The study of the flow in an helico-axial pump using laser Doppler velocimetry

The increasing interest in the development of multiphase flow pumping and the performances in cavitating regime characterising inducers, partially incited the Institut Francais du Petrol (IFP) to develop rotors of the same type as the one equipping the pump of the actual study with a configuration similar to that of inducers. This paper presents the work led within the framework of the experimental study of multiphase flow in turbomachinery. We present the results obtained by Laser Doppler velocimetry in the rotor of an helico-axial pump. Before starting the study in a multiphase environment, it was interesting, at first, to understand the nature of the flow with a single phase fluid. The measurements synchronised with the angular position of the rotor, allowed to restore the relative flow and thus to access to a abetter understanding of the flow structure in the inducers.