MATEC Web of Conferences 178, 05018 (2018)

https://doi.org/10.1051/matecconf/201817805018
IManE&E 2018

Design and flow simulation for a centrifugal

pump with double suction impeller
Eugen-Vlad Năstase*
Technical University Gheorghe Asachi of Iaşi, Department of Fluid Mechanics, Fluid Machinery and
Fluid Power Systems, Iaşi, Romania

Abstract. Centrifugal pump is a hydraulic machine that is used to

transport fluids by the conversion of rotational kinetic energy of impeller
into the hydrodynamic energy of the fluid flow. The double-suction
centrifugal pump are used for conveyance of a large quantity of water and
have wide application due to its stable running, for the balance of axial
thrust through by the double suction in impeller, and for a convenient
maintenance. Because the design of the centrifugal pump impeller is not a
universally standardized one and depends on designer's experience and its
technical intuition, in this paper is presented a methodology of design and
the fluid flow simulation throughout impeller.

1 Introduction
Generally a pump is a hydraulic machine which converts mechanical energy into hydraulic
energy. The rotational energy typically comes from an electric motor, an engine or a steam
turbine. The block diagram which shows the transformation of mechanical energy (torque
M and angular velocity ω) into hydraulic energy (head H and flow Q) is shown in Figure1.

Fig. 1. Block diagram of the energy transformation in a pump.

A centrifugal pump with double suction is presented in the Figure 2. In the volute of the
pump fluid enters axially through the eye of the impeller (low pressure area) which rotates
at high speed. As the impeller and blades rotate, they transfer momentum to incoming fluid.
The fluid accelerates radially outward from the pump chasing and a vacuum is created at
the impellers eye that continuously draws more fluid into the pump [1, 2, 3]. As the fluid’s
velocity increases obviously its kinetic energy increases and the fluid is forced out of the
impeller [1, 4, 5]. In the volute the fluid flows through a continuously increasing cross-

*Corresponding author: [email protected]

© The Authors, published by EDP Sciences. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons
Attribution License 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
MATEC Web of Conferences 178, 05018 (2018) https://doi.org/10.1051/matecconf/201817805018
IManE&E 2018

sectional area, where the kinetic energy is converted into fluid pressure (according the
Bernoulli’s principle). The impeller blades are usually backward-curved.
1-shaft
2-bearing
3-double suction impeller
4-eye of impeller
5- casing

Fig. 2. Overview of main components for a centrifugal pump with double suction impeller.
The impeller is mounted on a shaft. Shaft is a mechanical component for transmitting
torque from the drive source to the impeller. This study is structured on 5 sections and
presents a methology of design and a computational fluid dynamics simulation for an
impeller with double suction. Section 2 will present the design methodology of impeller.
In Section 3, will be shown the characteristics of CFD software and the model
preparation for simulation. In section 4 will be analyzed the results of the simulation.
Section 5 will present the conclusions of this study.

2 Design methodology of impeller

The impeller is the main component determining the pump performance. The impeller that
is designed in this paper is for a double suction centrifugal pump that can provide a rate of
0,15 m3/s flow in the working conditions whose head is 20 m.

Fig. 3. Components of velocities.

The impeller dimensions are designed based on the head [6,7,8], flow rate and triangle
of velocities (Figure 3). The absolute velocity at the inlet and outlet of impeller (c) is
composed by tangential velocity (u) and the relative velocity (w) .

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MATEC Web of Conferences 178, 05018 (2018) https://doi.org/10.1051/matecconf/201817805018
IManE&E 2018

The following are the steps involved in designing a centrifugal impeller.

From the head (H) and flow rate (Q), the kinematic specific speed (ns) is calculated:
���
𝑛𝑛� � ���� ∙ � (1)
��

From the head (H), flow rate (Q), specific weight of water (γw) and overall efficiency
(η), the shaft power (Nsh) required is calculated:
�∙�∙��
𝑁𝑁�� � (2)
�

The shaft diameter (dsh) is found using the formula:

� ���
𝑑𝑑�� � ���� ∙ � (3)
�

The hub diameter (dh) is calculated from the empirical relation given below:

𝑑𝑑� � ���� � ���� ∙ 𝑑𝑑�� (4)

The velocity (c0) at the inlet is estimated using the relationship of below :

𝑐𝑐� � ���� ∙ 𝑐𝑐�� where 𝑐𝑐�� � ���� ∙ �2 ∙ 𝑔𝑔 𝑔 𝑔𝑔 (5)

With Kcm1 the coefficient of velocity.

The inlet cross section area (A0) is calculeted from the flow rate after accounting for
volumetric efficiency (Qv) with the relation:
��
𝐴𝐴� � (6)
��

The inlet diameter (d1) is calculated from the cross section area:

�∙��
𝑑𝑑� � � (7)
�

Blade inlet angle (β1) is calculated as:

��� �∙�� ∙�
𝛽𝛽� � ��𝑐𝑐�𝑔𝑔 where 𝑢𝑢� � (8)
�� ��

Breadth of the impeller (b1) at the inlet is calculated with the relation:
��
𝑏𝑏� � (9)
�∙��

The outlet tangential velocity (u2) can be calculated with an experimental velocity
coefficient (Ku2) as follows:

𝑢𝑢� � ��� ∙ �2 ∙ 𝑔𝑔 𝑔 𝑔𝑔 (10)

The outlet diameter (d2) is calculated with the relation:

��∙��
𝑑𝑑� � (11)
�∙�

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MATEC Web of Conferences 178, 05018 (2018) https://doi.org/10.1051/matecconf/201817805018
IManE&E 2018

The breath of the impeller at the outlet is:

��
𝑏𝑏� � (12)
����

Blade outlet angle (β2) is assumed to lie within the limits of 15˚ to 35˚.
The number of blades is calculeted by using the following equation:
�� ��� �� ���
� � ��� � � ���� � (13)
�� ��� �

The Mathcad software was used to calculate the main impeller dimensions and the
numerical values of these are shown in Table 1.
Table 1.The geometric characteristics of impeller.
Oulet tangential velocity:u2
Pump head: H (m) 20 19
(m/s)
Flow rate: Q (m3/s) 0.15 Outlet diameter :d2 (mm) 380

Shaft power: Nsh (KW) 44 Inlet blade angle: β1(˚) 17

Shaft diameter: dsh (mm) 60 Outlet blade angle: β2(˚) 30

Specific speed: ns 103.6 Blade inlet breath:b1 (mm) 47

Inlet diameter: d1(mm) 220 Blade outlet breath:b2 (mm) 63.48

Inlet tangential velocity:u1
11.28 Number of blades 11
(m/s)
With these dimensions, the 3D model of the rotor is built using the SolidWorks
software. The impeller performance is significantly affected by the flow path geometry
(vane profile). The vane profile for the impeller presented in figure 4 is developed by arc
method.

Fig. 4. The impeller for simulation (3D model).

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MATEC Web of Conferences 178, 05018 (2018) https://doi.org/10.1051/matecconf/201817805018
IManE&E 2018

3 CFD simulation for double suction impeller

The pressure and velocity distribution over the blade curvature of impeller was analyzed
using a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) package, more exactly the module Solid
Works Flow Simulation.
Governing equation for SolidWorks flow simulation solves three-dimensional Navier-
Stokes equation with the finite volume method [8-12]. The first step in CFD simulation is
preprocessing. At this step modeling and mesh is generated. Input data for flow analysis is
the assigning of computational domain, boundary condition and rotating region.
In this phase the boundary conditions are set (Figure 5) and then the simulation is running.

Fig. 5. The diagram of boundary conditions.

4 Results of simulation
The results of simulation for velocity and pressure distributions can be see in Figure 6 and
Figure 7 respectively.

Fig. 6. The diagrams of velocity distribution.

The pressure distribution is increasing from impeller inlet to outlet as it is shown in
Figure 7. At the eye pressure is negative.

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MATEC Web of Conferences 178, 05018 (2018) https://doi.org/10.1051/matecconf/201817805018
IManE&E 2018

Fig. 7. The flow pressure distribution over the impeller.

5 Conclusions
The double suction impeller (3D model) was generated with SolidWorks and analyse in the
same software with flow simulation module. The shape of blades for the impeller is created
with arc method.
From the speed distribution analysis in the rotor we find that the velocity has decreased
in the exit area of the rotor.
The maximum value of the velocity through impeller is 32.6 m/s, and the velocity
distribution can be see in Figure 6.
The velocity distribution is non-uniform because the circulating motion through the
impeller.
After the study of pressure distribution, it was observed that is a low pressure at the
suction of impeller and the maximum of pressure is after the outlet of impeller.
The results obtained by simulation is comparable with theoretical results which
confirms the design methodology.

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