Hydraulic performance of pump sumps based on CFD approach

In order to improve the design of pump sumps,the CFD approach was employed to analyze the flow patterns and hydraulic performance.Based on the renormalization group analysis model and the SIMPLEC algorithm,the steady flows in a typical rectangular sump were simulated.By use of the optimum objective function of the velocity uniformity,the distribution of axial velocities of various sections of the suction pipe was analyzed.The range of nominal height for the impeller was suggested,that is,1.3 to 1.7 times the diameter of the bell mouth.The computed results show that the flow patterns of the rectangular sump are turbulent and the hydraulic performance is poor.The hydraulic performance of the sump with a tone and a W-type wall is obviously improved.