Effects of non-Newtonian fluids on centrifugal pump performance

Centrifugal pumps are used with non-Newtonian fluids in many industrial applications. Since the effects of non-Newtonian fluids on the characteristics of centrifugal pumps are not exactly similar to Newtonian fluids, centrifugal pumps designed and tested with water should also be analyzed for non-Newtonian fluids. In this thesis, the effect of non-Newtonian fluids on the performance of two different centrifugal pumps designed low specific speed is investigated numerically at different rotor speeds and flow rates. The pumps are designed with basic design parameters and an optimization of different number of blade and outlet blade angle. It has been observed that non-Newtonian fluid viscosity changes with the change of pump geometry, rotor speed and flow rate and this affects the performance of the centrifugal pump. In pump 1, the highest pump head was obtained by analysis with water, whereas in pump 2, non-Newtonian fluids yielded higher pump head than in water.