5.4.1 Grid independence test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
5.4.2 Pressure contour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
5.4.3 Velocity vectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
5.4.4 Velocity streamlines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
5.4.5 Comparison of results with original impeller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

6 Conclusions and Future Scope 44

6.1 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
6.2 Future Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
List of Figures

1.1 Radial Flow Submersible Pump[2] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

1.2 Mixed Flow Submersible Pump[2] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

2.1 Flow circulation at the Blade inlet[13] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

2.2 Pressure field generated in the impeller[10] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2.3 Change in pressure field at various Radial Gaps[11] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2.4 Comparison between experimental data and CFD result[15] . . . . . . . . . . 13

3.1 Pump selected for analysis[2] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

3.2 Cad Model of Impeller and Bowl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
3.3 Performance curves of submersible pump . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
3.4 2D detailed drawing of impeller [2] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
3.5 2D detailed drawing of bowl [2] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
3.6 Impeller fluid model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
3.7 Bowl fluid model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
3.8 Computational model of pump assembly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
3.9 Meshed parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
3.10 Grid independency test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
3.11 Static pressure [Pa] contour at impeller at different discharge . . . . . . . . . 28
3.12 Velocity vectors at impeller at different discharge. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
3.13 Streamlines at part load condition in impeller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
3.14 Head number v/s Flow number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
3.15 Power number v/s Flow number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
3.16 Efficiency v/s Flow number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

4.1 Flow chart of blade design procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

4.2 Specific head v/s Percentage Head[17] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
4.3 Graph of vane angle v/s radius . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
4.4 Steps of blade profile generation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

x
5.1 Fluid section of impeller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
5.2 Meshed impeller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
5.3 Grid independency test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
5.4 Comparison of pressure contour at different discharge . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
5.5 Comparison of velocity vectors at different discharge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
5.6 Velocity streamline at BEP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
5.7 Head number v/s Flow number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
5.8 Power number v/s Flow number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
5.9 Efficiency-v/s-Flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

xi
List of Tables

1.1 Parts of Radial flow Pump[2] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

1.2 Parts of Mixed Flow Pump[2] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

2.1 Boundary Conditions given to the model[10] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

3.1 Submersible Pump specifications[2] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

3.2 Grid details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
3.3 Turbulence model test results of pump . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
3.4 Model test data of existing impeller[2] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
3.5 CFD results of existing impeller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

4.1 Specifications of existing impeller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

4.2 Calculated value of R . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

5.1 CFD result of modified impeller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

xii
 Nomenclature

g Gravitational acceleration, m/s2

m Mass flow rate, kg/s
n Rotational speed, rps
u Mean velocity, m/s
A Area, m2
C Axial velocity, m/s
Cp Specific heat, J/kg K
D Diameter, m
H Head, m
N Rotational speed, rpm
Ns Specific speed, rev/s
P Pressure, P a
Q Discharge, m3 /s
R Radius, m
Sh Source term due to exchange of energy
Sj Source term due to exchange of momentum
Sm Source term due to exchange of mass
T Torque, N m (in Eqs. 3.5, 3.6 and 3.11)
T Temperature, K (in Eq. 3.3)
U Circumferential velocity, rad/s
β Vane angle, rad
η Efficiency, %
λ Thermal conductivity, W/m2 K
π Power number
ρ Density, kg/m3
τ Stress tensor, N
φ Flow number
ψ Head number
ω Angular velocity, rev/min
Φ Viscous dissipation
Subscripts
in Inlet
o Outlet
1 Inner
2 Outer
xiii
xiv
Chapter 1

Introduction

A submersible pump is a device which has hermetically sealed motor coupled to the pump
body. The whole assembly of pump and motor is submerged in the water. The main advan-
tage of this type of pump is that it prevents pump cavitation, which occurs mainly due to high
elevation difference between pump and the fluid surface. Submersible pumps pushes water
to the surface whereas jet pumps have to pull water. Submersible pumps are comparatively
more efficient than jet pumps.
The first submersible oil pump was successfully installed by System Engineer Armais
Arutunoff of Russian oil delivery system in 1928. In 1929, Pleuger Pumps pioneered the
design of the submersible turbine pump, which was the forerunner of the modern multistage
submersible pump. The first fully submersible deep-well water pump was developed in mid-
1960s.
Submersible pumps used in electric submersible pump ESP installations are vertically
aligned multistage centrifugal pumps. Even after continuous evolution in constructional and
operational features of submersible pumps, their basic operational principle remained the
same. A great centrifugal force acts on the produced liquids by the high rotation speed
of the impeller, all the kinetic energy of the liquid is lost in diffuser where a conversion of
kinetic to pressure energy takes place. Liquids enter the pump through an intake strainer at
the bottom and are lifted by the pump stages. The radial bearings known as Bushings are
distributed along the length of shaft to provide radial support to the pump shaft turning at
high rotational speeds. Axial forces arising in the pump are absorbed by the thrust bearing,
sometimes an additional thrust bearing is provided for extra support.
Annual average consumption of electricity by agricultural sector of Gujarat on pumps
was 119492 GWh during year 2009-10. Overall efficiency of available submersible pumps is
40% (approximately). In India farmers get electricity at very low fare hence they are least
concerned about less efficiency of pump. If pump performance is improved then electricity

1
can be saved upto good extent.[1]

1.1 Company Profile

M/s Duke Plasto Techniques Pvt. Ltd. is a major manufacturer of Submersible Pump sets
and PVC pipes. The main production unit of Duke Plasto is located in Palanpur district of
Gujarat. DUKE was established in 1989.
DUKE has been a pioneer in providing quality pumping solutions to valued patrons spread
worldwide. Since last two decades Duke has served satisfactorily to his consumers. DUKE
offers a wide range of high quality products, combined with exceptional service to customers
searching for consistent quality and dependable service. DUKE offers an extensive range of
high quality uPVC Casing Pipes, Column Pipes, Pressure Pipes, Elastomeric Sealing Ring
Pipes, SWR Pipes and all types PVC fittings and Energy Efficient Submersible Pumps &
Motors, Monoblock Pumps, Centrifugal Pumps and Booster Pumps. DUKE is India’s first
5 star certified company which has more than 500 models with 5 star rated which saves up
to 30% energy.
Today, brand DUKE has carved niche for itself as reliable water solutions provider. Their
commitment to continuously increase the product quality has been recognized by Govt. and
they had been awarded “National Quality Award” in 2007. They also received Entrepreneur-
ship & Empower 2010 Award from Govt. of India and Vibrant Gujarat Award from Govt. of
Gujarat. All products are CE certified by TUV: SUD South Asia and ISO 9001:2000. Also
products are certified with Indian standards like IS 4985:2000, IS 8034:2002, IS 12818:1992,
IS 9283:1995, IS 14220:1994, IS 13592:1992. They have also approval from GEDA for energy
efficient pump sets.

1.2 Types and Construction of Submersible Pump

Submersible pumps are mainly classified in two types based on the shape of impeller:
1. Radial flow pumps

2. Mixed flow pumps

Further sub classification of pump is based on the type of material of construction:
1. Cast Iron

2. Stainless Steel

3. Noryl

2
1.2.1 Radial flow pumps
In this type of pump, liquid enters the impeller eye axially and leaves impeller in radial
direction with higher velocity. The kinetic energy of the liquid is converted into pressure
energy in the diffuser and the water is again redirected axially into the next stage impeller
eye. For a bore well size, lower mass flow rate pumping is achieved by radial flow type pumps
and the required power (HP) per stage is also in the lower range.
The radial flow pump can be distinguished by its impeller design. The impeller of radial
flow pump is so designed that it throws the water radially. It means that the bowl receives
water at an angle 900 from impeller.
The pumps are made of mainly three materials Stainless steel, Cast Iron and Noryl. The
pump material is decided depending upon the application area and the installation capacity
of pump. The pumps of stainless steel are less in application as they are costly compare to
CI and Noryl. The Noryl is a plastic type material it has good surface finish, but they are
applicable only for low head as their strength is low. 2-D drawing of radial flow pump and
parts are shown below in Fig 1.1 and Table 1.1.

Figure 1.1: Radial Flow Submersible Pump[2]

3
 Table 1.1: Parts of Radial flow Pump[2]

Sr. No. Part Description Sr. No. Part Description

1 Pump Shaft 11 Bowl Cap
2 Intermediate Piece 12 NRV Ring
3 Bearing Bush 13 Valve
4 Strainer 14 T-Bolt
5 Bearing Sleeve 15 NRV
6 Impeller 16 NRV Cap
7 Rubber Bush 17 Cable Guard
8 Bowl 18 Hex Bolt
9 Thrust Washer 19 Spring Washer
10 Discharge Outlet

1.2.2 Mixed flow pumps

In this type of pump, liquid enters impeller eye axially and leaves the impeller diagonally
with higher velocity. The kinetic energy of the liquid is converted into pressure energy in the
bowl type diffuser and the water is again redirected axially into the next stage impeller eye.
For a bore well size, higher discharge rate pumping is achieved by mixed flow type pumps
and the required power (HP) per stage is also in the higher range.
Mixed flow pumps can also be distinguished by its impeller design. The impeller of mixed
flow pump is so designed that it throws the water at certain angle. In this type the bowl
receives water at an angle of 450 from impeller.
The pumps are made of mainly three materials Stainless steel, Cast Iron and Noryl. The
pump material is decided depending upon the application area and the installation capacity
of pump. The pumps of stainless steel are less in application as they are costly compare to
CI and Noryl. The Noryl is a plastic type material, it has got good surface finish but its
strength is very low. 2-D drawing of mixed flow pump and parts are shown below in Fig 1.2
and Table 1.2.

4
 Figure 1.2: Mixed Flow Submersible Pump[2]

Table 1.2: Parts of Mixed Flow Pump[2]

Sr. No. Part Description Sr. No. Part Description

1 Intermediate Piece 10 NRV Ring
2 Pump Shaft 11 Valve
3 Wear Ring 12 NRV
4 Impeller 13 Cable Guard
5 Thrust Washer 14 Strainer
6 Counter Bush 15 Hex Nut
7 Bearing Sleeve 16 Stud
8 Bowl 17 Rubber Bush
9 Bearing Bush

5
Chapter 2

Literature Review

2.1 CFD Analysis of Pump

Faustini and Kenyery studied 3D flow model in multiphase pump stage through CFD.
They created model geometry of stator and rotor using BladeGen program. The study was
made at high Gas Volumetric Fraction (GVF) into each component, and it was found that
at for GVF speed of pump is to be raised to raise the pressure. They assumed the flow to
be like fog. The simulation were done using k-ε model as it is precise and robust and it is
mostly used in industry as a standard. The analysis was done by varying the GVF and flow
rates. During the analysis the speed of rotor was kept as 5500 RPM and suction head as
151700 Pa, flow rates assumed were from 280 m3 /h to 500 m3 /h and GVF From 0.6 to 0.7
to 0.8. At 0.7 GVF it was found that liquid was not able to escape and got accumulated
in shroud. This was due to elimination of tip clearance which avoided the liquid to drain
between inter blade channels of rotor. The great fraction of gas was found coming out of
inter blade channel in suction zone. The liquid wasn’t able to flow in a regular manner and
didn’t obeyed the blade pattern, thus performance of stator wasn’t adapted.[3]
Damor et al. did a case study on experimental and CFD analysis of centrifugal pump
impeller. The experiment was carried out at LA Gajjar Pvt. Ltd., Ahmedabad for different
operating conditions and effects were observed. The readings were taken using analysis
software. The model of impeller was made using SolidWorks software. Unstructured meshing
with tetrahedral cell was done on zones of impeller. Mesh refinement was done near to tongue
region, leading and trailing edge. Around the blades hexahedral cells are generated to study
boundary layer well. The analysis was done using Ansys-CFX for different mass flow rates and
speeds. Standard k-ε model with 3D incompressible N-S equation was used for analysis. They
found that experiment results and CFD results matched satisfactorily. The best operating
condition obtained was flow rate of 6.25 lps and 12.49 m head for selected model of pump

6
impeller.[4]
Patel et al. carried out CFD analysis of mixed flow pump impeller and compared it
with experimental result. Empirical correlations found were

U1
tan β1 =
C1

ω × D1
U1 =
2
4×Q
C1 =
π × D2
where U1 is circumferential velocity, C1 is axial velocity, ω is angular velocity, D1 is internal
diameter and Q is discharge.
The model was developed by Pro-E and meshing was done using CFX. Mass flow rate was
kept constant and walls were defined solid. Increase in flow velocity and decrease in pressure
is observed due to blockage of flow. Further the contour became smooth between the blades.
Rise in pressure and drop in velocity was observed from inlet to outlet. Experimental and
CFD results were compared for head and efficiency and less variation was observed. Efficiency
was calculated using
head × Q
η=
6120 × KW
where head is in mm, discharge in liter per minute and power in KW.[6]
Mehta and Patel carried out CFD analysis of mixed flow pump impeller. Initially they
introduced types of blade viz. backward curved blade, radial blades and forward curved
blades. In backward curved blade flow rate increases and pressure decreases, while in radial
blade pressure doesn’t vary with flow rate, and in forward curved blade pressure increases with
increase in flow rate. They studied different research papers and finally proposed future scope
of improvement in impeller. The performance can be varied by changing number of blades,
changing blade material, inlet and outlet blade angle, inlet and outlet fluid temperature.
They advised to do comparison of result with actual results and obtain maximum head.[9]
Cheah et al carried out unsteady fluid flow study in a centrifugal pump by CFD method.
Analysis was done on 6 twisted blade impeller to study impeller and volute tongue interaction
using RANS codes and k-ε two equation model. Modeling was done by multiple reference
frame, impeller and volute casing were connected by sliding mesh technique.

7
 Figure 2.1: Flow circulation at the Blade inlet[13]

Flow circulation was observed at intake section due to curvature effect. The flow at leading
edge was separated as it got deviated from the desired shockless condition; but the flow
along blade curvature was very smooth in impeller. Spiral vortex were seen while leaving the
impeller and going towards volute as shown in Fig 2.1. It was concluded that secondary flow
developed due to vortices and recirculation was influenced by the volute geometry because
there always exist back flow between hub shroud and volute casing. Periodic fluctuations
in pressure was noted and the reason given was relative position of blade with respect to
tongue, turbulence and unsteadiness in flow.[13]
Caridad and Kenyery carried out CFD analysis of ESP handling two-phase mixtures.
This work was done for pump used in petroleum industry, where free gases accompany the
oil in oil well. In the analysis GVF (gas void fraction) was altered and result were compared
which were satisfying experimental results. Main parameters due to which head dropped were
GVF and suction pressure. Analysis was carried out using bubble size of 0.1, 0.3, 0.5 mm.
Mesh independence test was performed on the meshed model and model having difference
in result less than 1% was chosen for analysis. It was observed that as GVF increases head
dropped significantly, at 10% GVF head was 45.68ft, at 15% head was 41.36ft and at 17%
head was 40.28ft. At higher flow rate the drag force being exerted is higher due to which
bubbles are thrown outside towards exit; while at low flow rate drag force is not enough to
overcome adverse pressure gradient. The gas particles was found to get accumulated near
exit and inter-blade space. It was discovered that air bubbles reduces the effective flow area
and due to which there occurs drop in head.[14]

8
2.2 Design Improvement in Pump
Maitelli et al. did simulation of flow in a centrifugal pump of ESP systems using CFD.
The platform used for analysis was Ansys-CFX 11.0. They considered three cases as C1 , C2
and C3 as only impeller with real blade dimensions; pump, impeller, diffuser combined with
real blade dimension and increase in outer radii of impeller and diffuser by 4mm respectively.
The geometry was created using Autocad 2006 and BladeGen software. Standard k-epsilon
model was used for analysis as it is stable and robust. Meshing was done using appropriate
cell structure using Ansys-CFX. Atmospheric pressure, impeller speed and density were kept
fixed and flow rate was varied. It was observed that, in C1 low mass flow rate resulted in
excessive pressure rise this is due to negligence of diffuser if it is considered the friction losses
may arise. In C2 due to simplifications in geometry large losses with coupling is seen even
if the behavior compared to experiment is same. To overcome such issue C3 is defined. The
results showed that in C2 and C3 there is rise in pressure observed from entrance to discharge,
this is due to friction losses and recirculation of fluids.[5]
Gundale and Patil tried to improve the design of radial type vertical submersible pump
impeller using CFD. They gave correlation for circular arc as

R22 − R12
R=
2(R2 cos β2 − R1 cos β1 )

where β 1 and β 2 are vane angles and R2 and R1 are inner and outer radii of impeller. The
2
major component of energy imparted to fluid is given by velocity head ρV2 . At exit of
impeller this velocity head is then converted to pressure head by slowing the flow gradually.
Assembly of Impeller Diffuser and Bowl was generated in Cad software. The impeller was
given rotation to 2800 rpm in anticlockwise direction and pressure head was given as 13.5 m.
It was observed that there was remarkable increase in the discharge and hence this impeller
can be developed and used. This designs were given to M/s Vira Pumps Kohlapur and Upaj
Engineering Pvt. Ltd., Ahmedabad. They were satisfied with the results and agreed to
redesign their impeller shortly.[7]
Thete and Thakre carried out analysis on regular impeller and modified impeller, in
which inlet and outlet blade angles are changed, using CFD. He found that by changing the
blade angles of impeller, better performing impeller can be determined amongst various pro-
posed design using CFD tool. They collected experimental data from manufacturer catalog.
Modeling of impeller was done using SolidWorks software. The model was meshed in Ansys
Workbench Mesh module. Analysis was done using Ansys-CFX. To validate the results they
were compared with experimental results. Performance optimization of mixed flow impeller
was carried out by varying Inlet and Outlet Blade angle. Thus he concluded that by varying

9
the blade angles pump performance was improved using CFD.[8]
Gupta et al carried out numerical study of pressure and velocity distribution analysis
of centrifugal pump. The pump was designed considering few assumptions viz. flow entering
is uniform without any swirl at inlet, the flow was free vortex in vane less space, casing was
made with gradually increasing circular cross section and average velocity was assumed to be
constant. Design specification considered were viscosity, density, volume flow rate, pressure,
specific speed. Geometric parameters such as vane angle, number of vanes, impeller discharge
width, and inclination of mean stream line to axial direction were considered. Also hydraulic
parameters like flow coefficient, head coefficient, blade velocity, relative velocity etc. were
considered. Modeling was done using blade-modeler, turbo-grid module of ANSYS. Boundary
conditions considered are as shown in below Table 2.1. The pressure contour is shown in Fig
2.2.

Table 2.1: Boundary Conditions given to the model[10]

Parameters Boundary Conditions

Flow simulation domain Single impeller flow channel
Grid Structured
Fluid Water at standard conditions
Inlet Pressure along rotation axis
Outlet Imposed mass flow rate
Two symmetry surfaces positioned
Periodic
in the middle of the blade passage
Wall No Slip
Turbulence Model SST model
Discretization Second order
Maximum residual convergence criteria 10E-4

At suction and pressure side of the blade the internal flow was rough as the inflow con-
dition was non tangential, due to which flow separation at the leading edge was observed.
Whenever flow rate was altered the pressure and velocity distribute on inside the impeller
were influenced.[10]

10
 Figure 2.2: Pressure field generated in the impeller[10]

Shahin et al carried out performance and flow field analysis for a diffuser pump at
different flow and design parameters. Experimental tests to study the pump performance
was carried out and to study the flow pattern critically numerical investigation was done.

Figure 2.3: Change in pressure field at various Radial Gaps[11]

11
 Experiments were carried out on commercial vertical rotating shaft pump in a closed loop,
which had 6 blades and specific speed of 11.67. Analysis was carried out using Fluent 6.3
by assuming flow to be viscous incompressible and three dimensional. RNG k-epsilon model
was used with non-equilibrium wall functions. Analysis was carried out by altering various
parameters viz. flow rate i.e. designed load, part load and excess load; number of diffuser
vanes varied as 8,9,10,12 with impeller of 6 blades; radial gap variation of 2.5%, 5%, 10%,
20% from impeller outlet radius. Recirculation of flow was noticed by varying the flow rate,
recirculation was in excess at part load and also small recirculation was observed at design
load which was due to small radial gap between impeller outlet and diffuser inlet. When
diffuser vanes were increased to nine the efficiency of pump also increased; ten vanes gave
lowest variation in pressure but reducing to eight increased non uniformity in circumferential
direction at impeller outlet due to which pressure variation also increased. If number of vanes
increased to 12 pump head and flow rate were reduced. When the radial gap was varied from
2.5% of R2 to 10% of R2 BEP increased by 4.5%, but if it was increased to 20% of R2 there
was decrease of 4% in BEP this was result of change in angle of incident which lead to stalling
in some vane of diffuser. Decrease in large variation on front half of diffuser vane suction side
was observed as a result of increase in radial gap which could be observed in Fig 2.3.[11]
Vyas reviewed to performance, optimization and CFD analysis of submersible pump im-
peller. He found from literature that the flow got diverted between blade-to-blade passages.
This created unsteady flow and the flow at leading edge of impeller did not remained tan-
gential also separation of flow was observed; due to this the velocity at bowl inlet increased
and the pressure, but at the downstream the flow becomes smooth and pressure rises. It was
also determined that efficiency was improved by changing the stator blade angles and hub
profile. In centrifugal pump the analysis of rotor and stator interaction gave better result
with unsteady calculations combined with sliding mesh. The variation in pressure was seen
least in impeller suction side compared to impeller pressure side and rear part of impeller.
During analysis at off-design condition high pressure was noticed preceding the volute tongue
whereas low pressure was noticed at end of volute tongue. He concluded that head predicted
by CFD was more than actual head, also efficiency can be increased by improving the design
of pump impeller.[12]
Houlin et al studied effects of blade number on characteristics of centrifugal pumps.
Four impellers were created by rapid prototyping and experimental results were obtained by
conducting test on them. Boundary conditions were applied in following manner:

4×Q
Uin =
π × Di2

12
 2
kin = 0.005 × Uin

3 3
cu 4 × kin
2

εin =
l

where Uin is inlet velocity, Q is flow rate, Di is inlet diameter, kin is Turbulent kinetic energy,
εin is turbulence dissipation rate, cu = 0.09, l is Turbulent length scale = 0.07 x Din .
Mass flow rate at outlet was specified as outlet boundary condition other conditions were
similar. “Jet and wake” combined losses decreases with increase in number of blades. By
increasing number of blades head increases but NPSHR becomes complex, optimum value
found 7&5 for best efficiency and 4&5 for cavitation hence impeller with 5 blades is best
suited for selected pump model. As the number of blades increases the low pressure area
shifts near suction. The comparison of CFD and experimental result is shown in Fig 2.4.[15]

Figure 2.4: Comparison between experimental data and CFD result[15]

13
2.3 Motivation for Present Work
India is an agricultural country. Currently the rain condition has became uncertain due to
which farmers has to rely on ground water. The submersible pumps has been proved to
be very good equipment to extract ground water. Average annual electricity consumption
by agricultural sector in Gujarat on pumps was 119492 GWh in 2009-10. Overall efficiency
of submersible pumps available is about 40% due to which their electricity consumption is
more. Indian farmers get electricity at cheaper rates hence their concern regarding efficiency
and more electricity consumption is less. Gujarat Energy Development Agency GEDA has
done an economic based calculation which compares available pump and efficient pump. It
was concluded that if efficient pumps were used in agriculture, 34141 GWh energy could be
saved per year.[1]
From literature review it is concluded that pump efficiency can be improved by redesigning
the pump and its component. Its validation can be done using CFD software which saves
experimentation cost and time.

2.4 Objectives of the Present Study

The objectives of the present study are as under:

• To carry out CFD analysis of radial flow submersible pump and to validate the results
with manufacturer’s results

• To redesign the impeller from first principle for performance enhancement

• To carry out CFD analysis of the pump with redesigned impeller.

14
Chapter 3

CFD Analysis of Submersible Pump

3.1 Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)

3.1.1 Introduction
CFD is a technique used to analyze the problems associated with fluid flow, heat transfer,
combustion, chemical reaction etc. with aid of computer based simulation simulation. CFD
has a very wide range of application in industrial as well as non industrial field. Some of the
applications of CFD are listed below:

• Study of flow in turbo machinery equipments such as pumps and diffuser

• Hydrodynamics of ships

• Study of combustion analysis, gasification analysis, chemical reactions etc.

• Design of heat exchangers

• Heating and ventilation analysis of area

• In biomedical application to study flow of blood in artries and veins

• To predict lift and drag force on moving vehicle

• Study flow of rivers, oceans and other water bodies

• In aerodynamics to design jet planes

• Design of bridge by studying vortex shedding.

15
The tremendous growth in usage of CFD began after 1990’s, as high level of computational
hardware became affordable and became more user friendly after that.
Advantages of CFD technique over experimentation are:

• It reduces time and cost of model preparation and testing for any new design

• Experiments that are to be performed in controlled environment or are very difficult

to perform (for eg. huge bodies) can be done using CFD conveniently

• Study can be made even for hazardous conditions using CFD, like accident analysis or
analysis done for safety analysis

• Very minute detail of the problem and its solution can be examined in CFD.

3.1.2 Working of CFD

CFD mainly solves the three basic laws of conservation, they are as follows:

1. Mass conservation equation (Continuity Equation);

Which states that mass of fluid is conserved, means mass of fluid entering the system
is equal to mass of fluid leaving the system. Mass conservation equation is:

∂
∂xi
(ρui ) = Sm (3.1)

2. Momentum conservation equation (Navier-Stokes Equation);

It is nothing but Newton’s second law of motion i.e. rate of change of momentum is
equal to the sum of forces acting on a fluid particle. Momentum conservation equation
is given as:

∂
∂xi
(ρui uj ) = ρg¯j − ∂P
∂xj
+ ∂
(τ
∂xi ij
− ρu0i¯u0j ) + Sj (3.2)

3. Energy conservation equation (Bernoulli’s Equation);

It is first law of thermodynamics i.e. rate of change of energy is equal to the sum
of the rate of heat addition to and the rate of work done on a fluid particle. Energy
conservation equation is given as:

∂
∂xi
(ρcp ui T ) = ∂
∂xi
∂T
(λ ∂xj
− ρcp u0i¯T 0 ) + µΦ + Sh (3.3)

16
All commercial CFD packages include sophisticated user interfaces to input problem param-
eters and to examine results. The main three elements of any CFD package are:

• Pre-processor
In pre-processing, the first step is to create geometry of the given problem. Then the
model is discretized into number of grids or cells or finite volume. Later the boundary
conditions and fluid properties are defined as per the given problem.

• Solver
There are three schemes for numerical solution, finite element, finite difference and
spectral. The numerical solver approximates the the unknown flow variables using sim-
ple equations, further it discretises by substituting the approximate data to governing
flow equations and mathematical manipulations are done. Then solver solves equations
by particular numerical scheme till convergence is achieved.

• Post Processor
With availability of high graphics capabilities CFD packages provide very good visual-
ization. In post processing we can do particle tracking, generate vector plot, generate
various contours, get streamlines colour postscript output etc. Facility to generate
animations and also export data for further manipulation external to the code.

3.2 Data Collection of Submersible Pump

3.2.1 Pump Specification
Pump provided by company for the analysis was DSP8RF i.e Duke Submersible Pump 8”
(bore dia) Radial Flow, which is shown in Fig 3.1. It is a 8 stage pump manufactured by
M/s Duke Plasto Technique Pvt. Ltd.

17
 Figure 3.1: Pump selected for analysis[2]

CAD model of set of impeller and bowl provided by the company is shown in Fig 3.2a
and Fig 3.2b respectively.

(a) Impeller[2] (b) Bowl[2]

Figure 3.2: Cad Model of Impeller and Bowl

Specification of the selected pump model is mentioned in Table 3.1.

18
 Table 3.1: Submersible Pump specifications[2]

Pump Details Specifications

Bore Diameter 8 inch (200 mm)
No. of stages 8
No. of Blades 8
Rated angular velocity 2840 rpm
Rated mass flow rate 7 kg/s
Rated Head 144 m
BEP 61.05%

3.2.2 Performance curves for submersible pump

The pump performance curves provided by M/s Duke Plasto Technique Pvt. Ltd. are shown
in Fig 3.3. Fig 3.3a represents the curve of head verses discharge, from curve it can be seen
that as discharge is increased the head is decreased. Fig 3.3b gives us the overall efficiency
(combined efficiency of pump and motor) versus discharge, it is clear from the graph that
maximum efficiency is 50.80% which occurs at 143.89 m head and flow rate of 8.79 kg/s
respectively.

(a) Head v/s discharge[2] (b) Overall efficiency v/s discharge[2]

Figure 3.3: Performance curves of submersible pump

19
3.2.3 2D drawings of impeller and bowl
2D detailed drawings of impeller and bowl are shown in Fig 3.4 and Fig 3.5 respectively.

Figure 3.4: 2D detailed drawing of impeller [2]

Figure 3.5: 2D detailed drawing of bowl [2]

3.3 Geometry Creation

The CAD model of the impeller and pump was provided by the company. For computation
in CFX, the fluid model was required. The fluid sections were generated in design modeler

20
in Ansys 14.5. The fluid models of the impeller and bowl are shown in Fig 3.6 and Fig 3.7
respectively and the computational model of entire assembly is shown in Fig 3.8 .

(a) Isometric view (b) Bottom View

Figure 3.6: Impeller fluid model

(a) Isometric view (b) Top view

Figure 3.7: Bowl fluid model

Figure 3.8: Computational model of pump assembly

21
3.4 Grid Generation
One of the most important process in any CFX analysis is meshing or grid generation of the
geometry. The success of any CFX analysis depends on the type of meshing and its quality.
Steps for grid generation in Ansys CFX is:

• Initially auto generate mesh in mesh module.

• Examine the quality for equi-size and equi-angle skew elements.

• Improve the quality by refining mesh. Mesh refinement can be done by changing the
maximum and minimum size of element and by changing the growth rate.

Meshed impeller and bowl is shown in Fig 3.9.

(a) Impeller (b) Bowl

Figure 3.9: Meshed parts

The details of grid generated in impeller and bowl are shown in Table 3.2.

Table 3.2: Grid details

Name of Component Type of Grid No. of elements

Impeller Tetrahedral 322905
Bowl Tetrahedral 2173800
Assembly —- 2496705

22
3.5 Boundary Conditions
It is very essential to specify the boundary conditions like inlet, outlet, interface etc. at all
zones. Zone-type specifications defines the physical and operational characteristics of the
model at its boundaries and within specific regions of its domain. The boundary conditions
are to be given in the setup or pre-CFX module of Ansys CFX.
Initially two individual fluid domains are created as impeller and bowl respectively. The
interface is automatically generated at impeller exit face and bowl’s entry face. The boundary
conditions used for the analysis are as under:

• At inlet of impeller: mass flow rate.

• At outlet of Bowl: static pressure.

To consider the rotational effect of impeller Frozen rotor model was used.

3.6 Simulation in CFX

CFX technique is very much useful to predict the flow undergoing in various parts of pump.
So, this technique is very useful in the design of pumps. Ansys is a commercially available
CFX software which consists of different turbulence models, was used to simulate the flow.
The impeller domain was considered as rotating reference frame and bowl was considered
as stationary reference frame. In calculation, finite volume method (FVM) was used for the
discretization of governing equations.

3.6.1 Assumptions in CFX

Following assumptions were made in CFX to make the problem simple.

• Continuous flow.

• Flow is steady and incompressible.

• Inner surface of pump is smooth.

• No slip boundary condition.

• Single phase flow.

• No leakages in pump.

23
3.6.2 Solution technique
Solution techniques employed for CFX analysis in run module of Ansys CFX are:

• Double precision version of run module. The double precision was selected to because
it is more accurate and free from round of errors.

• The grid was checked by the solver itself.

• The node-based gradient scheme was used which is more accurate than the cell-based
scheme for unstructured meshes, most notably for triangular and tetrahedral meshes.

• Water with following properties was used as a working upwind.

– Density 1000 kg/m3

– Dynamic Viscosity 0.0001 kg/m-s

• The impeller domain was taken in moving reference frame, rotating with the speed
2840 rpm.

• Bowl domain was taken as stationary reference frame.

• At the junction of bowl and impeller automatic interference was created. the frame
change or mixing model was selected as frozen rotor.

• Convergence criteria used for different equations are

– Continuity equation 0.001

– Momentum equation 0.001

• A SIMPLE scheme was used for the pressure velocity coupling.

• For momentum and turbulence, second order upwind scheme was used.

• Reference pressure was kept as 1 atmospheric or 101325 Pa.

3.6.3 Performance Parameters

3.6.3.1 Head

Head generated by pump is calculated by,

pout −pin
H= ρg
(3.4)

24
 where,
pout = Outlet pressure (Pa)
pin = Inlet pressure (Pa)
ρ= Density of water (kg/m3 )
g = Gravitational acceleration (m/s2 )

3.6.3.2 Mass flow rate

Mass flow rate (m) was given at input to pump. It is calculated based on different discharge
as under,

m = ρQ

where„
Q = discharge (m3 /s)

3.6.3.3 Total moment

Total moment or torque is rate of change of momentum on impeller. Total moment comprises
of pressure and viscous moments. After completing the simulation, total moment could be
found in X,Y and Z directions. Total moment can be calculated as,
q
T = Tx2 + Ty2 + Tz2 (3.5)

where,
T = Total torque (Nm)
Tx =Torque in X direction (Nm)
Ty =Torque in Y direction (Nm)
Tz =Torque in Z direction (Nm)

3.6.3.4 Input power

For submersible pump input power is calculated as,

2πN T
Pin = T × ω = 60
(3.6)

where,
ω = angular velocity (rad/s)
N = speed (rpm)
T = total torque (Nm)

25
3.6.3.5 Output Power

For submersible pumps output power is calculated as,

Pout = ρgQH = 4p × Q (3.7)

4p = pressure difference between inlet and outlet (Pa)

g = gravitational acceleration = 9.81 m/s2

3.6.4 Non-dimensional parameters

Non-dimensional terms are used for plotting the performance characteristics curves of pump.

3.6.4.1 Head number

Head is non dimensionalised as head number,

g×H
Head number (ψ) = n2 ×D2
(3.8)

3.6.4.2 Flow number

Discharge can be non dimensionalised as flow number,

Q
Flow number (φ) = n×D3
(3.9)

3.6.4.3 Power number

Similarly, input power can also be non dimensionalised as power number,

Pin
Power number (π) = ρ×n3 ×D5
(3.10)

3.6.4.4 Hydraulic efficiency

Hydraulic efficiency is the ratio of output power and input power. CFX analysis gives hy-
draulic efficiency because mechanical losses such as, frictional losses of disk, leakage losses
are not considered in it.

4p×Q×60
η= 2πN T
(3.11)

26
3.7 Results and Discussions
In this section the results of CFX analysis of submersible pump is presented. The CFX
simulations were done at different mass flow rates and speed of 2840 rpm. Flow structure
in different components like casing and impeller at design condition and off design condition
are described. The operating characteristic curves are presented and compared with model
testing results provided by manufacturer.

3.7.1 Grid independence test

It is very essential to select proper grid for numerical investigation. Grid independency test
was performed to check that result of analysis does not vary by varying the grid size. Grid
independency was done on various grid size which can be seen in Fig 3.10.

Figure 3.10: Grid independency test

It can be seen that, after around 25 lakhs elements the deviation in efficiency was less
than 1 %. Hence, grid size of 2496705 was selected for further analysis.

3.7.2 Selection of turbulence model

To select the most appropriate turbulence model numerical simulations were performed at
rated mass flow rate of 7 kg/s, head of 144 m and rotational speed of 2840 rpm with 25 lakhs
elements. The comparison of results obtained with different turbulence model is shown in
Table 3.3.

27
 Table 3.3: Turbulence model test results of pump

Turbulence Inlet pressure Output Pressure po -pin Torque Efficiency

model pin (Pa) po (Pa) (Pa) (Nm) (%)
K-ε 32763 185349 152586 7.87 44.76
BSG 34110.6 175205 141094.4 7.35 44.14
SST K-ω 30008.3 175057 145048.7 7.63 45.64
SSG 28992.7 175095 146102.3 8.10 42.46

Among different turbulence models, the results obtained with SST K-ω model were closest
to the model testing results. Gundale and Patil [7] also carried out CFD analysis of pump
with SST K-ω model. Hence, further analysis was done with SST K-ω model.

3.7.3 Static pressure contours

Fig 3.11 shows static pressure contours at impeller at six different discharge values i.e 0.36
Qbep, 0.87 Qbep, BEP, 1.6 Qbep, 1.7 Qbep, 1.73 Qbep. We know that cavitation occurs
mainly in the regions where the pressure in impeller goes below vapour pressure of water.
It can be seen that static pressure increases gradually from impeller inlet to outlet due to
energy transfer from rotating impeller. The minimum value of static pressure is observed at
leading edge of blades on suction side due to flow acceleration. Hence, static pressure also
continuously increases in flow direction. Also it can be seen that at rated and over rated
discharge static pressure variation is uniform but at part load it is non uniform as pressure
at blade tip have increased, which may lead to lower efficiency at part load conditions.

0.36 Qbep 0.87 Qbep BEP

1.6 Qbep 1.7 Qbep 1.75Qbep

Figure 3.11: Static pressure [Pa] contour at impeller at different discharge

28
3.7.4 Velocity vectors
Fig 3.12 shows velocity vectors for part load, rated and over rated condition. Velocity vectors
shows the direction of flow. It can be seen that at rated and over rated condition the water
flows smoothly over the blade walls. But at part load condition recirculation zone was created
near blade region which leads to losses in pump and efficiency decreases.

0.36 Qbep 0.87 Qbep BEP

1.6 Qbep 1.7 Qbep 1.75Qbep

Figure 3.12: Velocity vectors at impeller at different discharge.

The recirculation zone created at over load condition can be clearly observed through
streamlines. The recirculation zone created in impeller can be easily seen in Fig 3.13.

Figure 3.13: Streamlines at part load condition in impeller

29
3.7.5 Comparison with model test data
The CFX analysis carried out was validated using the model testing data provided by M/s
Duke Plasto Technique Pvt. Ltd., Palanpur as shown in Figs 3.14, 3.15 and 3.16. The results
of model test of impeller and results obtained by CFX are shown in Tables 3.4 and 3.5.

Table 3.4: Model test data of existing impeller[2]

Speed (rpm) m (kg/s) H (m) ψ π φ η

2903 3.63 20.34 4.819 0.503 0.032 40.91
2882 5.47 19.98 4.803 0.600 0.048 51.86
2858 7.95 18.70 4.571 0.728 0.071 59.66
2849 8.79 17.99 4.424 0.763 0.079 61.05
2840 10.04 16.67 4.126 0.815 0.090 61.18
2827 12.14 13.73 3.430 0.874 0.110 57.82
2823 16.11 6.40 1.604 0.882 0.146 35.47
2837 17.2 2.46 0.611 0.839 0.155 15.08
2839 17.33 0.37 0.093 0.828 0.156 2.34

Table 3.5: CFD results of existing impeller

Speed (rpm) m (kg/s) H (m) ψ π φ η

2903 3.63 18.10 4.289 0.465 0.032 29.44
2882 5.47 15.71 3.777 0.420 0.048 43.50
2858 7.95 14.55 3.429 0.543 0.071 44.79
2849 8.79 14.03 3.578 0.609 0.079 46.25
2840 10.04 12.75 3.157 0.628 0.090 45.32
2827 12.14 10.19 2.545 0.714 0.110 39.03
2823 16.11 6.24 1.562 0.802 0.146 28.33
2837 17.2 4.59 1.138 0.818 0.155 21.53
2839 17.33 4.28 1.060 0.817 0.156 20.19

30
Figure 3.14: Head number v/s Flow number

Figure 3.15: Power number v/s Flow number

31
 Figure 3.16: Efficiency v/s Flow number

The percentage difference in maximum efficiency obtained with CFD and model testing
result was found as 15%. This maybe due to modeling error. The model provided by the
company may not be accurate.

32
Chapter 4

Improvement in Blade Design of

Radial flow Impeller

Performance of any hydraulic machine depends on its vanes or blades geometry, any pump
works efficiently if its blades are properly designed. Here the basic idea is to keep all the
dimensions of impeller constant and only vary the blade design and number of blades to
study variation in its performance.

4.1 Blade Design Procedure

Figure 4.1: Flow chart of blade design procedure

33
There are many methods available for blade design, one of them used here is “Tangent
Circular Arc” method.
A circular arc is constructed between two rings of diameter D1 and D2 , its radius is given
by the Eq. [4.1]
R22 −R12
R= 2(R2 cos β2 −R1 cos β1 )
(4.1)[7]

Where R1 and R2 are inner and outer radius of impeller. In this method the the impeller
is divided into concentric rings which may not be equally spaced between R1 and R2 . The
value the of R between any two consecutive rings can be calculated using equation 4.1 and
the vane shape formed is actually an arc tangent to both rings.
Other major component modified is number of blades. For estimating number of blades
we need to calculate the specific speed of impeller which can be calculated by Eq. [4.1]
√
ns Q
Ns = 3 (4.2)[17]
H4

Number of blades is decided using Fig4.2.

Figure 4.2: Specific head v/s Percentage Head[17]

It can be seen that the required head is above 20 m and specific speed calculated from
Eq. [4.1] is 1800(approx) hence number of blades should be 6.

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4.1.1 Proposed dimensions
Basic dimensions of impeller which are to be kept constant are mentioned in Table4.1.

Table 4.1: Specifications of existing impeller

Sr. No. Description Values

1 Inlet diameter (D1 ) 66 mm
2 Outlet diameter (D2 ) 133 mm
3 Shaft diameter (DS) 28 mm
4 Inlet blade angle (β1 ) 180
5 Outlet blade angle (β2 ) 250
6 Blade inlet height 10.1 mm
7 Blade outlet height 10.1 mm
8 Number of blades 8

Inner and outer radius is calculated as

R1 = 66
2
= 33 mm
133
R2 = 2 = 66.5 mm
Now, intermediate radius can be calculated using

R2 −R1
n
(4.2)

where n is number of concentric rings.

Let number of intermediate rings be 7. Similarly, vane angles β at corresponding ring can
be found out using graphical method, which is shown in Fig 4.3.

Figure 4.3: Graph of vane angle v/s radius

35
 From the obtained values of vane angle and radius we can calculate radius for the arc
between rings; which is shown in Table4.2.

Table 4.2: Calculated value of R

R1 R2 β1 β2 R
33 37.78 18 19 39.00
37.78 42.56 19 20 44.94
42.56 47.34 20 21 51.12
47.34 52.12 21 22 57.56
52.12 56.9 22 23 64.30
56.9 61.68 23 24 71.36
61.68 66.46 24 25 78.80

From these calculated values of R, R1 , R2 the blade profile is drawn in CAD software.

4.1.2 Blade profile generation in CAD

For drawing of blade SolidWorks software is used, the stepwise procedure for drawing impeller
blade in SolidWorks is mentioned below.
1. Construct a circle of radius greater than impeller radius and extrude it by 10 mm to
make a base solid. On the solid draw a circle of radius equal to outer radius of impeller i.e
66.46 mm. Similarly draw concentric circles of radius R1 in Table 4.2. Draw a line segment
AB of length R = 39 mm and angle of inclination β as 180 w.r.t x-axis.
2. The second step is to draw first arc AE of radius of curvature 39 mm. Arc AE is
drawn by taking B as center and A as start point upto next concentric circle, point where
arc intersects the circle is named as E. This point E is starting point for next arc. Now draw
line segment ED of length 44.94 mm such that it passes through point B.
3. Similarly arc EF of is drawn with center D, radius of curvature 44.94 mm and starting
point as E upto third concentric circle.
4. Similarly other arcs are drawn with remaining radius R calculated in Table 4.2, and a
continuous arc is obtained as shown in Fig 4.4.

36
 1 2

3 4

Figure 4.4: Steps of blade profile generation

5. Thus a basic blade profile is obtained for the impeller. Now a blade is obtained by
extruding it to blade height which is 10.1 mm. After generating single blade we have to give
circular pattern of the blade to number of blades required i.e 6 in our case.

37
Chapter 5

CFD Analysis of Submersible Pump

with Modified Impeller

5.1 Fluid Model

For carrying out CFX analysis only fluid part in the component is required which is formed
in Ansys 14.5. The fluid model of newly designed impeller is shown in Fig 5.1.

Figure 5.1: Fluid section of impeller

38
5.2 Grid Generation
Meshing is one of the important part for any CFX analysis. The meshed impeller is shown
in Fig 5.2. Meshed impeller consists of 943693 tetrahedral elements and 176612 nodes.

Figure 5.2: Meshed impeller

5.3 Boundary Conditions and Solution Technique

Boundary condition applied to the impeller are as follows
• At inlet of impeller: Static (atmospheric) pressure.

• At outlet of impeller: Mass flow rate.

Impeller was given rotation of 2750 rpm and to provide the rotation effect frozen rotor model
was used. Other boundary conditions and solution techniques were similar as mentioned in
section 3.4 and 3.5. To consider turbulence effect in fluid, SST K-ω model was used.

5.4 Results and Discussions

5.4.1 Grid independence test
Grid independency is performed by fixing the boundary conditions and varying the grid size
to judge the independency of result with grid size. Comparison of results at different grid
size is displayed in Fig 5.3.

39
 Figure 5.3: Grid independency test

It is observed from above graph that after 945000 elements the results did not changed
with refining grid, hence further analysis will be done using 945000 elements.

5.4.2 Pressure contour

CFX analysis of impeller was carried out at varying discharge rates viz. 0.4 Qbep, 0.9 Qbep,
BEP, 1.3 Qbep, 1.5 Qbep, 1.8 Qbep. The pressure contours obtained are shown in Fig 5.4.

0.4 Qbep 0.9 Qbep BEP

1.3 Qbep 1.5 Qbep 1.8 Qbep

Figure 5.4: Comparison of pressure contour at different discharge

From Fig5.4 it can be clearly observed that as discharge is increased pressure in impeller
is decreased.

40
5.4.3 Velocity vectors
At varying discharge rates CFX analysis was carried out and velocity vectors generated are
shown in Fig 5.5.

0.4 Qbep 0.9 Qbep BEP

1.3 Qbep 1.5 Qbep 1.8 Qbep

Figure 5.5: Comparison of velocity vectors at different discharge

From Fig 5.5 it is clearly observed that as discharge rate increases velocity of fluid also
increases.

5.4.4 Velocity streamlines

Velocity streamline were generated at BEP, and it was found that the recirculation zones
observed in old impeller were eliminated and the flow became smooth. This is advantageous
as wear in pump decreases and its life increases. The streamlines can be shown in Fig 5.6.

Figure 5.6: Velocity streamline at BEP

41
5.4.5 Comparison of results with original impeller
The obtained CFX results of new impeller were compared with the model test results of
original impeller. The results are mentioned in Tables 5.1 and 3.4.

Table 5.1: CFD result of modified impeller

Speed (rpm) m (kg/s) H (m) ψ π φ η

2750 3.63 28.21 7.447 0.260 0.034 61.15
2750 5.47 25.56 6.748 0.317 0.051 64.28
2750 7.95 24.3 6.415 0.404 0.074 67.40
2750 8.79 23.51 6.207 0.418 0.082 67.86
2750 10.04 19.83 5.235 0.382 0.093 61.18
2750 12.14 16.59 4.380 0.414 0.113 59.68
2750 16.11 14.64 3.865 0.473 0.149 35.95
2750 17.2 12.16 3.210 0.527 0.160 14.57
2750 17.33 11.82 3.120 0.527 0.161 12.01

Figure 5.7: Head number v/s Flow number

42
 Figure 5.8: Power number v/s Flow number

Figure 5.9: Efficiency-v/s-Flow

From Figs 5.7, 5.8 and 5.9 it can be seen that the head and efficiency of the modified
impeller is more than the existing impeller. It has been concluded form the comparison that
there is about 5% increase in the efficiency at BEP.

43
Chapter 6

Conclusions and Future Scope

6.1 Conclusions
In the present study, CFD analysis of radial flow submersible pump was done using Ansys
CFX 14.5 software. Submersible pump manufactured by M/s Duke Plasto Technique Pvt.
Ltd., Palanpur, with rated discharge rate of 7 kg/s rotating at 2840 rpm and head of 144m
was considered for analysis. The conclusions made from the study are as under:

• CFD analysis of submersible pump was carried out with different turbulence models
viz. k-epsilon, SST k-omega, BSG and SSG. Among different models, results obtained
with SST k-omega model were found to be most appropriate.

• The maximum efficiency of existing pump was found as 46% and 61% with CFD and
model testing respectively. The higher deviations in the results are maybe due to
modeling and meshing errors.

• To improve the efficiency of pump, new design of impeller was done, which led to around
5% rise in efficiency.

6.2 Future Scope

The future scope of project are as under:

• To modify the existing design of bowl and to analyze the performance through CFD
technique

• Effects of various modifications can be studied viz. height of impeller blade, blade
thickness, radial gap between impeller and bowl etc.

44
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