• International Journal of Fluid Machinery and Systems
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.245-252
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• 2010

It's known that pump head of centrifugal impeller with lager blade outlet angle is kept higher in air-water two phase flow condition, though the efficiency in water single phase flow condition is inferior. In the present study, a centrifugal impeller with variable blade outlet angles, that has higher efficiencies in both water single phase flow and air-water two phase flow conditions, is proposed. And the performances of the centrifugal impeller with variable blade outlet angles were experimentally investigated in both flow conditions of single and two-phase. In addition, effects of installing diffuser vanes on the performances of centrifugal pump with movable bladed impeller were also examined. The results are as follows: (1) The movable bladed impeller that proposed in this study is effective for higher efficiency in both water single phase and air-water two phase flow conditions. (2) When diffuser vanes are installed, the efficiency of movable bladed impeller decreases particularly at large water flow rate in water single-phase flow condition; (3) The performances of movable bladed impeller are improved by installing of diffuser vanes in air-water two-phase flow condition at relatively small water rate. The improvement by installing of diffuser vanes however disappears at large water flow rate.

• Journal of Advanced Marine Engineering and Technology
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• v.28 no.8
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• pp.1203-1210
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• 2004

It was reported recently that the pump head degradation near the best efficiency point from single-phase flow to the break-down due to air entrainment became less in a screw-type centrifugal pump than in a general centrifugal pump. In this paper, I carried out internal pressure measurements and visualizations, and investigated the various physical phenomena occurring inside a screw-type centrifugal pump operated in air-water two-phase flow. The results could give some characteristics about the degradation of pump performance on air-water two-phase flow.

• International Journal of Fluid Machinery and Systems
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.127-135
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• 2009

A conventional centrifugal pump causes a drastic deterioration of air-water two-phase flow performances even at an air-water two-phase flow condition of inlet void fraction less than 10% in the range of relatively low water flow rate. Then we have developed a two-phase flow centrifugal pump which consists of a tandem arrangement of double rotating cascades and blades of outer cascade have higher outlet angle more than $90^{\circ}$. In design of the two-phase flow pump for various sized and operating conditions, similarity relations of geometric dimensions to hydraulic performances is very useful. The similarity relations of rotational speed, impeller diameter and blade height are investigated for the developed impeller in the present paper. As the results, the similarity law of rotational speed and impeller diameter is clarified experimentally even in two-phase flow condition. In addition, influences of blade height on air-water two-phase flow performances indicate a little difference from the similarity relations.

• Journal of Advanced Marine Engineering and Technology
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.685-692
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• 2006

In a general centrifugal pump, if it is operated in a two-phase flow the activity of the impeller usually degrades and occasionally losses its function. However, the effect of break down of centrifugal pump due to entrained air has not been clarified yet. This paper shows the air-water two-phase flow characteristics of closed type and semi-open type impellers. In a sing1e-phase flow, closed-type impeller has higher efficiency and head. But in air-water two-phase flow semi-open type impeller's rates of decreases of efficiency and head are decreased.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.12
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• pp.3892-3901
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• 2021

The pressure drop of a moisture separator in a steam generator is the important design parameter to ensure the successful performance of a nuclear power plant. The moisture separators have a wide range of operating conditions based on the arrangement of them. The prediction of the pressure drop in a moisture separator is challenging due to the complexity of the multi-dimensional two-phase vortex flow. In this study, the moisture separator test facility using the air/water two-phase flow was used to predict the pressure drop of a moisture separator in a Korean OPR-1000 reactor. The prototypical steam/water two-phase flow conditions in a steam generator were simulated as air/water two-phase flow conditions by preserving the centrifugal force and vapor quality. A series of experiments were carried out to investigate the effect of hydraulic characteristics such as the quality and liquid mass flux on the two-phase pressure drop. A new prediction model based on the scaling law was suggested and validated experimentally using the full and half scale of separators. The suggested prediction model showed good agreement with the steam/water experimental results, and it can be extended to predict the steam/water two-phase pressure drop for moisture separators.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2000.04b
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• pp.568-573
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• 2000

In this study, experimental and numerical analyses are carried out to investigate the performance of centrifugal pump with various air admitting conditions. Experiments on pump performance under air-water two-phase flow n accomplished using a centrifugal pump with semi-open type impeller having three, five and seven blades, respectively. Also, the numerical analysis of turbulent air-water two-phase flow using finite volume method has been carried out to obtain the pressure, velocities and void fraction on the basis of a so-called bubbly flow model with the constant size and shape of cavity. The results obtained through this study show the reasonable agreements within the range of bubbly flow regime. There are promising developments concerning application of the present study for the flow in a centrifugal pump with two-phase flow conditions and efforts must be followed to improve the turbulence model and two-phase flow model for turbomachinery.

• The KSFM Journal of Fluid Machinery
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• v.3 no.3 s.8
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• pp.12-18
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• 2000

In this study, experimental and numerical analyses are carried out to investigate the performance of centrifugal pump with various air admitting conditions. Experiments on the pump performance under air-water two-phase flow are accomplished using a centrifugal pump with semi-open type impeller having three, five and seven blades, respectively. Also, the numerical analysis of turbulent air-water two-phase flow using the finite volume method has been carried out to obtain the pressure, velocities and void fraction on the basis of a so-called bubbly flow model with the constant size and shape of cavity. The results obtained through this study show the reasonable agreements within the range of bubbly flow regime. There are promising developments concerning application of the present study for the flow in a centrifugal pump with two-phase flow conditions and efforts must be followed to improve the turbulence model and two-phase flow model for turbomachinery.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Visualization
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.47-53
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• 2011

A water driven ejector loop was designed and constructed for air absorption. The used ejector was horizontally installed in the loop and annular water jet at the throat entrained air through the circular pipe placed at the center of the ejector. Wide range of water flow rate was provided using two kinds of pumps in the loop. The tested range of water flow rate was 100${\ell}$ /min to 1,000 ${\ell}$/min. Two-phase flow inside the ejector loop was simulated by CFD analysis. Homogeneous particle model was used for void fraction prediction. Water and air flow rates and pressure drop through the ejector were automatically recorded by using the LabView based data acquisition system. Flow characteristics and air bubble velocity field downstream of the ejector were investigated by two-phase flow visualization and PIV measurement based on bubble shadow images. Overall performance of the two-phase ejector predicted by the CFD simulation agrees well with that of the experiment.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2007.05b
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• pp.2626-2631
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• 2007

Air-water two phase natural circulation flow in the T-HERMES (Thermo-Hydraulic Evaluation of Reactor cooling Mechanism by External Self-induced flow)-1D experiment has been evaluated to verify and evaluate the experimental results by using the RELAP5/MOD3 computer code. The RELAP5 results have shown that an increase in the coolant inlet area leads to an increase in the water circulation mass flow rate. However, the water outlet area does not effective on the water circulation mass flow rate. As the coolant outlet moves to a lower position, the water circulation mass flow rate decreases. The water level is not effective on the water circulation mass flow rate. As the height increases in the air injection part, the void fraction increases. However, the void fraction in the upper part of the air injector maintains a constant value. An increase in the air injection mass flow rate leads to an increase in the local void fraction, but it is not effective on the local pressure.

• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.429-439
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• 2003

Counter-current two-phase flows of air- water in narrow rectangular channels with offset strip fins have been experimentally investigated in a 760 mm long and 100 mm wide test section with 3.0 and 5.0 mm gap widths. The two-phase flow regime, channel-average void fractions and two-phase pressure gradients were studied. Flow regime transition occurred at lower superficial velocities of air than in the channels without fins. In the bubbly and slug flow regimes, elongated bubbles rose along the subchannel formed by fins without lateral movement. The critical void fraction for the bubbly-to-slug transition was about 0.14 for the 3 mm gap channel and 0.2 for the 5 mm gap channel. respectively. Channel-average void fractions in the channels with fins were almost the same as those in the channels without fins. Void fractions increased as the gap width increased, especially at high superficial velocity of air. The presence of fins enhanced the two-phase distribution parameter significantly in the slug flow, where the effect of gap width was almost negligible. Superficial velocity of air dominated the two-phase pressure gradients. Liquid superficial velocity and channel gap width has only a minor effect on the pressure gradients.