Influence of Pressure Fluctuation on Reflux Valve in a Self-Priming Pump With Outer Recirculation

The pressure fluctuation caused by impeller-volute interaction is one of the factors which affect the stability of self-priming pump with outer recirculation. Based on the RNG k–ε turbulence model, three-dimensional unsteady turbulence flow in a self-priming pump was simulated in this paper. Pressure fluctuations were obtained at 26 monitor points distributed at eight sections of the volute and on the reflux valve, and the influence on the valve was analyzed. The CFD results show that the main frequency of monitor points is blade passing frequency, and the pressure difference between maximum and average is minimal at the fifth section, which is 1.3%∼2.4%. Using pressure sensors and LabVIEW system, the pressures at third, fifth and seventh sections were tested. The experimental results show that pressure fluctuation layouts are similar as those from CFD, and the pressure difference at the fifth section is 4%, also the minimum. The position also is found with minimal influence on reflux valve. Reflux hole should be placed at 200° ∼ 220° from the tongue along the direction of the impeller rotation. Further, according to the CFD results, the Finite Element Analysis (FEA) of the reflux valve was carried out. FEA shows that the valve can close the reflux hole completely after self-priming process, which gets a good hydraulic performance when the pump runs normally.