Cavitation is the main factor that causes reliability problems in centrifugal charging pumps (CCPs) in nuclear power plants. In this study, the cavitation-induced unsteady flow characteristics of a CPR1000 CCP were investigated by numerical and experimental methods. The vapor distribution in the impeller, velocity fluctuation, and pressure fluctuation results in the time and frequency domains were considered for several typical monitoring points in the impeller and volute. The pressure fluctuations in the impeller occurred at an impeller rotating frequency of fR and its integer harmonics, whereas those in the volute mainly occurred at an impeller blade-passing frequency of fB and its integer harmonics. The absolute error between the simulated and measured NPSHr was 3.6%, and that between the calculated and measured head was 2.9%, validating the simulation of the cavitation performances of a CCP.

References

1.
Cervone
,
A.
,
Testa
,
R.
,
Bramanti
,
C.
,
Rapposelli
,
E.
, and
d'Agostino
,
L.
,
2005
, “
Thermal Effects on Cavitation Instabilities in Helical Inducers
,”
AIAA J. Propul. Power
,
21
(
5
), pp.
893
899
.
2.
Cervone
,
A.
,
Torre
,
L.
,
Bramanti
,
C.
,
Rapposelli
,
E.
, and
d'Agostino
,
L.
,
2006
, “
Experimental Characterization of Cavitation Instabilities in a Two-Bladed Axial Inducer
,”
AIAA J. Propul. Power
,
22
(
6
), pp.
1389
1395
.
3.
Cervone
,
A.
,
Bramanti
,
C.
,
Torre
,
L.
,
Fotino
,
D.
, and
d'Agostino
,
L.
,
2007
, “
Setup of a High-Speed Optical System for the Characterization of Instabilities Generated by Cavitation
,”
ASME J. Fluids Eng.
,
129
(
7
), pp.
877
885
.
4.
Semenov
,
Y. A.
,
Fujii
,
A.
, and
Tsujimoto
,
Y.
,
2004
, “
Rotating Choke in Cavitating Turbopump Inducer
,”
ASME J. Fluids Eng.
,
126
(1), pp.
87
93
.
5.
Horiguchi
,
H.
,
Arai
,
S.
,
Fukutomi
,
J.
,
Nakase
,
Y.
, and
Tsujimoto
,
Y.
,
2004
, “
Quasi-Three-Dimensional Analysis of Cavitation in an Inducer
,”
ASME J. Fluids Eng.
,
126
(
5
), pp.
709
715
.
6.
d'Agostino
,
L.
,
Torre
,
L.
,
Pasini
,
A.
, and
Cervone
,
A.
,
2008
, “
A Reduced Order Model for Preliminary Design and Performance Prediction of Tapered Inducers
,”
AIAA
Paper No. 2008-5119.
7.
Kang
,
D.
,
Yonezawa
,
K.
,
Horiguchi
,
H.
,
Kawata
,
Y.
, and
Tsujimoto
,
Y.
,
2009
, “
Cause of Cavitation Instabilities in Three Dimensional Inducer
,”
Int. J. Fluid Mach. Syst.
,
2
(
3
), pp.
206
214
.
8.
Torre
,
L.
,
Pasini
,
A.
,
Cervone
,
A.
, and
d'Agostino
,
L.
,
2011
, “
Experimental Characterization of the Rotordynamic Forces on Space Rocket Axial Inducers
,”
ASME J. Fluids Eng.
,
133
(
10
), p.
101102
.
9.
Torre
,
L.
,
Cervone
,
A.
,
Pasini
,
A.
, and
d'Agostino
,
L.
,
2011
, “
Experimental Characterization of Thermal Cavitation Effects on Space Rocket Axial Inducers
,”
ASME J. Fluids Eng.
,
133
(
11
), p.
111303
.
10.
Coutier-Delgosha
,
O.
,
Fortes-Patella
,
R.
, and
Reboud
,
J. L.
,
2003
, “
Experimental and Numerical Studies in a Centrifugal Pump With Two-Dimensional Curved Blades in Cavitating Condition
,”
ASME J. Fluids Eng.
,
125
(
6
), pp.
970
978
.
11.
Medvitz
,
R. B.
,
Kunz
,
R. F.
,
Boger
,
D. A.
,
Lindau
,
J. W.
,
Yocum
,
A. M.
, and
Pauley
,
L. L.
,
2002
, “
Performance Analysis of Cavitating Flow in Centrifugal Pumps Using Multiphase
,”
ASME J. Fluids Eng.
,
124
(
2
), pp.
377
383
.
12.
Goncalves
,
E.
, and
Fortes Patella
,
R.
,
2009
, “
Numerical Simulation of Cavitating Flows With Homogeneous Models
,”
Comput. Fluids
,
38
(
9
), pp.
1682
1696
.
13.
Bakir
,
F.
,
Rey
,
R.
,
Gerber
,
A. G.
,
Belamri
,
T.
, and
Hutchinson
,
B.
,
2004
, “
Numerical and Experimental Investigations of the Cavitating Behavior of an Inducer
,”
Int. J. Rotating Mach.
,
10
(
1
), pp.
15
25
.
14.
Fu
,
Y.
,
Yuan
,
J.
,
Yuan
,
S.
,
Pace
,
G.
,
d'Agostino
,
L.
,
Huang
,
P.
, and
Li
,
X.
,
2015
, “
Numerical and Experimental Analysis of Flow Phenomena in a Centrifugal Pump Operating Under Low Flow Rates
,”
ASME J. Fluids Eng.
,
137
(
1
), p.
011102
.
15.
Li
,
X. J.
,
Yuan
,
S.
,
Pan
,
Z. Y.
,
Yuan
,
J. P.
, and
Fu
,
Y. X.
,
2013
, “
Numerical Simulation of Leading Edge Cavitation Within the Whole Flow Passage of a Centrifugal Pump
,”
Sci. China Technol. Sci.
,
56
(
9
), pp.
2156
2162
.
16.
Pace
,
G.
,
Valentini
,
D.
,
Pasini
,
A.
,
Torre
,
L.
,
Yanxia
,
F.
, and
d'Agostino
,
L.
,
2015
, “
Geometry Effects on Flow Instabilities of Different Three-Bladed Inducers
,”
ASME J. Fluids Eng.
,
137
(
4
), p.
041304
.
17.
Gao
,
Z.
,
Zhu
,
W.
,
Lu
,
L.
,
Deng
,
J.
,
Zhang
,
J.
, and
Wang
,
F.
,
2014
, “
Numerical and Experimental Study of Unsteady Flow in a Large Centrifugal Pump With Stay Vanes
,”
ASME J. Fluids Eng.
,
136
(
7
), p.
071101
.
18.
Yang
,
S. S.
,
Liu
,
H. L.
,
Kong
,
F. Y.
,
Xia
,
B.
, and
Tan
,
L. W.
,
2014
, “
Effects of the Radial Gap Between Impeller Tips and Volute Tongue Influencing the Performance and Pressure Pulsations of Pump as Turbine
,”
ASME J. Fluids Eng.
,
136
(
5
), p.
054501
.
19.
Yang
,
J.
,
Pavesi
,
G.
,
Yuan
,
S.
,
Cavazzini
,
G.
, and
Ardizzon
,
G.
,
2015
, “
Experimental Characterization of a Pump-Turbine in Pump Mode at Hump Instability Region
,”
ASME J. Fluids Eng.
,
137
(
5
), p.
051109
.
20.
Pearson
,
T.
,
Douglas
,
P.
, and
Gurley
,
D.
,
1997
, “
Centrifugal and Positive Displacement Charging Pump Maintenance Guide
,” Electric Power Research Institute, Palo Alto, CA,
Report No. TR-107252
.
21.
Zhang
,
F.
,
Yuan
,
S.
,
Fu
,
Q.
,
Hong
,
F.
, and
Yuan
,
J.
,
2014
, “
Investigation on Transient Flow in a Centrifugal Charging Pump During Charging Operating Process
,”
Adv. Mech. Eng.
,
6
, p.
860257
.
22.
Zhang
,
F.
,
Yuan
,
S.
,
Fu
,
Q.
,
Pei
,
J.
, and
Chen
,
J.-J.
,
2015
, “
Transient Flow Characteristics During Variable Operating Conditions of the Centrifugal Charging Pump in 1000 MW Nuclear Power Plant
,”
Proc. Inst. Mech. Eng., Part E
,
229
(
4
), pp.
233
242
.
23.
Zwart
,
P. J.
,
Gerber
,
A. G.
, and
Belamri
,
T.
,
2004
, “
A Two-Phase Model for Predicting Cavitation Dynamics
,”
ICMF 2004 International Conference on Multiphase Flow
,
Yokohama
,
Japan
, p.
152
.
24.
Zhang
,
F.
,
Yuan
,
S.
,
Fu
,
Q.
,
Hong
,
F.
, and
Tao
,
Y.
,
2015
, “
Analysis on Pressure Characteristics During Internal Unsteady Flow in Double Volute Centrifugal Pump
,”
Trans. Chin. Soc. Agric. Mach.
,
46
(
2
), pp.
52
58
.
You do not currently have access to this content.