Performance test and flow measurement of contra-rotating axial flow pump

An application of contra-rotating rotors has been proposed against a demand for developing higher specific speed axial flow pump. In the present paper, the advantage and disadvantage of using contra-rotating rotors are described in comparison with conventional type of rotor-stator, based on theoretical and experimental investigations. The advantages are as follows: (1) The pump is inherently designed as smaller sized and at lower rotational speed. (2) A stable head-characteristic curve for flow rate with negative slope appears. (3) As the rear rotor rotational speed is varied as independent control of front rotor, the wider range of high performance operation is obtained by rear rotor speed control in addition to front rotor speed control. The disadvantages are as follows: (1) The structure of double shaft system becomes complex. (2) The pump performance is inferior at over flow rate as the rear rotor loading is weakened. (3) The blade rows interaction from rear rotor to front rotor more strongly appears. Then the rear rotor design is a key to achieve higher pump performance. Some methods to overcome these disadvantages will be discussed in more details toward wider usage of contra-rotating axial flow pump in various industrial fields.