Hydrodynamic Analysis of the Flow Field Induced by a Symmetrical Suction Elbow at the Pump Inlet

The paper investigates the hydrodynamic field generated by the symmetrical suction elbow at the pump impeller inlet. The full three-dimensional turbulent numerical investigation of the flow in the symmetrical suction elbow is performed using FLUENT then the flow non uniformity generated by it is numerically computed. The numerical results on the annular cross section are qualitatively and quantitatively validated against LDV data. A good agreement between numerical results and experimental data is obtained on this cross section located downstream to the suction elbow and upstream to the pump impeller. The hydrodynamic flow structure with four vortices is identified plotting the vorticity field. The largest values of the vorticity magnitude are identified in the center of both vortices located behind the shaft. The vortex core location is plotted on four annular cross sections located along to the cylindrical part between the suction elbow and the pump inlet. Also, the three-dimensional distribution of the vortex core filaments is visualized and extracted. The shapes of vortex core filaments located behind the pump shaft agree well with its visualization performed on the test rig. As a result, the three-dimensional complex geometry of the suction elbow and the pump shaft are identified as the main sources of the flow non-uniformity at the pump inlet.