ELECTRODIFFUSIONAL FLOW DIAGNOSTICS IN A CENTRIFUGAL PUMP

This paper presents electrodiffusional measurements of the wall shear rate at the impeller surface of a radial centrifugal pump. Twelve prob es of different radii and at different positions along one blade were used in a pump with an open six bladed impeller. By means of throttlin g and speed control the operating point of the pump was adjusted and t he influence on the wall shear rate was studied. The measurements were related to the analytical solution for a free rotating disc and the s hear gradients were in the same order of magnitude.