Influence of blade inlet angle on the performance of a single blade centrifugal pump

Abstract

Single blade centrifugal pump is suitable for transporting sewage water with large obstacles in diameter, which is required to achieve high performance. The blade inlet angle is a parameter that affects the performance of the single blade centrifugal pump. However, the selection of blade inlet angle is frequently based on experiences and demonstrates certain arbitrariness. Therefore, six impellers with different blade inlet angles are designed using ANSYS Bladegen and NX software. These impellers are categorized into Groups 1 and 2. The blade inlet angle of the impellers in Group1/Group2 increases/decreases from the front shroud to the rear one, respectively. Subsequently, the numerical simulation is carried out to investigate the effect of the blade inlet angle on the performance of the single blade pump. The blade inlet angle has more obvious influence on the head, efficiency, and shaft power for the impellers in Group 1 than those in Group 2. The lowest pressure is negative for one of the impellers in Group 1. Moreover, an optimum blade inlet angle improves the pump performance. In addition, the alternating load is small on the blades of the impellers in Group 2. The present results are helpful in designing the single blade centrifugal pump and improving its performance.