| Peer-Reviewed

CFD Technique for Solving Low Water Level Problem of Axial Flow Pumps

Received: 5 July 2017     Accepted: 21 July 2017     Published: 12 September 2017
Views:       Downloads:
Abstract

In this paper, water levels variation in the sump intake is studied in El- SHABAB Pumping Station. ANSYS Ver.17.1 flow simulation software is used to simulate the flow conditions to overcome decreasing water level in the low demands period, winter closure. Seven scenarios are studied to obtain the best one to apply it at that condition. Case 1 represents the optimum design when the submergence water level is 5m above the sump floor and the length of submersed part in the sump is 3.5m. Case 2 represents the winter closure period where the submergence water level decreased by 1.5m to become 3.5m in the period winter closure and the length of submersed part in the sump is 2m. As a result, velocity in the suction pipe decreased 26%, a swirl angle 10.79° is attained, and vibration level increased 4 times representing hydraulic and dynamic problems. Case 3 is done by adding a joint with length 0.5m to the submersed part of pipe. Case 4 is done by increasing a joint length by 1m to the submersed part of pipe. Case 5 is done by adding a cone under the bell mouse with height 1m and with the same pipe diameter. Case 6 is done by adding a cone under the bell mouse with height 1m and 0.5m joint leading to increase the submersed part of pipe to become 2.5m. Case 7 is done by repeating case 6 with increasing water submerging level after finishing the period of winter closure where the water level in the sump is 5m. The results indicate that, during the period of winter closure, Case 6 is the best condition to use where it prevents vortex and has the best swirling angle 5.12° with no turbulence is observed at the entrance of the pump improving the dynamic and hydraulic performance of the pump. Also, the results indicate that Case 7 after finishing the period of winter closure and water level returned to become 5m (optimum design) is the best condition to use during all seasons where it prevents vortex and has the best swirling angle 4.66°.

Published in American Journal of Water Science and Engineering (Volume 3, Issue 3)
DOI 10.11648/j.ajwse.20170303.11
Page(s) 34-44
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2017. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Pump Intake, Vortex, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), Hydraulic Problems, Suction Sump, Water Level, Simulation

References
[1] Mohd. Remy Rozainy, I. Abustan, Abdullah. M. Z. and Mohd. Ashraf M. I.," Application of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) in Physical Model of Pump Sump to Predict the Flow Characteristics", ICCBT 08 - D - (07) – pp. 79-90, (2008).
[2] Atefeh Parvaresh Rizi1, AbbasRoozbahani1, Salah Kouchakzadeh and Alireza Moridnejad, "Experimental Investigation of Relationship between Sump Flow Pattern and Pumping Energy Consumption", International Symposium on Water Management and Hydraulic Engineering, Ohrid/Macedonia, pp. 131-136, 1-5 Sept. (2009).
[3] S. M. Borghei and A. R. Kabiri-Samani, "Effect of Anti-Vortex Plates on Critical Submergence at a Vertical Intake", Transaction A: Civil Engineering, Vol. 17, No. 2, pp. 89-95, Sharif University of Technology, April (2010).
[4] Cecilia Lucino, Sergio Liscia y. and Gonzalo Duró, “Vortex Detection in Pump Sumps by Means of CFD", XXIV Latin American Congress on Hydraulics Punta A Del Este, Uruguay, (IAHR), Nov. (2010).
[5] M. A. Younes, "Investigation of Hydraulic Problems in Pumping Station; Case Study" Twelfth International Water Technology Conference, IWTC12, pp. 491-501, Alexandria, Egypt, (2008).
[6] Y X Zhao1, C G Kim1 and Y H Lee, "CFD study on flow characteristics of pump sump and performance analysis of the mixed flow pump", 6th International Journal of Pumps and Fans with Compressors and Wind Turbines, 2013.
[7] V. P. Rajendran, S. G. Constantinescu and V. C. Patel, "Experiments on Flow in Model Water pump Intake Sump to Validate a Numerical Model", Proc. of ASME Fluids Engineering Division Summer Meeting FEDSM (Washington, USA, 21–25June 1998), pp. 21-25, 1998.
[8] R. Iwano, T. Shibata, T. Nagahara and T. Okamura, "Numerical Prediction Method of a Submerged Vortex and Its Application to the Flow in Pump Sumps with and without a Baffle Plate", Proc. of the 9th Int. Symp. on Transport Phenomena and Dynamics of Rotating Machinery (Honolulu, Hawaii, USA, 10-14 February 2002)1-6, 2002.
[9] J. W. Choi, Y. D. Choi, C. G. Kim and Y. H. Lee, " Flow Uniformity in a Multi Intake Pump Sump Model", Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology 24 (7) 1389-1400, 2010.
[10] Y. H. Lee, “Establishment of Design Guideline for the Pump Intake Shape using the Result of Model Test”, R&D Report, K-water (in Korean), 2004.
[11] Turbomachinery Society of Japan, “Standard Method for Model Testing the Performance of a Pump Sump”, TSJ S002, 2005.
[12] C. G. Kim, J. W. Choi, Y. D. Choi and Y. H. Lee, "A Study on the Effectiveness of an Anti-Vortex Device in the Sump Model by Experiment and CFD", 26th IAHR Symposium on Hydraulic Machinery and Systems, 2012.
[13] B. E. Launder and D. B. Spalding, "The Numerical Computation of Turbulent Flows", Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering, Vol. 3, pp. 269-289, 1974.
[14] ISO 10816-1 (1995), Mechanical Vibration – Evaluation of Machine Vibration by Measurements on Non-Rotating Parts. Part 1, General Guidelines.
[15] American National Standard for Pump Intake Design, ANSI/HI 9.8, 1998.
[16] Hydraulic Institute, “Hydraulic Institute standards for centrifugal, rotary, and reciprocating pumps”, 18th edition, Cleveland, Ohio, 1994.
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Sami Abdel-Fattah Abdel-Ghani El-Shaikh. (2017). CFD Technique for Solving Low Water Level Problem of Axial Flow Pumps. American Journal of Water Science and Engineering, 3(3), 34-44. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajwse.20170303.11

    Copy | Download

    ACS Style

    Sami Abdel-Fattah Abdel-Ghani El-Shaikh. CFD Technique for Solving Low Water Level Problem of Axial Flow Pumps. Am. J. Water Sci. Eng. 2017, 3(3), 34-44. doi: 10.11648/j.ajwse.20170303.11

    Copy | Download

    AMA Style

    Sami Abdel-Fattah Abdel-Ghani El-Shaikh. CFD Technique for Solving Low Water Level Problem of Axial Flow Pumps. Am J Water Sci Eng. 2017;3(3):34-44. doi: 10.11648/j.ajwse.20170303.11

    Copy | Download

  • @article{10.11648/j.ajwse.20170303.11,
      author = {Sami Abdel-Fattah Abdel-Ghani El-Shaikh},
      title = {CFD Technique for Solving Low Water Level Problem of Axial Flow Pumps},
      journal = {American Journal of Water Science and Engineering},
      volume = {3},
      number = {3},
      pages = {34-44},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajwse.20170303.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajwse.20170303.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajwse.20170303.11},
      abstract = {In this paper, water levels variation in the sump intake is studied in El- SHABAB Pumping Station. ANSYS Ver.17.1 flow simulation software is used to simulate the flow conditions to overcome decreasing water level in the low demands period, winter closure. Seven scenarios are studied to obtain the best one to apply it at that condition. Case 1 represents the optimum design when the submergence water level is 5m above the sump floor and the length of submersed part in the sump is 3.5m. Case 2 represents the winter closure period where the submergence water level decreased by 1.5m to become 3.5m in the period winter closure and the length of submersed part in the sump is 2m. As a result, velocity in the suction pipe decreased 26%, a swirl angle 10.79° is attained, and vibration level increased 4 times representing hydraulic and dynamic problems. Case 3 is done by adding a joint with length 0.5m to the submersed part of pipe. Case 4 is done by increasing a joint length by 1m to the submersed part of pipe. Case 5 is done by adding a cone under the bell mouse with height 1m and with the same pipe diameter. Case 6 is done by adding a cone under the bell mouse with height 1m and 0.5m joint leading to increase the submersed part of pipe to become 2.5m. Case 7 is done by repeating case 6 with increasing water submerging level after finishing the period of winter closure where the water level in the sump is 5m. The results indicate that, during the period of winter closure, Case 6 is the best condition to use where it prevents vortex and has the best swirling angle 5.12° with no turbulence is observed at the entrance of the pump improving the dynamic and hydraulic performance of the pump. Also, the results indicate that Case 7 after finishing the period of winter closure and water level returned to become 5m (optimum design) is the best condition to use during all seasons where it prevents vortex and has the best swirling angle 4.66°.},
     year = {2017}
    }
    

    Copy | Download

  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - CFD Technique for Solving Low Water Level Problem of Axial Flow Pumps
    AU  - Sami Abdel-Fattah Abdel-Ghani El-Shaikh
    Y1  - 2017/09/12
    PY  - 2017
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajwse.20170303.11
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ajwse.20170303.11
    T2  - American Journal of Water Science and Engineering
    JF  - American Journal of Water Science and Engineering
    JO  - American Journal of Water Science and Engineering
    SP  - 34
    EP  - 44
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2575-1875
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajwse.20170303.11
    AB  - In this paper, water levels variation in the sump intake is studied in El- SHABAB Pumping Station. ANSYS Ver.17.1 flow simulation software is used to simulate the flow conditions to overcome decreasing water level in the low demands period, winter closure. Seven scenarios are studied to obtain the best one to apply it at that condition. Case 1 represents the optimum design when the submergence water level is 5m above the sump floor and the length of submersed part in the sump is 3.5m. Case 2 represents the winter closure period where the submergence water level decreased by 1.5m to become 3.5m in the period winter closure and the length of submersed part in the sump is 2m. As a result, velocity in the suction pipe decreased 26%, a swirl angle 10.79° is attained, and vibration level increased 4 times representing hydraulic and dynamic problems. Case 3 is done by adding a joint with length 0.5m to the submersed part of pipe. Case 4 is done by increasing a joint length by 1m to the submersed part of pipe. Case 5 is done by adding a cone under the bell mouse with height 1m and with the same pipe diameter. Case 6 is done by adding a cone under the bell mouse with height 1m and 0.5m joint leading to increase the submersed part of pipe to become 2.5m. Case 7 is done by repeating case 6 with increasing water submerging level after finishing the period of winter closure where the water level in the sump is 5m. The results indicate that, during the period of winter closure, Case 6 is the best condition to use where it prevents vortex and has the best swirling angle 5.12° with no turbulence is observed at the entrance of the pump improving the dynamic and hydraulic performance of the pump. Also, the results indicate that Case 7 after finishing the period of winter closure and water level returned to become 5m (optimum design) is the best condition to use during all seasons where it prevents vortex and has the best swirling angle 4.66°.
    VL  - 3
    IS  - 3
    ER  - 

    Copy | Download

Author Information
  • Mechanical and Electrical Research Institute, National Water Research Center, Cairo, Egypt

  • Sections