A CFD study of IGV vane number on hydraulic characteristics and pressure pulsation of an is centrifugal pump

Vane number is an important parameter of IGV device, which indirectly affects hydraulic performance and pressure pulsation characteristics of the attached pump. In this study, based on an IS pump, the influences of vane number on hydraulic performance and pressure pulsation characteristics were considered. Four set of IGV devices were generated to assemble to the pump with 5, 6, 7 and 9 vanes, respectively. Then the three-dimensional unsteady flow fields were simulated using RNG k-epsilon turbulence model and sliding mesh by Fluent-16.0. The numerical results showed good agreement with the experimental data, which validated the numerical models. The effects of vane number on pump head and efficiency are different. 6 vanes IGV device can produce higher head while 7 or 9 vanes can bring about higher efficiency. Similarly, the influences of vane number on pressure pulsation in time domain and frequency domain are also complex. 6 vanes IGV device can remarkably decrease power spectral density at all flow rate conditions, but 7 vanes IGV device can improve pump pressure pulsation characteristics and realize better hydraulic stability. Therefore, it is hard to determine the best vane number, but 6 vanes IGV device is suggested for engineering application to obtain better hydraulic performance.