An Analysis of the Minimum Pressure Coefficient Criterion Applied to the Axial-flow Pump Design – A Case Study for a Circulating Water Channel

An analysis of the minimum pressure coefficient on the suction side of the axial-flow pump blades is presented as a design criterion. A Matlab code is used to improve the computer aided design process efficiency and quality. X-Foil software determines the blade profiles’ lift and drag coefficients, and a computational fluid dynamics model is applied to certify the pump efficiency. The model is validated from the available experimental data in the literature. The finite volume method is used through the commercial software Ansys CFX, in order to solve the model equations. A case study is presented to design the axial-flow pump for a large circulating water channel that will be used to test ships, naval structures, and hydrokinetic turbines. Particular attention is given to the pump cavitation conditions. The model evaluates the minimum pressure coefficient criterion and pressure coefficient distribution on the blade span, showing satisfactory performance for the pump at the design point and at variable speed.