• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers Conference
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• 2008.03a
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• pp.213-217
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• 2008

This paper describes an application of centrifugal compressor optimization system, in which the blade profile of impeller is represented with NURBS(Non-Uniform Rational B-Spline) curve. A commercial CFD(Computational Fluid Dynamics) program named NUMECA fine/turbo was used to evaluate the performance of the whole centrifugal compressor flow passage including impeller and diffuser. The whole optimization design system was integrated based on iSIGHT, a commercial integration and optimization software, which provides a direct application of some optimization algorithms. To insure the practicability of optimization, the performance of centrifugal compressor under all condition was concerned during the optimizing process. That means a compositive object function considering the aerodynamic efficiency, pressure ratio and mass flow rate under different work condition was applied by using different weight number for different conditions. Using the optimization method described in this paper, an optimized design of the impeller blade of centrifugal compressor was obtained. Comparing to the original design, optimized design has a better performance not only under the design work condition, but also the off-design work condition including near stall and near choke condition.

• International Journal of Fluid Machinery and Systems
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.334-340
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• 2011

Turbo-pumps have weak points, such as the pumping operation is unstable on the positive slope of the head curve and/or the cavitation occurs at the low suction head. To improve simultaneously both weak points, the first author invented the unique pumping unit composed of the tandem impellers and the peculiar motor with the double rotational armatures. The front and the rear impellers are driven by the inner and the outer armatures of the motor, respectively. Both impeller speeds are automatically and smartly adjusted in response to the pumping discharge, while the rotational torques between both impellers/armatures are counter-balanced. Such speeds contribute to suppress successfully not only the unstable operation at the low discharge but also the cavitation at the high discharge, as verified with the axial flow type pumping unit in the previous paper. Continuously, this paper investigates experimentally the effects of the tandem impeller profiles on the pump performances and the rotational speeds against the discharge, using the impellers whose loads are low and/or high at the normal discharge. The worthy remarks are that (a) the unstable operation is suppressed as expected and the shut off power is scarcely large in the smart control, (b) the blade profile contributes to determine the discharge giving the maximum/minimum rotational speed where the reverse flow may incipiently appears at the front impeller inlet, (c) the tandem impeller profiles scarcely affect the rotational speeds, while the loads of the front and the rear impellers are same, but (d) the impeller with the low load must run faster and the impeller with the high load must run slower at the same discharge to take the same rotational torque, and (e) the reverse flow at the inlet and the swirling velocity component at the outlet of the front impeller with the high load require making the rotational speed of the rear impeller with low load fairly faster at the lower discharge.

• International Journal of Fluid Machinery and Systems
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.370-381
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• 2016

As a single-channel pump is used for wastewater treatment, this particular pump type can prevent performance reduction or damage caused by foreign substances. However, the design methods for single-channel pumps are different and more difficult than those for general pumps. In this study, a design optimization method to improve the hydrodynamic performance of a single-channel pump impeller is implemented. Numerical analysis was carried out by solving three-dimensional steady-state incompressible Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations using the shear stress transport turbulence model. As a state-of-the-art impeller design method, two design variables related to controlling the internal cross-sectional flow area of a single-channel pump impeller were selected for optimization. Efficiency was used as the objective function and was numerically assessed at twelve design points selected by Latin hypercube sampling in the design space. An optimization process based on a radial basis neural network model was conducted systematically, and the performance of the optimum model was finally evaluated through an experimental test. Consequently, the optimum model showed improved performance compared with the base model, and the unstable flow components previously observed in the base model were suppressed remarkably well.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.330-337
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• 2004

Analysis of flow phenomena in a centrifugal compressor impeller has been carried out with numerical simulation to understand the physics of flow near stall. Near stall point, tip leakage flow spills ahead of the leading edge of adjacent blade and other leakage flow passes over the clearance of the adjacent blade instead of rolling up into vortex within the passage. The tip leakage flow at the mid chord of impeller blade impinges against the pressure surface of the adjacent blade and then rolls up into vortex within the passage, which blocks the flow passage and generates viscous loss. The spillage of leakage flow ahead of the adjacent blade generates the recirculation of flow entering the impeller, which causes the power transferred into the flow by the impeller to decrease and blocks the flow passage. Near diffuser hub wall, flow recirculation occurs. As operating point goes to stall point, the core of recirculation approaches the impeller exit The length rises to peak point and then drops with mass flow reduction, while the height steadily rises.

• The KSFM Journal of Fluid Machinery
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• v.8 no.2 s.29
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• pp.31-38
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• 2005

A low NPSH and high pressure fuel pump has been designed for a turbopump system. The fuel pump has an axial inducer and a centrifugal impeller. A meanline method has been established for the preliminary design and performance prediction of pumps at design or off-design points. KeRC(Kelyish Research Center) carried out a model testing of the fuel pump with water as a working fluid at the reduced speed. Predicted performances by the method are shown to be in good agreement with experimental results for cavitating and non-cavitating conditions. The established meanline method can be used for the performance prediction and preliminary design of high speed pumps which have a inducer, impeller and volute. In the current study, the three dimensional viscous flow in the fuel pump was investigated through numerical computation. A modified design of the fuel pump was generated to improve pump performance by utilizing CFD results. The modified fuel pump was experimentally tested by ROTEM and KARI(Korea Aerospace Research Institute). The measured non-cavitating and cavitating performance showed a good agreement with designed performance.

• 유체기계공업학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2004.12a
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• pp.341-346
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• 2004

A low NPSH and high pressure fuel pump has been designed for a turbopump system. The fuel pump has an axial inducer and a centrifugal impeller. A meanline method has been established for the preliminary design and performance prediction of pumps at design or off-design points. KeRC carried out a model testing of the fuel pump with water as a working fluid at the reduced speed. Predicted performances by the method are shown to be in good agreement with experimental results for cavitating and non-cavitating conditions. The established meanline method can be used for the performance prediction and preliminary design of high speed pumps which have a inducer, impeller and volute. In the current study, the three dimensional viscous flow in the fuel pump was investigated through numerical computation. A modified design of the fuel pun was generated to improve pump performance by utilizing CFD results. The modified fuel pump was experimentally tested by ROTEM and KARI. The measured non-cavitating and cavitating performance showed a good agreement with designed performance.

• Journal of Advanced Marine Engineering and Technology
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.286-293
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• 2012

In this investigation, flow analysis with single phase has been performed for a centrifugal impeller with a design efficiency of 90%, head of 20m and rotational speed of 3500 rpm at a design flow rate of 16m3. The impeller was designed based on an empirical formula suggested by A.J. Stepanoff. In a case of the single phase analysis, the hydraulic efficiency and head is 88.8% and 19.4m, respectively, which showed a good agreement with the values designed. The flow analysis with two phases was carried out under the various NPSH, at whose 8.79m the cavitation on the suction side of the blade was observed. The required NPSH of the designed impeller is approximately 6.5m and above this value, the designed centrifugal pump impeller needs to be operated under inlet pressure condition.

• Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.41-47
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• 2020

As modern industries are highly being developed, it is required that mechanical parts have to be manufactured with a high precision. In order to have precise parts, error-free designs have to be done before manufacturing with accuracy. For this intention being fulfilled, a mechanical analysis is essential for design proof. Nowadays, FEM simulation is a popular tool for verifying a machine design. In this paper, an impeller, being utilized in a compressor or an oil mixer as an actuator, is studied for an evaluation. The purpose of this study is to present a safety of an impeller for a proof of its mechanical stability. A static analysis for stress, strain, and deformation within a regular usage is examined. This simulation test shows 357.26×106 Pa for maximum equivalent stress and 0.207mm for total deformation. A fatigue test is carried to provide durability and its result shows that minimum safety factor is 3.2889, which guarantees that it runs without a fatigue failure in 106 cycles. The natural frequencies for the impeller is ranged from 228.09Hz to 1,253.6Hz for the 1st to the 6th mode. Total deformations at these natural frequencies are shown from 6.84mm to 12.631mm. Furthermore, Campbell diagram reveals that a critical speed is not found throughout regular rotational speeds. From the test results for the analysis, this paper concludes that the suggested impeller is proved for its mechanical safety and good to utilize at industries.

• Journal of Institute of Convergence Technology
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.61-65
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• 2014

Pressure distribution around rotating impeller blades in centrifugal pump has been main issue for design of efficient and high performance automotive water pump. In addition, pressure losses of inlet water pipes should be considered to reduce additional pressure drop and design high performance engine cooling system. In this paper, pressure distribution inside water pump and pressure drop between inlet and outlet of water pump are investigated numerically to design plastic water pump for clean diesel engine application. And the inlet geometry of water pump was considered to analysis the effect of inlet water pipe geometry on pressure distribution around impeller blades and outlet pressure. The prediction results are compared with experimental data to validate and determine optimal operation condition without water pump cavitation. Major design parameters such as blade angle, volute geometry, system pressure, and coolant flow rate are considered to confirm applying possibility of plastic blades to the clean diesel engine.

• 한국전산유체공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2010.05a
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• pp.167-173
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• 2010

In this study, flow structure in a three-stage centrifugal compressor for LNG Plant with the refrigerant, Propane, was numerically investigated at the design point of the compressor using a commercial code. Flow characteristics in the passages of impeller and vaneless diffuser were analyzed in detail including velocity vector, Mach number and pressure contours in blade spanwise and meridional plane for each stage. The estimation on the one-dimensional output from the preliminary design and three-dimensional shape of the impeller blade was performed through the flow analysis. The verification for designed compressor was carried out from three-dimensional Navier-Stokes analysis. The results will be used as reference data for a new design of 3-D impeller shape to improve propane refrigerant compressor performance.