In order to improve internal unsteady flow in a double-blade centrifugal pump (DBCP), this study used major geometric parameters of the original design as the initial values, heads at three conditions (i.e., 80% design flow rate, 100% design flow rate, and 120% design flow rate) as the constraints conditions, and the maximum of weighted average efficiency at the three conditions as the objective function. An adaptive simulated annealing algorithm was selected to solve the energy performance calculation model and the supertransitive approximation method was applied to fix optimal weight factors of individual objectives. On the basis of hydraulic performance optimization, three-condition automatic computational fluid dynamics (CFD) optimization of impeller meridional plane for the DBCP was realized by means of Isight software integrated Pro/E, Gambit, and Fluent software. The shroud arc radii R₀ and R₁, shroud angle T₁, hub arc radius R₂, and hub angle T₂ on the meridional plane were selected as the design variables and the maximum of weighted average hydraulic efficiency at the three conditions was chosen as the objective function. Performance characteristic test and particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements of internal flow in the DBCP were conducted. Performance characteristic test results show that the weighted average efficiency of the impeller after the three-condition optimization has increased by 1.46% than that of original design. PIV measurements results show that vortex or recirculation phenomena in the impeller are distinctly improved under the three conditions.

The particles transported by slurry pumps in practical engineering are non-spherical, but the current research mainly focuses on spherical particles, which limits their further development. To investigate the non-spherical particle movement in the pump, the multi-sphere model is applied to construct a cylindrical particle model. The RANS-DEM approach is employed to analyze the movement characteristics of cylindrical particle within a slurry pump, and the effects of densities, concentrations, and shapes are considered. The research results indicate that the average velocity of cylindrical particle decreases with the increase in particle density. With the increase in density, the maximum average velocity of particles decreases about 7.3%, and the time to reach the peak decreases, about 15.6%. Additionally, cylindrical particles tend to move toward the pressure side in the impeller, while the accumulation of particles in the middle of the guide vane becomes more prominent. Moreover, the proportion of collisions between particles and guide vanes to total collision is reduced, about 5.9%. As the cylindrical particle concentration increases, the particle average velocity in the pump decreases and some particles deviate from the blade pressure side. The maximum velocity of particles with the lowest concentration is higher than that of the particles with the highest concentration, approximately 5.48%. The accumulation in the middle of the guide vane flow channel deteriorates and the total particle collisions increase. Compared with spherical particles, the average velocity of cylindrical particles is faster, about 1.01%. Cylindrical particles move more smoothly along the pressure side in the impeller. At the same time, the total collision numbers of cylindrical particles are 13.46% higher than that of spherical particles, and the collision type is mainly between particles and guide vanes. The effect of the particle properties parameters on pump performance could provide theoretical support for the design of high-performance deep-sea mining slurry pumps.

The double blade pump is widely used in sewage treatment industry, however, the research on the internal flow characteristics of the double blade pump with particle image velocimetry (PIV) technology is very little at present. To reveal inner flow characteristics in double blade pump impeller under off-design and design conditions, inner flows in a double blade pump impeller, whose specific speed is 111, are measured under the five off-design conditions and design condition by using 3D PIV test technology. In order to ensure the accuracy of the 3D PIV test, the external trigger synchronization system which makes use of fiber optic and equivalent calibration method are applied. The 3D PIV relative velocity synthesis procedure is compiled by using Visual C++ 2005. Then absolute velocity distribution and relative velocity distribution in the double blade pump impeller are obtained. Test results show that vortex exists in each condition, but the location, size and velocity of vortex core are different. Average absolute velocity value of impeller outlet increases at first, then decreases, and then increases again with increase of flow rate. Again average relative velocity values under 0.4, 0.8, and 1.2 design condition are higher than that under 1.0 design condition, while under 0.6 and 1.4 design condition it is lower. Under low flow rate conditions, radial vectors of absolute velocities at impeller outlet and blade inlet near the pump shaft decrease with increase of flow rate, while that of relative velocities at the suction side near the pump shaft decreases. Radial vectors of absolute velocities and relative velocities change slightly under the two large flow rate conditions. The research results can be applied to instruct the hydraulic optimization design of double blade pumps.

To investigate the effects of clearance variations induced by back wear ring wear on internal flow and noise within centrifugal pumps at the design flow rate (Q_o = 25 m³/h), a combined Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Acoustic Finite Element Method (FEM) approach was employed. The SST-SAS turbulence model and Lighthill’s acoustic analogy, were applied to simulate the internal flow and acoustic fields, respectively, across four different clearance values. The impact laws of various back wear-ring clearances on flow-induced noise were analyzed. The results indicate that the head and efficiency of the centrifugal pump gradually decrease with the increase in the back wear-ring clearance. When the clearance reaches 1.05 mm, the head drops by 4.35% and the efficiency decreases by 14.86%. The radial force on the impeller decreases, while the axial force increases and its direction reverses by 180 degrees. The acoustic source strength at the rotor–stator interface, near the volute tongue, and at the outlet of the back wear ring increases with larger clearance; furthermore, high-sound-source regions expand around the balance holes and near the impeller suction side. The dominant SPL frequency for all clearance cases was the blade passing frequency (BPF). As clearance increases, the overall SPL curve shifts upwards; however, the variation gradient decreases noticeably when the clearance exceeds 0.75 mm. The overall internal SPL increases, with the total SPL under 1.05 mm being 1.8% higher than that under 0.15 mm. In total, the optimal back ring clearance is 0.45 mm, which achieves a 38% noise reduction while maintaining a 97.9% head capacity.