Effect of splitter blades on performances of a very low specific speed pump

Abstract

The usage of splitter blades to enhance the performances of low specific speed pumps is common practice. Based on experimental and numerical studies, the influence of the addition of one and two splitter blades is investigated on a very low specific speed pump to assess their impact not only on the performance characteristics but also on the losses in all pump domains. First, the main characteristic curves are discussed and it is shown that the usage of splitter blades enhances the head of the pump while not impairing its efficiency. Secondly, a detailed analysis of the losses in the pump reveals that splitter blades improve the flow in all parts of the pumps, but the volute. The flow at the impeller outlet shows that splitter blades largely benefit the slip factor and discharges a more blade-congruent flow in the volute. However, higher absolute velocity at the outlet of the impeller with splitter blades increases friction at the volute wall, as confirmed by the average wall shear stress in the different tested cases.