Analysis and numerical simulation of a novel gas-liquid multiphase scroll pump

This paper presents analysis of a novel multiphase scroll pump to transport gas-liquid two-phase mixtures, in which each compression chamber has a flank clearance which forms a pressure unloading gap connected to the discharge port. Therefore, this multiphase scroll pump has the function of unloading gas-liquid mixture pressure automatically during the compression process, so the frequently occurring problem of liquid slugging in displacement multiphase pumps is solved. Hence, safety and reliability are improved. In this paper the working process model of the presented multiphase scroll pump is discussed; and equations of fluid motion and geometry of scroll wrap profiles are given. Grid generation and numerical methods are discussed, and numerical simulation of the working process for a multiphase scroll pump is conducted using the commercial CFD software package Fluent, with results suggesting key parameter values for design of multiphase scroll pumps. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.