A numerical study on the influence of gas-liquid two phase flow on the rotary pump performances

Rotary pump can be used in many fields because of its strong self-priming ability. Many factors may cause the medium in rotary pump system containing gas-liquid two phase. And the suction capacity of rotary pump will decrease sharply in these situations. To study the internal flow mechanism of rotary pump when transporting medium containing gas, the gas-liquid two phase flow in the rotary pump system has been simulated using VOF model under different gas fractions. And the interaction between rotary pump and the pipeline has been considered. The simulation results coincide well with the theoretical calculation results, and the distribution of the flow field match well with the Mandhane flow pattern map. The main conclusions are as follows: with the increase of gas fraction, the flow pattern in the pipeline has the following evolutionary trend (bubble - plug - slug - wavy), and the suction capacity of the pump will decrease. It is mainly because gas medium can fill the partial vacuum produced by the rotor motion easily and is easier to have backflow.