Recent progress in multiphase flow simulation through multiphase pumps

• Published in: Heat transfer (Hoboken, N.J. Print) Vol. 49; no. 5; pp. 2849 - 2867
• Main Authors: Meerakaviyad, Deepak, Keville, Tony, Prakash, Atma, Sajid, Abdullah, Hamad, Faik
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01-07-2020
• Subjects: computational fluid dynamics; efficiency; fluid dynamics; multiphase flow; vacuum pump
• ISSN: 2688-4534; 2688-4542
• DOI: 10.1002/htj.21749

The multiphase flow pumps cover a wide range of industrial sectors extending across petrochemical, metallurgy, and dredging, chemical industry, paint, and construction. The major application is the handling of wet gas and vapor that will condense partially during the compression stage. The main progress in the area of multiphase pumps has been the innovation of a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) numerical approach to simulate three‐dimensional flows inside the pump and to predict pump performance. CFD undoubtedly constitutes one of the most promising approaches for the design, analysis, and performance assessment of complex machines. However, practical application of the CFD tool to determine the internal flow field in multiphase pumps is still far from reality owing to the limitations of a detailed three‐dimensional model of the pump and accuracy of multiphase flow simulation. This review accentuates the influence of different geometrical and dynamical parameters on the performance of the pump and the use of CFD simulation to predict the detailed flow patterns of fluid mixtures. CFD analysis has unearthed the fact that the pattern of inner flow varies with the flow rate and concentration of each phase and the rotation speed of the impeller and number of blades were also found to considerably impact pump performance.