International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Technology (IJMET)

Volume 6, Issue 8, Aug 2015, pp. 105-117, Article ID: IJMET_06_08_010

Available online at
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ISSN Print: 0976-6340 and ISSN Online: 0976-6359
IAEME Publication
________________________________________________________________________

NUMERICAL ANALYSIS OF THE EFFECT

OF THE NUMBERS OF BLADES ON THE
CENTRIFUGAL PUMP PERFORMANCE AT
CONSTANT PARAMETERS
Hayder Kareem Sakran
Chemical Engineering, Engineering College/ AL Muthanna University, Samawa, Iraq
ABSTRACT
In the present paper, the performance of a centrifugal pump with the same
parameters which are the head, rotating speed, volume flow rate and the
outlet diameter; however, with different number of blades has been
investigated numerically by Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) using
Shear Stress Transport (SST) as a turbulence model. The simulation has been
done using ANSYS, Vista CPDTM Release 15.0, to study the effect of the
variation of the blade number on the centrifugal pump performance.
The numerical study has been carried out by obtaining the pressure for
three different conditions of a centrifugal pump in which each one has the
same parameters, but with different numbers of blades that start from five to
sixteen. The simulation showed strong results. The pressure increases
obviously with a specific number of blades then decreases. Thus, each
centrifugal pump with exact parameters has a perfect performance at specific
blade number.
Key words: ANSYS, Vista CPDTM Release 15.0, Centrifugal pump, CFD,
Number of blades, Numerical Simulation.
Cite this Article: Hayder Kareem Sakran, Numerical Analysis of The Effect
of The Numbers of Blades on The Centrifugal Pump Performance at Constant
Parameters. International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and
Technology, 6(8), 2015, pp. 105-117.
http://www.iaeme.com/currentissue.asp?JType=IJMET&VType=6&IType=8
_______________________________________________________________

1. INTRODUCTION
Centrifugal pumps have a widely application at several locations such as industrials,
agricultures and domestics. The main benefit of the centrifugal pump is to transfer the
mechanical energy to a fluid by pressure rising.

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Hayder Kareem Sakran

There are a few investigations studied the effect of the blade number on the
performance of the centrifugal pump in which too few numbers of blades in
centrifugal pump lead to the circulatory flow loss phenomena because of the
magnitude of the tangential velocity vector (V2, t) at the outer circumstance of the
impeller will not be equalized, since it will be a bigger at the trailing edge than at the
gap between the impeller blades as shown in Fig. [1]. While using too much number
of blades the passage loss phenomena will happen due to the blockage and the skin
friction drag; so that the flow speed at the circumstance of the impeller will not be
identical and that will affect the actual net head and the pumps efficiency as shown in
Fig. [1]. So the suit number of blades for the centrifugal pump can give a good
performance.

Figure 1 The impeller of the centrifugal pump. [1]

Wee (2011, 5) found that the flow field with the impeller passage is a very
complicated and it depends on the number of blades. [2]. Impellers flow direction
can get large control with a large number of blades; with increasing the blockage
because that will create a large ratio between the solid and fluid during fluid flow by
the impeller [3]. The design of the angle of the impeller blade and the tip width can
impact with the increment. Both the relative flow angles at the trailing edge 2 and the
tip width are affected by the increasing of the impeller blade number as shown in
figure (2). [3].

Figure 2 The relation between the tip width, flow angle and the number of blades. [3]

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Numerical Analysis of The Effect of The Numbers of Blades on The Centrifugal Pump
Performance at Constant Parameters

Figure (2) shows the increasing of the flow angle 2 with the increasing of the
number of blades; however, the tip width decreases at a specific number of blades (4
to 10). [3].
Another parameter that is affected by the number of blades is the Busemann slip
factor, SfB, when the solidity is more than 1.1 (s>1.1). Busemann slip factor, SfB, can
tend to unity with large number of blades which also can tend to increase the
frictional losses as shown in figure (3). [4]

Figure 3 The relation between the Busemann slip factor, SfB, and the blade angle, b, for
different numbers of blades, ZR. [4]

The number of blades also can control the centrifugal pump design depending on the
fluid kind. If the centrifugal pump is used to deliver a liquid, the impeller will have a
smaller number of blades than the impeller in the centrifugal pump that is used to
deliver a gas, because of the centrifugal pump that is used to deliver a liquid should
have thicker blades than the other [4]. Stepanoff (1948) found that the number of
blades should be one third of the discharge blade angle, b (in degrees). [5].
This paper focuses on analyzing three different cases of water flow through a
centrifugal pump with constant parameter which is the head, rotating speed, volume
flow rate and the outlet diameter. Furthermore, it deals with the effect of the variation
of the number of blades on the performance of the centrifugal pump.

2. SIMULATION AND NUMERICAL ANALYSIS

The Turbomachinery problem has been simulated and analyzed numerically by
Computation Fluid Dynamics (CFD) using Shear Stress Transport (SST) turbulence
model to solve the governing equation. A CFD is a common tool used to study and to
gain a good understanding about the flow domain inside the centrifugal pump
numerically.

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Hayder Kareem Sakran

Figure 4 3D geometry of the centrifugal pump

The three-dimensional geometry has been created using ANSYS, Vista CPDTM
Release 15.0 to simulate a steady state conditions and incompressible fluid flow
problem. The problem specification and the boundary conditions are explained briefly
in the tables1, 2, and 3 for the three cases.
Table 1 Problem Specification and Boundary Conditions for case 1
Case 1
Parameters

Problem Specification and Boundary Conditions

Rotational Speed
Volume Flow Rate
Head Rise
Number of Blades
Inlet Flow Angle
NPSHr
Head Coefficient
Flow Coefficient
Machine Type
Suction specific speed, Nss
Turbulence Model
Fluid
Analysis Type

3500 r.p.m
54 m3/hr
25 m
From 5 to 16
90 deg
3.59 m
0.442
0.040
Centrifugal Pump
3.15
Shear Stress Transport (SST)
Water at Standard Conditions
Steady State

Inflow/Outflow Boundary Template

Mass Flow Inlet/P-Static Outlet

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Numerical Analysis of The Effect of The Numbers of Blades on The Centrifugal Pump
Performance at Constant Parameters
Table 2 Problem Specification and Boundary Conditions for case 2
Case 2
Parameters

Problem Specification and Boundary Conditions

Rotational Speed
Volume Flow Rate
Head Rise
Number of Blades
Inlet Flow Angle
NPSHr
Head Coefficient
Flow Coefficient
Machine Type
Suction specific speed, Nss
Turbulence Model
Fluid
Analysis Type

3800 r.p.m
64.8 m3/hr
28 m
From 5 to 16
90 deg
4.53 m
0.436
0.046
Centrifugal Pump
3.15
Shear Stress Transport (SST)
Water at Standard Conditions
Steady State

Inflow/Outflow Boundary Template

Mass Flow Inlet/P-Static Outlet

Table 3 Problem Specification and Boundary Conditions for case 3

Case 3
Parameters

Problem Specification and Boundary Conditions

Rotational Speed
Volume Flow Rate
Head Rise
Number of Blades
Inlet Flow Angle
NPSHr
Head Coefficient
Flow Coefficient
Machine Type
Suction specific speed, Nss
Turbulence Model
Fluid
Analysis Type

4000 r.p.m
72 m3/hr
30 m
From 5 to 16
90 deg
5.20 m
0.431
0.051
Centrifugal Pump
3.15
Shear Stress Transport (SST)
Water at Standard Conditions
Steady State

Inflow/Outflow Boundary Template

Mass Flow Inlet/P-Static Outlet

Unstructured fine mesh has been employed for the flow domain and the details of
the mesh are shown in tables 4, 5 and 6 for the three cases.

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Figure 5 Mesh generation.

Table 4 Mesh Information for Case 1
Mesh Information for Case 1
Number of
Blades
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16

Number of
Nodes
367398
363598
354798
356224
361226
369962
361596
364925
360636
366627
363976
350109

Number of
Elements

Tetrahedra

469893
466441
454506
453857
457934
466693
457613
460081
457641
461938
460588
448723

112413
113426
111006
110052
110334
110978
110328
109666
111431
109833
110483
112398

Wedges
76200
76535
75120
73535
74060
74195
73775
73695
74680
74725
76175
76195

Hexahdra
281280
276480
268380
270270
273540
281520
273510
276720
271530
277380
273930
260130

Table 5 Mesh Information for Case 2

Mesh Information for Case 2
Number of
Blades
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16

Number of
Nodes
365550
367587
362937
366906
369760
374023
365776
372905
365156
365644
364781
361670

Number of
Elements
471726
472590
466370
467909
468773
473264
465047
473366
465599
465959
467194
462714

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Tetrahedra
115871
116325
114765
114654
113378
113939
114162
115551
115334
114784
116879
115889

Wedges
77395
76755
76385
74885
74295
74805
74705
75455
75615
76525
77165
76645

Hexahdra
278460
279510
275220
278370
281100
284520
276180
282360
274650
274650
273150
270180

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Numerical Analysis of The Effect of The Numbers of Blades on The Centrifugal Pump
Performance at Constant Parameters
Table 6 Mesh Information for Case 3
Mesh Information for Case3
Number of
Blades
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16

Number of
Nodes
366511
360896
365220
355241
374953
366545
368864
363307
365181
362604
355524
362179

Number of
Elements
473422
467498
470358
460021
476653
467410
469997
465224
466948
465607
457851
464683

Tetrahedra
117242
117953
116888
116946
116478
115645
116027
116634
116568
117067
116691
117513

Wedges
76460
76395
76510
75775
75265
74775
75150
75740
75940
77550
76470
76690

Hexahdra
279720
273150
276960
267300
284910
276990
278820
272850
274440
270990
264690
270480

3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

After complementation of the mesh generation, the solution has been obtained when
the convergence is done, which is happening after 1000 times of iterations. The
solution has three different groups of results depend on the conditions of the problem
which are explained below:

3.1. Case One

This case done when the centrifugal pump is investigated with 3500 r.p.m, 25 m of
head, 54 m3/hr, and with different number of blades which are from 5 to 16 as shown
in table1. The results showed different magnitudes of pressure as shown in table7.
Table 7 Pressure at case1.
Number of Blades

Pressure in [Pa]

3.579E+04

3.735E+04

3.769E+04

3.540E+04

3.992E+04

10

4.533E+04

11

4.089E+04

12

3.888E+04

13

4.066E+04

14

3.830E+04

15

4.074E+04

16

3.917E+04

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5.0E+04

pump with 25 head and 3500 rpm

4.8E+04
4.6E+04

Pressure

4.4E+04
4.2E+04
4.0E+04
3.8E+04
3.6E+04
3.4E+04
3.2E+04
3.0E+04
4

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

Number of Blades
Figure 6 Pressure variation in case 1.

Figure 7 Pressure magnitude at case 1 to the pump with ten blade number and eight blade
number

The figures show good results in case 1, the pressure gets highest magnitude when
the number of blades is ten. However, the magnitude of pressure has a smallest
amount when the number of blades is eight.

3.2. Case Two

This case done when the centrifugal pump is investigated with 3800 r.p.m, 28 m of
head, 64.8 m3/hr, and with different number of blades which are from 5 to 16 as
shown in table1. The results showed different magnitudes of pressure as shown in
table 8.

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Numerical Analysis of The Effect of The Numbers of Blades on The Centrifugal Pump
Performance at Constant Parameters
Table 8 Pressure in case 2
Number of Blades

Pressure in [Pa]

4.385E+04

4.187E+04

5.264E+04

5.228E+04

5.370E+04

10

5.274E+04

11

4.659E+04

12

4.603E+04

13

4.543E+04

14

4.702E+04

15

4.650E+04

16

4.143E+04

7.0E+04

pump with 28 head and 3800 rpm

6.5E+04
6.0E+04

Pressure

5.5E+04
5.0E+04
4.5E+04
4.0E+04
3.5E+04
3.0E+04
2.5E+04
2.0E+04
4

10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

Number of Blades
Figure 8 Pressure variation in case 2

The figures show good results in case 2, the pressure gets highest magnitude when
the number of blades is nine. However, the magnitude of pressure has a smallest
amount when the number of blades is sixteen.

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Figure 9 Pressure magnitude at case 2 to the pump with nine blade number and sixteen blade
number

3.3. Case Three

This case done when the centrifugal pump is investigated with 3800 r.p.m, 28 m of
head, 64.8 m3/hr, and with different number of blades which are from 5 to 16 as
shown in table1. The results showed different magnitudes of pressure as shown in
table 9.
Table 10 Pressure in case 3
Number of Blades

Pressure in [Pa]

4.766E+04

4.537E+04

5.880E+04

6.296E+04

6.087E+04

10

5.342E+04

11

5.639E+04

12

4.932E+04

13

4.988E+04

14

5.000E+04

15

5.402E+04

16

5.029E+04

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Numerical Analysis of The Effect of The Numbers of Blades on The Centrifugal Pump
Performance at Constant Parameters
7.0E+04

pump with 30 head and 4000 rpm

Pressure

6.0E+04
5.0E+04
4.0E+04
3.0E+04
4

10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

Number of Blades

Figure 10 Pressure variation in case 3

Figure 11 Pressure magnitude at case 3 to the pump with eight blade number and six blade
number

The figures show good results in case 3, the pressure gets highest magnitude when
the number of blades is eight. However, the magnitude of pressure has a smallest
amount when the number of blades is six.

4. CONCLUSION
A centrifugal pump with different number of blades has been investigated numerically
using computational fluid dynamics. A commercial code, ANSYS, Vista CPD
R15.0 was used to simulate the flow domain. Three different cases with constant
parameter have been carried out numerically to study the effect of the variation of
blades number on the pump performance. A simulation shows a good result which can
be repeated with different pump parameters, then chose the best number of blades for
each case and that can gain a good benefit for perfect pump design which can help the
pump industry to make a pump chart that can have the perfect pump performance with
the suitable number of blades.

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