Title: Improved design of a centrifugal pump impeller using CFD and numerical optimisation tools

Authors: Vasilis Grapsas, John Anagnostopoulos, Dimitris Papantonis

Addresses: School of Mechanical Engineering, Fluids Section, National Technical University of Athens, 9 Heroon Polytechniou ave., Zografou, 15780 Athens, Greece. ' School of Mechanical Engineering, Fluids Section, National Technical University of Athens, 9 Heroon Polytechniou ave., Zografou, 15780 Athens, Greece. ' School of Mechanical Engineering, Fluids Section, National Technical University of Athens, 9 Heroon Polytechniou ave., Zografou, 15780 Athens, Greece

Abstract: The possibility of improving the design and increasing the hydraulic efficiency of a centrifugal pump impeller is investigated, with the implementation of advanced numerical tools and experimental data from a laboratory model. Parametric studies are conducted to examine the influence of several design parameters, like the blade length, inlet height, leading edge inclination, cambering, and mean line curvature. The optimum values of the above that maximise the hydraulic efficiency at the BEP are then derived using a stochastic evolutionary algorithm software. The improved impeller design exhibits a considerable increase in hydraulic efficiency compared to the initial design.

Keywords: centrifugal pump impellers; numerical modelling; CFD; blade parameterisation; design optimisation; evolutionary algorithms; computational fluid dynamics; hydraulic efficiency; impeller design; optimal design.

DOI: 10.1504/IJAIP.2010.036399

International Journal of Advanced Intelligence Paradigms, 2010 Vol.2 No.4, pp.336 - 353

Published online: 02 Nov 2010 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article