Heavy duty pump design, CFD optimization and experimental investigation for non-Newtonian type fluid transfer

The use of non-Newtonian fluids in developing engineering applications is increasing day by day. Non-Newtonian fluids may have an acidic or basic structure and high abrasion. Nowadays, pumps which are used in transfer of non-Newtonian fluids, which produce high pressure and flow in acidic or basic environments with long working life, gain more usage and importance. These pumps, which are generally of high power consumption values, will be designed according to the fluid to be transferred and the efficiency will be increased and this will lead to great financial savings. In this study, the design and optimization of a pump to be used in non-Newtonian fluid transfer was done, prototypes and test devices were manufactured and tested. Materials used for the abrasive structure of the transferred fluid have been examined and material quality improvements have been made in order to have longer working hours. For the design of the pump housing and impeller, firstly the required flow rate and head height were determined. After the preliminary design, detailed analysis was performed by 3D computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method. Based on the results of the analyzes, analyzes were performed for non-Newtonian starchy water and CFD based optimization was performed. A test unit where pump characteristic curves can be obtained is fully designed and manufactured, the optimal pump has been tested and performance curves have been removed. The results of the test were obtained by using the characteristic curves. As a result of the studies, 5% energy efficiency and 11% more efficiency are obtained compared to the equivalent pump which is designed and manufactured for the same flow and head. The results of the test and the results obtained from the HAD method were found to be in agreement. Keywords: Turbomachine, Heavy duty centrifugal pump, Optimization, Starchy water, Computational Fluid Dynamics, CFD.