Improvement of experimental characteristics and additive manufacturing of impellers for the single-stage monoblock submersible electric pump unit with the high specific speed

This article explores ways to improve energy efficiency and apply additive manufacturing methods in experimental investigations for the single-stage monoblock submersible electric pump unit with the high specific speed. The first part of the research included a three-stage optimization of the designed flow passage. The first stage involved the correlation between geometric input parameters and the hydraulic efficiency of the pump, identifying parameters that have the greatest impact on the energy performance of the unit. The second stage involved studying the effect of the number of calculation points in the experiment planning matrix on the hydraulic efficiency of the pump, identifying the location area of the global maximum of the objective function. The third stage involved the refined search for the global maximum using direct optimization methods. A comparative analysis of the flow structure in the original and optimized flow passage was performed. In the second part of the research, cast brass impellers were manufactured using Binder Jetting additive technology for 3D printing of evaporative models made of polymethylmethacrylate. A comparison of the CFD characteristics with the experimental data obtained during parametric tests of the studied electric pump unit was carried out.
EDN: QWCWHM, https://elibrary/qwcwhm

References

[1] Gorgidzhanyan S.A., Dyagilev A.I. Pogruzhnye nasosy dlya vodosnabzheniya i vodoponizheniya [Submersible pumps for water supply and dewatering]. Leningrad, Mashinostroenie Publ., 1968. 112 p. (In Russ.).

[2] Vasiltsov E.A., Nevelich V.V. Germeticheskie elektronasosy [Hermetic electric pumps]. Leningrad, Mashinostroenie Publ.|, 1968. 260 p. (In Russ.).

[3] Rakibuzzaman M., Hyoung-Ho K., Suh S. et al. Effects of cavitation and erosion on submersible drainage pumps: a numerical study. Phys. Fluids, 2024, vol. 36, no. 8, art. 085168, doi: https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0223126

[4] Galdin D.N., Kretinin A.V., Pechkurov S.V. Optimization of the spatial impeller profile of a centrifugal pump using a parametrized model of a flow part and an artificial neural network. Nasosy. Turbiny. Sistemy [Pumps. Turbines. Systems], 2021, no. 3, pp. 22–31. (In Russ.).

[5] Averyanov A.S., Petrov A.I. Optimization of the rear vanes of the guide vane in a multistage centrifugal pump. Gidravlika, 2021, no. 12, pp. 86–98. EDN: XKUOZK (In Russ.).

[6] Zhou L., Wang W., Hang J. et al. Numerical investigation of a high-speed electrical submersible pump with different end clearances. Water, 2020, vol. 12, no. 4, art. 1116, doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/w12041116

[7] Wang Y., Wang X., Liu H. et al. Optimization and analysis of mine drainage pump with high efficiency and large flow. J. Low Freq. Noise Vib. Act. Control, 2022, vol. 41, no. 3, pp. 1091–1107, doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/14613484221094404

[8] Rakibuzzaman M., Suh S., Roh H. et al. Hydraulic performance optimization of a submersible drainage pump. Computation, 2024, vol. 12, no. 1, art. 12, doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/computation12010012

[9] Rettberg R., Kraenzler T. Hybrid manufacturing: a new additive manufacturing approach for closed pump impellers. In: Industrializing additive manufacturing. Springer, 2021, pp. 146–159, doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-54334-1_11

[10] Sitte D., Sutanto H. Performance analysis of hydraulic machines using impellers made from conventional steel and 3D printing co-polymer. IOP Conf. Ser.: Mater. Sci. Eng., 2021, art. 012049, doi: https://doi.org/10.1088/1757-899X/1115/1/012049

[11] Adiaconitei A., Vintila I.S., Mihalache R. et al. A study on using the additive manufacturing process for the development of a closed pump impeller for mechanically pumped fluid loop systems. Materials, 2021, vol. 14, no. 4, art. 967, doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14040967

[12] Hernández F., Fragoso A. Fabrication of a stainless-steel pump impeller by integrated 3D sand printing and casting: mechanical characterization and performance study in a chemical plant. App. Sci., 2022, vol. 12, no. 7, art. 3539, doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/app12073539

[13] Chernyy S.G., Chirkov D.V., Lapin V.N. et al. Chislennoe modelirovanie techeniy v turbomashinakh [Numerical modelling of flows in turbo machines]. Novosibirsk, Nauka Publ., 2006. 201 p. (In Russ.).

[14] Belov I.A., Isaev S.A. Modelirovanie turbulentnykh techeniy [Modelling of turbulent flows]. Sankt-Peterburg, BGTU Publ., 2001. 108 p. (In Russ.).

[15] Gorbatov D.A., Zharkovskiy A.A., Adrianov A.V. [The effect of different guide vane options on hydraulic losses in the flow path elements of a submersible electric pump]. Gidravlicheskie mashiny, gidroprivody i gidropnevmoavtomatika. Mat. XXV Mezhd. nauch.-tekh. konf. [Hydraulic Machines, Hydraulic Drives, and Hydropneumatic Automation. Proc. XXV Int. Sci.-Tech. Conf.]. Moscow, Mir nauki Publ., 2021, pp. 60–65. (In Russ.).

[16] Lomakin A.A. Tsentrobezhnye i osevye nasosy [Centrifugal and axial flow pumps]. Leningrad, Mashinostroenie Publ., 1966. 364 p. (In Russ.).

[17] Stepanoff A.J. Centrifugal and axial flow pumps. Wiley, 1957. 462 p. (Russ. ed.: Tsentrobezhnye i osevye nasosy. Moscow, Mashgiz Publ., 1960. 463 p.)

[18] Sui X., Han G., Lu X. et al. Energy consumption prediction and optimization of the electrical submersible pump well system based on the DA-RNN algorithm. Processes, 2025, vol. 13, no. 1, art. 128, doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/pr13010128

[19] Wang W., Sun J., Liu J. et al. Introducing non-hierarchical RSM and MIGA for performance prediction and optimization of a centrifugal pump under the nominal condition. Processes, 2022, vol. 10, no. 8, art. 1529, doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/pr10081529

[20] Gorbatov D.A., Zharkovskiy A.A., Adrianov A.V. Searching stochastic method of the submersible electric pump flow part optimal shape. Izvestiya MGTU MAMI, 2024, vol. 18, no. 2, pp. 103–110, doi: https://doi.org/10.17816/2074-0530-627485 (In Russ.).