Experimental study of subsurface vortices in pump intake with an improved diversion-cone

Abstract

An improved diversion-cone is designed to suppress subsurface vortices in pump intake. In experiment, the influences of size and location of the improved diversion-cone on the subsurface vortices in pump intake were studied. Experiments were conducted in a rectangle intake and 12 operating points were carried out, and the vortex frequency and vortex location were also measured. The results show that the new improved diversion-cone employed in the experiments has obviously positive effect in suppressing the generation of subsurface vortices. It is also found that the lower distance between the pump bell and the improved diversion-cone, the more frequency of free surface vortices occurred.