Particle image velocimetry in the impeller of a centrifugal pump: A POD-based analysis

The flow field within the channels of a centrifugal pump impeller is usually complex, containing turbulent structures in a wide range of time and length scales. Identifying the different structures and their dynamics in this rotating frame is, therefore, a difficult task. However, modal decomposition can be a useful tool for detecting coherent structures. In this paper, we make use of proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) of time-resolved flow fields in order to investigate the flow in a centrifugal pump. For that, we carried out experiments using time-resolved particle image velocimetry (TR-PIV) in a pump of transparent material operating at different conditions and obtained the statistical characteristics of the turbulent flow from phase-ensemble averages of velocities and turbulent kinetic energy. The results reveal that at the pump’s best efficiency point (BEP) the flow is well-organized, with no significant flow separation. For flow rates below the BEP, flow separation and vortex structures appear in the impeller channels, making the flow unstable. At flow rates above the BEP, intense jets appear close to the suction blades, while small instabilities occur on the pressure side. The POD analysis shows that at low flow rates, the flow is dominated by large-scale structures with intense energy levels, while at the BEP and higher flow rates, the flow is dominated by small-scale structures. Our results shed light on the turbulence characteristics inside the impeller, providing relevant information for reduced-order models capable of computing the flow in turbomachinery at much lower costs when compared to traditional methods.