PREDICTION OF AIR-WATER 2-PHASE FLOW PERFORMANCE OF A CENTRIFUGAL PUMP BASED ON ONE-DIMENSIONAL 2-FLUID MODEL

To predict the performance of centrifugal pumps under air-water two-ph ase flow conditions, a consistent one-dimensional two-fluid model with fluid viscosity and air-phase compressibility in a rotating impeller is proposed by considering energy changes in the transitional flow fro m the rotating impeller to the stationary volute casing. The two-fluid model is numerically solved for the care of a radial-flow pump after various constitutive equations are applied. The head and shaft power p redicted are found to agree well with the measured values within +/-20 percent of the rated flow capacity.