Deep-sea mining pump wear prediction using two-phase flow numerical simulation
LIU Shaojun1, 2, WEN Hao1, ZOU Weisheng3, HU Xiaozhou1*, DONG Zhe1
1. College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Central South University, Changsha, Hu′nan 410083, China; 2. Shenzhen Far East Marine Minerals Exploitation Research Institute Co. Ltd., Shenzhen, Guangdong 518000, China; 3. Institute of Fluid Mechanics and Equipage, Hu′nan University, Changsha, Hu′nan 410082, China
Abstract：In view of the wear problem of deep-sea mining pump, Euler-Lagrange two-phase flow model was applied to simulate the solid-liquid two-phase turbulent flow field inside the pump, and the accuracy of simulation model was verified by comparison with the experimental results. A professional rotary mechanical modeling software BladeGen was employed to generate the models of impellers and guide vanes. Based on the fluid analysis software CFX, Finnie wear model was utilized to predict the wear rate of the hydraulic components of deep-sea mining pump at different flow rates, rotational speeds and particle volume fractions, and the particle trajectory distribution in the pump flow field was obtained. The results show that the wear rate of the impeller increases with the increase of the flow rate, however, the wear rate of guide vanes does not vary significantly. This is a distinct part between vane type slurry pump and volute type slurry pump. As the rotation speed or particle volume fraction increases, the wear rate of impeller and guide vanes rapidly increases. The wear rate of the impeller is higher than that of the guide vane, and the pressure surface of the blade is most seriously worn. Accor-ding to the design principle of equal life, impeller should be made by more wear-resistant material.
