Centrifugal Pump Performance During Transient Operation

Abstract

The effect of transient operation on the hydrodynamic performance of a centrifugal pump impeller was investigated experimentally. All experiments were conducted in the Naval Undersea Warfare Center’s Impeller Test Facility (ITF), which was designed and built for transient and steady-state operation impeller research. The ITF provides transient operation through simultaneous control of both impeller rotational speed and flow rate over time. The impeller was accelerated from rest with peak angular accelerations up to 720 radians/s2 and inlet flow mean accelerations up to 1.7 g, reaching a peak rotational speed of 2400 rpm and a flow rate of 416 l/s. The impeller was then decelerated to rest. Results showed substantial transient effects in overall impeller performance and demonstrated that the quasisteady assumptions commonly used for the design of impellers that operate under high transient (accelerating or decelerating) conditions are not valid.