Journal of Thermal Science Vol.22, No.

2 (2013) 117122

DOI: 10.1007/s11630-013-0601-6

Article ID: 1003-2169(2013)02-0117-06

Influence of Blade Outlet Angle on Performance of Low-specific-speed

Centrifugal Pump
Cui Baoling, Wang Canfei, Zhu Zuchao, Jin Yingzi
The Province Key Laboratory of Fluid Transmission Technology, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou 310018, China
Science Press and Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, CAS and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013

In order to analyze the influence of blade outlet angle on inner flow field and performance of low-specific-speed
centrifugal pump, the flow field in the pump with different blade outlet angles 32.5and 39 was numerically calculated. The external performance experiment was also carried out on the pump. Based on SIMPLEC algorithm,
time-average N-S equation and the rectified k- turbulent model were adopted during the process of computation.
The distributions of velocity and pressure in pumps with different blade outlet angles were obtained by calculation. The numerical results show that backflow areas exist in the two impellers, while the inner flow has a little
improvement in the impeller with larger blade outlet angle. Blade outlet angle has a certain influence on the static
pressure near the long-blade leading edge and tongue, but it has little influence on the distribution of static pressure in the passages of impeller. The experiment results show that the low-specific-speed centrifugal pump with
larger blade outlet angle has better hydraulic performance.

Keywords: centrifugal pump; blade outlet angle; numerical simulation; external characteristic

Introduction
The blade outlet angle is one of the most important
geometric parameters for the impeller of centrifugal
pump, which has a significant influence on the pump
head, efficiency and so on. Some researches had been
done on the effect of blade outlet angle on the pump performance using theoretical analysis and experimental
method. T. Shigemitsu et al. [1] studied three types of
rotors with different outlet angles in the mini turbopumps. He investigated the effect of the blade outlet angle on performance and internal flow field of mini
turbo-pumps. Also Gonzlez et al. [2] found that different
blade outlet angles have significant influence on the
moment characteristics of the pump. Guangwen Li [3]
measured the internal flow field accurately using two

dimensional laser Doppler velocimeter when the centrifugal pump delivering water with large blade outlet
angle operated at the best and small flow conditions.
Xianfang Wu et al [4] had analyzed the influence of blade
outlet angle on performance characteristic of centrifugal
pump with different specific speeds. Based on the multiple regression method, Xijie He [5, 6] researched on the
effect degree and sequence of impeller geometric parameters on performance characteristic of centrifugal
pump, and the results showed that blade outlet angle has
significant influence on the pump head. With the rapid
progress of computer technology and computational fluid
dynamics, many numerical studies have been carried out
on centrifugal pump [7, 8], but few are on the lowspecific-speed centrifugal pump. So, it is necessary to
investigate the effect of different blade outlet angles on

Received: October 2012

CUI Baoling: Professor
This investigation was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China granted No.50976105, No.51276172 and Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation Granted No.R1100530.
www.springerlink.com

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performance of low-specific-speed centrifugal pump. In

this paper, to analysis the influence of blade outlet angle
on performance and internal flow of low-specific-speed
centrifugal pump, the flow field in the pump with different blade outlet angles is numerically calculated using
commercial software Fluent. The external performance
experiment is also carried out on the pump.

Computation model
Geometrical model
The design parameters of the low-specific-speed centrifugal pump studied are flowrate Q = 1.5m3/h, head H =
15m, the rotating speed n = 2900r/min. The specific
speed ns=28. The impeller is a complex one with four
long blades and eight short blades. To achieve better suction performance, a variable-pitch inducer is designed
upstream of the impeller. The three dimensional model of
pump is shown in Fig.1.

computational domains include impeller, inducer, the

extension of inlet and outlet, volute and clearance between impeller with the front shroud and hub. To ensure
the stability of calculation result, there is a proper extension at the outlet of impeller. The numerical grids are
obtained by Gambit, and interfaces are formed between
the two adjacent faces. Because the computational domains, which are inducer, impeller and volute, are in different levels of geometrical complexity, meshing is finished separately for different parts. Meanwhile, unstructured grid having strong adaptability is adopted. The numerical grid is shown in Fig.3.

Fig. 3

Fig. 1

The three dimensional model of pump

In the impeller(see Fig.2), inlet diameter D1 = 40 mm

outlet diameter D2 = 105mm, inlet width b1=11 mm, outlet width b2=4mm. Two impellers have the same parameters except for blade outlet angle. The blade outlet angles
are 2=32.5and 2=39 respectively.

Numerical grids

Calculation
In the numerical analysis, the commercial software
Fluent is used. Fluid is assumed under the steady condition and the RNG k- model is adopted as the turbulence
model. The numerical calculation of whole flow field for
the two different blades outlet angles is conducted at different flow rates based on the SIMPLEC algorithm which
couples the pressure and velocity. The specific boundary
conditions are as follows.
1) The inlet boundary condition: The constant velocity
is given as the boundary condition at inlet and the axial
velocity is determined by the law of mass conservation
and the assumption of zero-entry swirl.
2) The outlet boundary condition: The outflow is used
as the outlet boundary condition. Suppose the flow at the
outlet is fully developed.
3) The wall condition: Non-slip boundary condition is
adopted for the solid wall. The standard wall function is
utilized for the domains near the wall.

Numerical results analysis

(a) Centrifugal impeller

(b) Blade outlet angle

Fig. 2 Sketch Map of Centrifugal Impeller

Computational domain and grid

In this research, the whole flow field is calculated. The

Pressure analysis on the mid-section

In order to investigate the influence of blade outlet angle on the internal flow and performance of centrifugal
pump, the numerical analyses are performed at design
flow rates for different blade outlet angles 2=32.5 and
39 separately.

Cui Baoling et al.

Influence of Blade Outlet Angle on Performance of Low-specific-speed Centrifugal Pump

The static pressure distribution on the mid-section

with two different blade outlet angles is shown in Fig4 (a)
and (b). From Fig.4, it can be seen that the static pressure
in two impellers both increases from the inlet to outlet,
and the pressure on the pressure surface is higher than
that on the suction surface at the same radius. The static
pressure distribution in two impellers is uniform and
regular while there is a little fluctuation near the impeller
outlet because of the effect of the volute tongue. Low
pressure regions appear near the leading edge on the suction surface of the four long blades and it is found that
there are different size low pressure regions separately.
The low pressure region at the suction side of the blade is
also the place where is easy to occur cavitation.

(a) 2 = 32.5

Fig. 5

119

(b) 2 = 39

Static pressure near the tongue

Circumferential pressure distribution

The monitoring points are set on the interface between
impeller outlet and volute inlet and near volute wall
every 10 degrees. Therefore, there are 36 monitoring
points along the circumference. The section of the
volute is defined as circumferential angle 0, and the
positive rotation is counter-clockwise.
Static and total pressure distribution on the interface
(R = 52.6mm) between impeller outlet and volute inlet is
shown in Fig.6. From Fig.6, it is found that the flow in

(a) 2 = 32.5

(a) Static pressure distribution

(b) 2 = 39

Fig. 4 Static pressure on the mid-section

Pressure analysis near the tongue

The static pressure distribution near the tongue area is
shown in Fig.5. It can be seen that the pressure distribution near the tongue is uneven, and there is an obvious
pressure change from the tongue to the exit diffusion
segment. The pressure fluctuation is also found at the
tongue region. The low pressure area near the tongue is
larger in Fig.5 (a), and the pressure near the wall of exit
diffusion segment is relatively low. The low pressure
near the tongue may be caused by the impact and backflow in the exit diffusion segment, which will result in
certain hydraulic loss.

(b) Total pressure distribution

Fig. 6

Pressure distribution on the interface

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the impeller is unstable because of the rotor-stator interaction between impeller and volute. The pressure fluctuation distribution along the circumference is uneven and
changes like sine signal. And the number of wave peak is
nearly the same as the number of impeller blades, which
means it produces rotor-stator interaction between blades
and volute while the blade passes the volute. Also it can
be seen that the static pressure and total pressure of
2=39 is larger than that of 2=32.5. Besides, the fluctuation range of total pressure is larger than that of static
pressure.
The static and total pressure distribution near the volute wall is shown in Fig.7. It is found that the range of
pressure fluctuation becomes very small compared with
that on the interface, and the static pressure of 2=39 is
higher. The static pressure near the wall increases with
the increasing of circumferential angle because the dynamic pressure transforms into static pressure with the
increasing of section area for spiral volute. Due to the
hydraulic loss during the transformation the total pressure near the volute wall decreases gradually along with
the circumference. The total pressure of 39 outlet angle
is basically higher than that of 2=32.5.

Streamline distribution on the mid-section

The streamline distribution for the two different blade
outlet angles on the mid-section is shown in Fig.8. It is
found that the internal flow of the two impellers is
non-uniform. There exist backflows at inlet of the impeller which may be caused by the uneven of the circumferential velocity at the edge of rotational blade. Besides,
the backflows are also observed near the pressure side at
blade outlet in two impellers. Compared with the streamline distribution in them, the larger blade outlet angle can
improve the flow condition in the impeller so as to improve the discharge capacity of the passage.

(a) 2 = 32.5

(a) Static pressure distribution

(b) 2 = 39

Fig. 8

(b) Total pressure distribution

Fig. 7

Pressure distribution near volute wall

Streamline distribution on the mid-section

Velocity distribution
The circumferential and radial velocity distribution on
the interface is shown in Fig.9. It is easy to find that the
circumferential velocity is larger than the radial one, so
the fluid on the interface flows along the volute in the
helix direction. Compared with the circumferential velocity, there is negative value for the radial velocity near
the tongue and the circumferential angle of 240, which
means the vortexes occur in the impeller passage because
the fluid rotates with the impeller at high speed and
brings the reverse fluid.

Cui Baoling et al.

Fig. 9

Influence of Blade Outlet Angle on Performance of Low-specific-speed Centrifugal Pump

(a) Radial velocity

(a) Radial velocity

(b) Circumferential velocity

(b) Circumferential velocity

Velocity distribution on the interface

121

Fig. 10 Velocity distribution on the volute wall

From Fig.9 (b), it is found that there is certain fluctuation for the circumferential velocity and it decreases with
the increasing of circumferential angle. Because of the
spiral volute, the section area increases with the increasing of circumferential angle.
The circumferential and radial velocity distribution
near the volute wall is shown in Fig.10. Compared with
the velocity distribution on the interface, the velocity
fluctuation range near the volute wall becomes smaller.
With the increasing of circumferential angle, the radial
velocity approximates to a straight line, and it is basically
the same for blade outlet angle 32.5and 39. Along the
circumferential direction, the circumferential velocity
reduces gradually. That is because the distance between
the volute wall and impeller outlet is more and more far,
and the force coming from impeller on the fluid near the
wall is getting smaller and smaller.

Fig.11, it can be seen that the numerical result is close to

the experimental one at different outlet angle conditions.
The trend of the numerical result basically agrees with
that of experimental result. From Fig.11 (a), the computational head at blade outlet angle 2=32.5 is higher than
that of blade outlet angle 2=39 at small flow rate. And
then when blade outlet angle 2=39, it is higher with the
increasing of flow rate. For the computational efficiency,
there is little difference between two blade outlet angles
when the flow rate is less than 1.2m3/h. At design point,
when blade outlet angle 2=32.5, the computational
head Hs1 = 15.58m and efficiency s1 = 13.65%, while the
experimental head Ht1 = 16.5m and efficiency t1 =
10.32%. When the blade outlet angle 2=39, the computational head Hs2 = 16.58m and efficiency s2 = 14.57%,
while the experimental head Ht2 =17.36m and efficiency
t2 =12.64%.

External experiment

Conclusions

The characteristic performance curves of pump obtained by the experiment and the simulation are shown in
Fig.11 when blade outlet angle 2=32.5 and 39. From

To investigate the influence of blade outlet angle on

the performance and internal flow, the centrifugal pump
with complex impeller at different outlet angles is ana-

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Acknowledgement
This investigation was supported by National Natural
Science Foundation of China granted No.50976105,
No.51276172 and Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science
Foundation Granted No.R1100530.

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