Effect of blade inlet angle on the performance of oil centrifugal pump

Centrifugal pumps are widely used for steam power plants, sewage, oil refineries, chemical plants, hydraulic power service, food processing factories and mines, because of their suitability in practically any service. The performances of these pumps have significant decrease while pumping viscous liquids. In this research study, the blade entrance angle has been investigated numerically to find best performance and maximum efficiency. To gain these purposes the centrifugal pump performances with different blade inlet angles have been studied numerically when handling water and viscous oil. For these numerical simulations the high resolution algorithm is used for solving governing equation of incompressible viscous and turbulent flows through the pump at different operational condition. The k0 SST turbulence model is implemented to describe the turbulent flow process. In addition, these simulations have been made with steady calculation using multiple reference frames method to take into account the impeller-volute interaction. Diagrams of head, efficiency and input power versus volumetric flow rate are plotted. The results show that there is no distinct relation between oil pump performance and blade inlet angel, however, the pump with 45° leading angle indicate better operation than other cases through pumping viscous oil.