Numerical simulation and performance analysis of a four-stage centrifugal pump

In this article, performance analysis of a four-stage centrifugal pump is presented and discussed by means of numerical simulation and experimental test methods. Calculation domain in simulation was created based on a four-stage real pump model and meshed with the high density of structured grids according to the grid independence analysis. The numerical simulations under multi-conditions were performed based on standard k-e turbulence and standard wall function. Pump performance curves acquired by numerical simulation and the test are basically coincident; the total head, total power, and efficiency values are similar and changing trend is consistent under the different flow conditions. Flow in first stage is dramatically different compared with other stages. The results present that the four-stage simulation could reflect the real flow more precisely than the two-stage simulation, but also have higher requirements about the computer configuration. To balance the time consuming and numerical accuracy, two-stage simulation is a better choice to predict the pump performance. The results of this study provide the basis and reference for the further improvement of multistage centrifugal pump performance.