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Characterization of the Performance of Centrifugal Pumps Powered by a Diesel Engine in Dredging Applications

2019; Volume: 13; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.15866/ireme.v13i1.16690

2532-5655

Jorge Duarte Forero, Luis Lisandro López Taborda, Antonio Bula,

Cyclone Separators and Fluid Dynamics

In the dredging industry, centrifugal pumps are the cornerstone of performance and productivityin operation. However, these characteristics are affected because the dredge operators are unaware of the response of the pump efficiency under operating conditions, as well as the fuel consumed by the engine that drives it. Experimental tests are discarded as a solution to this situation, due to its high cost and time requirements, presenting an opportunity for numerical analysis through computational fluid dynamics (CFD). In this paper, a Eulerian model based on the kinetic theory of granular flux is used to represent the multiphasic phenomenon. The turbulent standard k –ε model, along with a standard wall treatment with a dispersed approach was used to describe the turbulent flow. Experimental data obtained from operation includes depth of the submerged suction tube, rpm of the diesel engine, particle concentration and mass flow of the fluid. The comparison between the data acquired and the CFD results allowed to correlate the operating conditions with the fuel consumption of the engine and the efficiency of thepump additionally. The prediction capacity of this correlation was experimentally validated, obtaining deviations lower than 5%.