Sediment Erosion of a Centrifugal Pump During Startup and Shutdown Processes Considering of Transient Flow in Pump Station

This study employed the Euler–Lagrange method and the Oka erosion model to numerically simulate sediment erosion in a centrifugal pump during the startup and shutdown processes. With a sediment particle size of 0.25 mm and a concentration of 0.135 kg/m3, the erosion distribution characteristics were analyzed considering the transient flow in the pump station. The results reveal that the impeller suffers the most severe erosion, and the erosion area is affected by the flow rate. At high flow rates, because of inertial and centrifugal forces, erosion concentrates near the shroud at the blade outlet. At low flow rates, vortices generated within the impeller passages cause particles to impact the mid-section of the blades, resulting in erosion in that area. In the inlet section, erosion primarily occurs on the outer wall surface with a relatively low severity at high flow rates, while vortices that occur at the outlet under low flow rates intensify localized erosion. Furthermore, owing to the hysteresis effect of the flow, the erosion during the startup process is more severe than during the shutdown process. In the fixed guide vane zone, at high flow rates, erosion is mainly concentrated in the leading edge and near the covers. At low flow rates, vortices generated between the fixed guide vanes lead to particle impacts on the vane surfaces near the inlet, causing severe localized erosion in this area. In the volute, erosion exhibits a spiral distribution pattern at high flow rates. When the flow rate changes rapidly, the flow field around the tongue region becomes unstable, inducing local erosion there.