Title of Invention

A CENTRIFUGAL PUMP WITH IMPROVED NPSH AND PART LOAD BEHAVIOUR .

Abstract

The invention relates to a centrifugal pump with improved NPSH and part load behaviour comprising one or several impellers having an axial or semi axial open or closed configuration interposed in a casing of the pump, an intake duct (9) having a wall area mounted upstream of a first impeller (2), a plurality of grooves that are spread across the circumference of said wall area being arranged which extend in the direction of flow. A closed annular surface (12) is embodied between a point of entry of the first impeller (2) and the proximal ends of the grooves (10) in a casing wall (3) of the intake duct (9) and in that said grooves (10) being operably connected exclsively to the space within the intake duct (9).

Full Text

Description The invention relates to a centrifugal pump, in the casing of which one or more impellers of axial or semiaxial, closed or open type of construction are arranged and a first impeller is preceded by an intake duct, in the wall surface of which a plurality of grooves distributed over the circumference are arranged. In specifically high-speed pumps, in the delivery range of 65-80% of the design volume flow there is often a significant locally limited rise in the associated NPSH profile. Sometimes, depending on the type of pump, the associcited profile, the Q-H characteristic curve profile, may additionally have an instability which is generally designated as a characteristic curve kink or as a saddle. Such characteristic curve forms are due to the formation of what is known as the part load vortex which occurs in the outer region of an impeller entry in the event of a reduction in the volume flow. A part load vortex has a decisive influence on the impeller approach flow which, under its effect, experiences a blockage of the meridional flow cross section and high velocity components in the impeller rotation direction (codirectional swirl). DE 25 58 840 C2 discloses a solution for avoiding the disadvantages of a part load vortex, a diffuser being arranged upstream of an impeller entry. By means of this solution, a part load vortex is reversed in its direction of action before it can reach components arranged upstream of the impeller entry and causes destruction of these. Other measures for influencing a part load vortex are described in EP 1 069 315 A2 , in particular in the assessment of the prior art. The measures "casing treatment, separator or active control" either require additional assemblies on the machine periphery (active control) or reduce efficiency even at the best point of the machine (casing treatment) or entail an increased outlay in structural terms (separator). The publication itself proposes the use of a multiplicity of grooves which, because of their bent J-shaped run, are generally designed as J-Grooves according to the literature reference "An Improvement of Performance-Curve Instability in a Mixed-Flow Pump by J-Grooves", May 29-June 1st, 2 001, New Orleans, Louisiana, FEDSM 2001-18077, Proceedings of 2001 ASME Fluids Engineering Division Summer Meeting (FEDSM'01). The J-Grooves are shallow grooves which, in another version, also run in a three-dimensional curve and which are formed in the pump casing in the flow direction upstream and above the impeller blading which is to have an open design at the impeller entry. For the functioning capacity of the grooves, it is critical that they partially overlap the outside of the diameter of the impeller. In the region of the impeller overlap, the impeller must have an open design, in order to obtain a connection between a fluid zone, provided with a higher pressure, in the region of the open impeller blading and the starts, arranged above it, of the J-Grooves. By virtue of this structural measure, a liquid-conducting connection to the approach flow zone located upscream is provided via the J-Grooves. By means of the J-Grooves arranged in the main flow direction, the open impeller blading permanently conveys a part stream of an already conveyed fluid upstream of the impeller and back into the region of the impeller approach flow. These J-Grooves have the disadvantage that their return conveyance is constantly-active throughout the entire operating range of the turbomachine. The peak efficiency of a turbomachine equipped with them consequently falls. A further disadvantage is the interaction between the free impeller blade tips and the opposite J-Groove groove parts fixed with respect to the casing, said interaction leading to increased phenomena of noise and of vibration. The reduction of these is described in the abovementioned literature reference, page 2, in conjunction with fig. 3 and its accompanying explanation. For this purpose, those ends of the J-Grooves which are arranged above the free blade tips are connected to one another by means of a continuous annular groove. Via this annular groove to be formed additionally in the casing, pressure equalization takes place between the individual J-Grooves on the end faces of the latter. Also, the arrangement of such three-dimensionally curved J-Grooves, which extend from the inflow region of constant diameter in a bending manner into a conical casing wall surface, requires a high outlay in manufacturing terms. This type of influence on the part load vortex entails considerable disadvantages. The problem on which the invention is based is, with regard to specifically high-speed centrifugal pumps with impellers of semiaxial or axial, open or closed type of construction, to achieve a simple possibility for improving the NPSH behavior and for improving the part load behavior. At the same time, the problem of being able to carry out a subsequent improvement in a simple way in centrifugal pumps already in use is to be solved, without the operating behavior in the normal operating range of the centrifugal pump being adversely influenced in this case. According to the solution to this problem, grooves are introduced in the casing wall of the intake duct, and a closed annular wall surface is formed between an impeller entry of the first impeller and the nearest ends of the grooves, the grooves being operatively connected solely to the intake duct. A first impeller is designed as an intake impeller. The closed annular wall surface formed in the casing wall of the intake duct is arranged between those ends of the grooves which are located upstream of the impeller entry in the approach flow direction and the impeller entry of the first impeller. Such an intake impeller may have a specific high speed nq >70 min-1. By virtue of this solution, the optimum operating point of a centrifugal pump remains unchanged and, like the other operating points, is not adversely influenced in any way. However, a part load vortex forming during part load operation, also referred to as a large prerotation vortex, is attenuated with the aid of the elongate depressions. The elongate grooves have the effect of a frictional transmission of energy from the near-wall region of the part load vortex to a large number of small vortices forming in the grooves. As a result of this energy transmission occurring only during part load operation, the circumferential component and consequently the intensity of the part load vortex arising are drastically reduced and, as a result, the part load behavior of the centrifugal pump is improved. Since the grooves exercise their energy-dissipating action only in cooperation with a part load vortex emerging from the impeller, the impeller approach flow remains unaffected for the other operating points. An adverse effect on the normal impeller approach flow does not take place, and consequently results in no adverse effect on the efficiency profile. In contrast to the known solutions in the form of J-Grooves, in the invention there is no intermixing of a flow conveyed back from the impeller via the grooves with a main flow flowing to the impeller. Owing to the deliberate avoidance of any inf eed of high-energy medium into the grooves, a disturbance of the impeller approach flow is prevented during normal operation. Only when a disturbance in the shape of the part load vortex which forms is induced by the impeller is an interaction between the grooves and the part load vortex to some extent initiated. This interaction leads to a self regulation. In this case, the energy of the part load vortex is dissipated in the grooves as a result of the formation of a multiplicity of small grooves vortices, thereby causing a considerable attenuation of the part load vortex. This function can be achieved only when the groove ends located upstream of the impeller in the intake duct are reliably cut off from a supply of already conveyed fluid by means of a closed annular wall surface. In an embodiment of the invention, the grooves are arranged between web-like formations of the casing wall of the intake duct. In those applications where a machining of an intake duct is not possible or is possible only with considerable difficulty, an annular insert: containing the grooves or webs may also be pushed into an existing intake duct of a pump. Such an insert allows a simple mechanical production of the grooves and can easily be installed into the intake ducts of pumps newly to be produced or already delivered. As a result of the small groove depths which amount to only a few millimeters and are formed only in the region of the near-wall boundary layers, an insert designed in this way is capable of achieving an improvement in the part load behavior even at a later stage in the case of centrifugal pumps already delivered or installed in plants. For this purpose, only the intake duct receiving the insert has, where appropriate, to be widened slightly in the inside diameter, so that a corresponding diameter size of a grooved insert can be received. A type of construction kit is used here in order, by means of a skilful grading of diameters, to make it possible to use such an insert in a multiplicity of pump types. According to one embodiment of the invention, the closed annular wall surface has an axial extent dependent on the intensity of the part load vortex. The length of the axial surface is at least such that interference between the impeller blades at the impeller entry and the groove ends arranged in front of these is reliably suppressed. The occurrence of disturbing noises and vibrations is thus prevented in the simplest possible way. On the other hand, the selected length of the axial annular surface is no greater than corresponds to the extent of the slowly forming and still harmless part load vortex. Only when the part load vortex which is formed acquires greater intensity is it possible that its breakaway line, as it may be referred to, comes loose from the impeller and jumps over the closed annular wall surface. As a result of this, the part load vortex emerges completely from the impeller. It is in this case directed counter to the approach flow and rotates about the machine axis in the impeller rotation direction. As a consequence of the tangential overflow of the depressions and the occurrence of a large number of small vortices in the depressions, a large part of the energy contained in the part load vortex is dissipated and the action of the part load vortex is drastically attenuated. According to further embodiments of the invention, the closed annular wall surface has an axial extent, dependent on the intensity of a part load vortex, of the order of 0.005 - 0.02 times the impeller entry-diameter. Also, the lengths of the grooves or webs are of the order of 0.03-0.5 times the impeller entry diameter. In this case, the depths of the grooves or the heights of the webs are of the order of 0.005 - 0.02 times the impeller entry diameter. Also, according to another embodiment of the invention, the product of the groove width b times the number of grooves n corresponds to a ratio of n.b = 0.45-0.65.n.D Exemplary embodiments of the invention are illustrated in the drawings and are described in more detail below. In the accompanying drawings. Fig. 1 shows NPSH curves of generic centrifugal pumps which are equipped with grooves and are without grooves, Fig. 2 shows a flow illustration of a backflow zone of an axial pump with an open impeller during normal operation, Fig. 3 shows a flow illustration on a semiaxial and axial pump with a closed impeller and during normal operation, Fig. 4 shows a flow illustration of a part load vortex on an axial pump during part load operation, Fig. 5 shows various velocity triangles in a cylindrical section of an axial machine during the emergence of the part load vortex from the impeller, Fig. 6 shows the flow profiles of a part load vortex in the grooves by means of a cylindrical section, Fig. 7 shows an illustration of the flow in the grooves, and Fig. 8 + 9 show Q-H and NPSH curves with an improved characteristic. Fig. 1 shows in a graph, as an example and by a dashed and dotted line, a typical NPSH curve of centrifugal pumps with high-speed impellers of an axial or semiaxial type of construction. The values for the delivery Q are plotted on the abscissa and the values for the NPSH are plotted on the ordinate. It is clear that the NPSH has a low value at the operating point Qopt, the best point of the delivery. By contrast, during part load operation, the NPSH profile is identified by a local rise, what is known as the NPSH peak, which, in the case of a predetermined maximum permissible NPSHA value, illustrated by dashes, or with associated plant, restricts the operating range at around Qmin Operation below this operating point is not permissible, since, otherwise, cavitation-induced states which do not allow continuous operation occur within the pump. An. unbroken line in the graph depicts a further NPSH curve which corresponds to a centrifugal pump having the same operating points, in the intake duct of which, however, grooves arranged according to the invention are additionally formed. The curve profile determined for a centrifugal pump designed in this way convincingly illustrates the substantially more favourable NPSH properties. Although there is still the local NPSH rise typical of part load operation, it is nevertheless at a markedly lower level as compared with n, a pump without grooves. A pump improved in this way has a substantially broadened operating range. Fig. 2 shows the existing flow conditions at the best point Qopt of a centrifugal pump 1 by the example of an open axial impeller. An impeller 2 rotates in a casing 3. During the rotational movement of the impeller 2, a backflow zone R rotating with the impeller and taking the form of a weak turbulent flow is formed between the casing 3 and the free blade tips 4 of the impeller 2. This backflow R is caused by the pressure equalization between the flow zones of adjacent blade ducts and a pressure equalization occurring in the region of free blade tips 4 between the intake side and the delivery side of blades 5. Such a backflow zone R rotating with the impeller 2 occupies approximately a region which corresponds to a blade width B. This backflow zone R has, along the casing wall 6, a flow direction, illustrated by arrows, which runs opposite to the impeller approach flow LA. At that point at which the backflow zone R reverses its flow direction, what is known as a breakaway line SL is depicted. This is, at it were, a boundary line which runs on the circumference of the casing wall 6. In the region of this line SL, the energy of the impeller approach flow LA is higher than the energy of the backflow zone R and thereby causes the flow reversal of the latter. In pumps with open semiaxial or axial impellers, such a backflow zone R is present over the entire operating range and is present even in the region of the point of best efficiency. According to fig. 3, there is an identical backflow zone in two different types of closed impellers. The upper illustration of fig. 3 shows the conditions in the case of a semiaxial pump design, while the lower illustration shows the conditions in an axial pump. In these impellers, a cover disk 7, as it is known, avoids energy exchange via the blade tips 4 and between the intake and delivery sides of an impeller blade 5. For this purpose, in such impellers 2, there is a small gap flow LF between the casing wall 6 and the cover disk 7, the pressure difference upstream and downstream of the impeller being responsible for this gap flow. By means of appropriately low gap clearances between cover disk 7 and casing wall 6, such leakage losses are greatly reduced. Fig. 4 shows, by the example of an open impeller 2, the formation of a part load vortex PLV which occurs during part load operation. This and the following statements apply likewise to an impeller of the closed type of construction. Such a part load vortex PLV rotating with the impeller emerges from the impeller 2 in the region of the impeller outside diameter D at the impeller entry edges 8 and opposite to the impeller approach flow LA and flows back into the intake duct 9. When the rotating part load vortex PLV occurs, there is a strong nonstationary interaction between the impeller approach flow and the blade circumflow, which is manifested, in particular, in an abrupt rise of the NPSH values. The degree of this rise is dependent on the intensity of the part load vortex which forms. The references X and Y, circled in fig. 4, are details and serve for illustrating the velocity triangles of fig. 5. A multiplicity of grooves 10 are distributed on the circumference and are arranged, upstream of the impeller 2, in the wall surface 6 of the intake duct 9. Fig. 5 shows the velocity conditions of a formed part load vortex PLV at the points X and Y of fig. 4. The point X shows the velocity conditions in the near-wall region of the part load vortex PLV emerging from the impeller 2, and the point Y shows the conditions in the wall-distant part load vortex PLV re-entering the impeller 2. The illustration depicts, at the points X and Y, the velocity triangles which are composed of the direction and magnitude arrows for the absolute velocity c, the relative velocity w and the circumferential velocity u. At the point X, the absolute velocity cx is obtained from the near-wall circumferential velocity ux of a blade 5 and from the backflowing relative velocity wx, emerging from the impeller, of the part load vortex PLV and is characterized by a high circumferential component cux. By contrast, the arrows with the velocity indication c~ symbolize, within the intake duct 9, the undisturbed approach flow to the impeller having the blades 5 depicted here in section and possessing a profile. Similarly to this, at Y, a velocity triangle is depicted which is determined at the point Y in the region of the entry point of the part load vortex PLV into the impeller 2. Since the entry point Y lies on a smaller diameter, the circumferential velocity uy is correspondingly lower. Also, because the energy of the part load vortex PLV is attenuated, its absolute velocity cy is also correspondingly lower, thus resulting in a relative velocity wy which, in this example, runs, as it were, offset at 90° with respect to the relative velocity wx of an emerging flow thread of the part load vortex PLV. The attenuation of the part load vortex PLV is caused, in particular, by the circumferential component Cux which leads to a tangential overflow of the axially parallel grooves 10, as they are shown in fig. 4 and in fig. 6, a top view of a development of the casing wall 6. The outer blade ends 4 run permanently past this wall surface of the casing wall 6. A plurality of grooves 10 which are arranged so as to be distributed over the circumference and run in the direction of the impeller approach flow c are formed in the casing wall 6. Of the grooves 10 running in the approach flow direction and arranged in the wall surface 6 in the intake duct. 9, their groove ends 11 are arranged at a distance upstream of the blade entry edge 8 on the outside diameter D of the impeller 2. The start of these grooves 10 running in the approach flow direction or axially parallel is not shown here, since the length of the grooves 10 is selected as a function of the deliveries and of the impeller form of construction. The lengths of these grooves 10 range in the order of 0.03 - 0.5 times the impeller entry diameter. During normal operation, an inflowing fluid flows through the grooves 10, without in this case adversely influencing the operating behavior of the centrifugal pump. / Furthermore, fig. 6 shows various breakaway lines SL1, SL2 and SL3 in a dashed illustration. The breakaway lines SLi, SL2 show the intake-side boundaries of a forming backflow zone R in different operating states. In the region of the best point Qopt, the breakaway line SL1 lies within the width of the impeller blades 5 and, with increasing part load operation, travels in front of the impeller or blade entry edge 8 as far as the breakaway line SL2. During normal operation, the position of this breakaway line SL2 always remains in front of the impeller 2 in the region of a closed annular wall surface 12. This wall surface 12 ensures that the fluid material flowing back from the zone R cannot enter the grooves 10. The length L, considered opposite to the impeller approach flow direction LA, of the wall surface 12 extending in front of the impeller entry and as far as the groove ends 11 is in an order which corresponds to the conditions of 0.005 - 0.02 x the impeller entry diameter. In the example of an axial impeller, used here, the impeller entry diameter usually corresponds to the impeller outside diameter D. In the case of a semiaxial impeller, it is correspondingly smaller. Also, where a closed impeller is concerned, it corresponds to the diameter as far as the inside diameter of a cover disk 7. Only when the part load vortex PLV is formed does the breakaway line SL2 jump over the closed annular wall surface 12 and reach the wall surface 6 provided with grooves 10. The limit of an axial expansion, then occurring, of the part load vortex PLV is illustrated by the breakaway line SL3. Thus, when the part load vortex PLV reaches a correspondingly high energy, it jumps over the closed annular wall surface 12 located upstream of the impeller and flows back into the intake duct 9. As a result of the absolute velocity component cux running predominantly in the circumferential direction, the part load vortex PLV formed in the intake duct 9 flows mainly tangentially over the grooves 10. in this case, its swirl energy is dissipated in a large number of small vortices which are formed within the grooves 10. This leads, in the case of the part load vortex PLV, to an extraction of velocity energy, so that the part load vortex PLV overall becomes weaker and is reduced considerably in its axial and radial expansion. It therefore extends only as far as the breakaway line SL3 at which a flow reversal of the part load vortex PLV takes place. As a result of the simultaneously induced reduction in the swirl component of the part load vortex, the characteristic curve stability of the centrifugal pump under part load is also decisively improved, in addition to the reduction of the NPSH rise. The functioning of the grooves 10 is consequently based on a frictional transmission of energy from a large prerotation vortex in the form of the part load vortex PLV to a large number of small vortices which are located in each case in the grooves 10. Fig. 7, a section along the line A-A of fig. 6, illustrates the generation of a large number of small energy-dissipating vortex systems 13 within the grooves 10. The large number of small vortex systems 13 are caused by the circumferential component cux of the part load vortex flow which runs tangentially with respect to the groove direction. The graphs of figs. 8 and 9 which are assigned to one another show a comparison. In the illustration of fig. 8, the curve profile, depicted by dashes and dots, corresponds to the Q-H characteristic curve of a centrifugal pump without grooves in the intake duct. Beyond the marked operating point QPLv, the Q-H curve has a clear kink in the characteristic curve. The delivery in this case decreases to smaller quantities. This is caused by reaction of a part load vortex PLV which is formed. By contrast, the Q-H characteristic curve illustrated by an unbroken line has a rising profile without a kink in the characteristic curve. This is the characteristic curve of a centrifugal pump, the intake duct of which is provided with ducts or grooves 10 ending at a distance upstream of the impeller. The dashed and dotted curve profile with the kink in the characteristic curve is caused by the formation of a part load vortex and the thus resulting impairments in the impeller approach flow. By contrast, where the same pump is concerned, a characteristic curve profile depicted by an unbroken line was established when a corresponding formation of grooves 10 took place upstream of the intake impeller in the wall surface 6 of the intake duct 9. The corresponding curve profiles in a normal operating range on the right of QPLv convincingly cover the action of the grooves during normal operation. The accompanying NPSH curves are depicted in fig. 9 arranged underneath fig. 8. The NPSH profile, illustrated by dashes and dots, corresponds to a pump in the suction duct 9 of which no grooves are arranged. By contrast, the unbroken characteristic curve profile shows a pump in the suction duct 9 of which a plurality of grooves 10 are arranged. Since the action of the part load vortex PLV is greatly reduced by the grooves 10, the NPSH behavior of such a pump is decisively improved. This NPSH profile no longer overshoots the predetermined plant value NPSHA and consequently no longer places any NPSH-induced operating limit Qmin there. The type of energy reduction of the part load vortex PLV and of the nonstationary interaction reduced thereby result, particularly in the operating range around PLV, in improved flow conditions, as a consequence of which the NPSH behavior is improved and a pump characteristic curve is stabilized. It is therefore to the inventors ' credit that they recognise that a profiling in the form of grooves, which is arranged at a distance upstream of the impeller in the casing wall of the intake orifice/inflow orifice has a braking action solely on a part load vortex emerging from the impeller during part load operation. An unchanged noise behavior of the centrifugal pump arose as an additional surprising effect. Pumps already delivered and installed in plants can consequently be converted without difficulty, since their noise behavior remains at its previous level. WE CLAIMS 1. A centrifugal pump with improved NPSH and part load behaviour, comprising one or several impellers having an axial or semi axial open or closed configuration interposed in a casing of the pump, an intake duct (9) having a wall area mounted upstream of a first impeller (2), a plurality of grooves that are spread across the circumference of said wall area being arranged which extend in the direction of flow, characterized in that a closed annular surface (12) is embodied between a point of entry of the first impeller (2) and the proximal ends of the grooves (10) in a casing wall (3) of the intake duct (9), and in that said grooves (10) being operably connected exclusively to the space within the intake duct (9). 2. The centrifugal pump as claimed in claim 1» wherein the grooves (10) are arranged between web-like formations of the casing wall (3). 3. The centrifugal pump as claimed in claim 1 or 2, comprising an insert, in particular a thin-walled annular element having grooves (10) or webs. 4. The centrifugal pump as claimed In claim 1, 2 or 3, wherin the closed annular wall surface (12) has an axial extent, dependent on the intensity of a part load vortex (PLV), in the order of 0.005-0.02 times the impeller entry diameter. 5. The centrifugal pump as claimed in one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the length of the grooves (10) or webs is in the order of 0.03-0.5 times the impeller entry diameter. 6. The centrifugal pump as claimed in one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the depth (t) of the grooves (10) or the height (h) of the webs is in the order of 0.005-0.02 times the impeller entry diameter. 7. The centrifugal pump as claimed in one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the product of the groove width (b) and the number of grooves (n) corresponds to a relationship of: n.b = 0.45-0.65.n.D, wherein 'D' is the outside diameter of the first impeller (2). The invention relates to a centrifugal pump with improved NPSH and part load behaviour comprising one or several impellers having an axial or semi axial open or closed configuration interposed in a casing of the pump, an intake duct (9) having a wall area mounted upstream of a first impeller (2), a plurality of grooves that are spread across the circumference of said wall area being arranged which extend in the direction of flow. A closed annular surface (12) is embodied between a point of entry of the first impeller (2) and the proximal ends of the grooves (10) in a casing wall (3) of the intake duct (9) and in that said grooves (10) being operably connected exclsively to the space within the intake duct (9).

Documents:

1390-KOLNP-2005-(27-12-2011)-CORRESPONDENCE.pdf

1390-KOLNP-2005-FORM 27.pdf

1390-KOLNP-2005-FORM-27-1.pdf

1390-KOLNP-2005-FORM-27.pdf

1390-kolnp-2005-granted-abstract.pdf

1390-kolnp-2005-granted-claims.pdf

1390-kolnp-2005-granted-correspondence.pdf

1390-kolnp-2005-granted-description (complete).pdf

1390-kolnp-2005-granted-drawings.pdf

1390-kolnp-2005-granted-examination report.pdf

1390-kolnp-2005-granted-form 1.pdf

1390-kolnp-2005-granted-form 18.pdf

1390-kolnp-2005-granted-form 2.pdf

1390-kolnp-2005-granted-form 3.pdf

1390-kolnp-2005-granted-form 5.pdf

1390-kolnp-2005-granted-pa.pdf

1390-kolnp-2005-granted-reply to examination report.pdf

1390-kolnp-2005-granted-specification.pdf

1390-kolnp-2005-granted-translated copy of priority document.pdf