Author : Sujoy Chakraborty , K.M. Pandey , Bidesh Roy

The present paper describes numerical investigation of a centrifugal pump impeller with different blade numbers. The performance of impellers with the same outlet diameter having different blade numbers is thoroughly evaluated. The investigation focuses mainly on the efficiency of the pump.  Centrifugal pumps with impeller blades 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 has been modeled and its efficiency at 2900 rpm, 3300 rpm and 3700 rpm is evaluated by using CFD code of commercial software Fluent 6.3.The numerical analysis displays that with the increase in rotational speed, the head and efficiency of the centrifugal pump is increasing. The head is also increasing with the increase in blade number but the efficiency of centrifugal pump varies with number of blades and shows maximum for 10 number of blade.

Keywords: Centrifugal pump, blade number, CFD, Rotational speed and Performance prediction.

Article published in International Journal of Current  Engineering  and Technology, Vol.2,No.1 (March- 2012)