To investigate the effect of inlet elbow geometry on the performance of a large low-head pumping system and improve its comprehensive performance, this paper calculated and analyzed the internal flow fields, external characteristics, and entropy production distribution of the pumping system with different parametric combinations of the inlet elbow via numerical simulations with a Reynolds averaged Navier Stokes-volume of fluids fixed net head method. The energy characteristics were further studied using a newly introduced method of local internal energy change to visualize energy consumption. An automatic multi-software optimization design method was developed based on MATLAB, a feed-forward neural network, and a differential evolution algorithm to optimize the geometrical parameters of the inlet elbow. The research results indicate that appropriate heights of the throat and truncated cone improve velocity distribution, decrease the hydraulic loss in the inlet conduit, and foster a favorable flow condition at the pump inlet and outlet. Well-distributed axial velocity at the impeller inlet improves the pump efficiency. Well-distributed axial velocity and circulation at the pump outlet could reduce and eliminate flow separation, reflow, and vortices in the outlet conduit, thereby reducing energy consumption. Compared with the original design, the optimized geometry of the inlet elbow significantly improves the pumping system efficiency by 8.4 percentage points. The findings reveal the effect of the inlet elbow geometry on the performance of large low-head pumping systems and provide an easy, efficient, and economical method for the design and modification of low-head pumping systems.
Skip Nav Destination
Article navigation
January 2025
Research Article|
January 02 2025
Effect mechanism of inlet elbow on energy consumption of large low-head pumping system and its optimization design
Special Collection:
Flow and Civil Structures
Tianxu Yan (严天序)
;
Tianxu Yan (严天序)
(Funding acquisition, Software, Writing – original draft)
1
National Research Center of Pumps, Jiangsu University
, Zhenjiang 212013, China
Search for other works by this author on:
Baoyun Qiu (仇宝云)
;
Baoyun Qiu (仇宝云)
a)
(Funding acquisition, Supervision, Writing – review & editing)
2
College of Electrical, Energy and Power Engineering, Yangzhou University
, Yangzhou 225000, China
a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: [email protected]
Search for other works by this author on:
Jianping Yuan (袁建平)
Jianping Yuan (袁建平)
(Supervision)
1
National Research Center of Pumps, Jiangsu University
, Zhenjiang 212013, China
Search for other works by this author on:
a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: [email protected]
Physics of Fluids 37, 015104 (2025)
Article history
Received:
October 04 2024
Accepted:
November 24 2024
Citation
Tianxu Yan, Baoyun Qiu, Jianping Yuan; Effect mechanism of inlet elbow on energy consumption of large low-head pumping system and its optimization design. Physics of Fluids 1 January 2025; 37 (1): 015104. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0242524
Download citation file:
Pay-Per-View Access
$40.00
Sign In
You could not be signed in. Please check your credentials and make sure you have an active account and try again.
36
Views
Citing articles via
On Oreology, the fracture and flow of “milk's favorite cookie®”
Crystal E. Owens, Max R. Fan (范瑞), et al.
Physics-informed neural networks for solving Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations
Hamidreza Eivazi, Mojtaba Tahani, et al.
Chinese Academy of Science Journal Ranking System (2015–2023)
Cruz Y. Li (李雨桐), 李雨桐, et al.
Related Content
Effects of non-uniform elbow inflow on the unsteady flow and energy development characteristics of a centrifugal pump
Physics of Fluids (January 2023)
Numerical simulation of the erosion in the 90° elbow
AIP Conference Proceedings (July 2013)
Passive flow control in square duct and 90° elbow with circular turbulator at certain gaps
AIP Conf. Proc. (December 2019)
Evaluation of an accurate and consistent mathematical model of an elbow flowmeter derived from the Navier–Stokes equation
Physics of Fluids (November 2020)
On the evolution of flow structures around a track cyclist
Physics of Fluids (January 2024)