Applicability of k-ε Eddy Viscosity Turbulence Models on Numerical Simulation of Centrifugal Pump

The object is based on IS80-65-160 centrifugal pump.In order to examine applicability of the standard k-e model, the renormalization group(RNG) k-e model and the Realizable k-e model using numerical simulations of centrifugal pump, a series of steady numerical simulations of centrifugal pump at the design point and at eight off-design points are carried out with these three kinds of turbulence models.During the simulations, the influence of the changes on the relative position between the impeller and volute is also considered.And the impeller/volute interaction is roundly reflected.According to the results obtained, the water head, shaft power and efficiency are calculated and the simulated performance curves of a centrifugal pump are compared with the experimental performance curves.It is confirmed that all these three models are suitable for the numerical simulation of the internal flow of a centrifugal pump.And especially the result of the numerical simulation from the Realizable k-e model has the best agreement with the experimental result.