Unsteady numerical simulation for gas–liquid two-phase flow in self-priming process of centrifugal pump

Self-priming pumps start up without pre-irrigation, and then work as common pumps when air in the pump is exhausted. The transient gas–liquid flow at the start-up stage inside a self-priming pump is an interesting process which greatly influences performance of the pump. In this paper, a conventional vertical self-priming centrifugal pump was selected as the object. Using unsteady numerical simulation, the authors investigated the transient gas–liquid two-phase flow in the self-priming centrifugal pump during the self-priming process. The main innovation in the simulation was that a section of the suction pipe filled with air was set as the initial condition, which conformed to the actual self-priming conditions. The gas–liquid two-phase distribution, the pressure and velocity in relation to time were computed and analyzed. Flow rates of both phases with time at the pump inlet and outlet were obtained based on the simulation, which could be used to estimate the self-priming time and other performance parameters. Finally, the numerical method and results for gas–liquid two-phase flow in the self-priming pump was partly validated by the pump performance test.