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Pumps as turbines (PATs) are used in petroleum and chemical industries to recover high-pressure residual energy. Multistage PATs allow for a wider energy recovery interval and wider range of applications. However, because multistage centrifugal pumps were not originally designed for turbine conditions, complex pressure fluctuations occur, impacting the stable operation and performance of multistage PAT. Pressure fluctuation is essentially a wave, and by analogy with the wave intensity definition, pressure fluctuations were quantified using the pressure wave energy flow density, and the pressure fluctuation patterns at different stages were investigated. The findings reveal significant differences in the intensity of pressure fluctuations at different locations within the multistage PAT. Specifically, the pressure fluctuation intensity is significantly higher from the second to the final stage, compared to the first stage. The difference in inlet flow conditions is the main reason for this difference in pressure fluctuations between stages. The inlet inflow from the second to the final stage is subject to rotational effects that exacerbate the difference in pressure fluctuation intensity between stages. Pressure fluctuations are found to be negatively related to the distance from the source of fluctuations and positively related to the flow state. Different flow conditions and interaction regions of the impeller affect the distribution of pressure fluctuation intensity and the distribution of pressure fluctuation energy across different frequency domains within the guide vanes. The main source of fluctuations in the shaft frequency and four times the shaft frequency is the impeller inlet interaction region, whereas the fluctuations in the blade passing frequency originate from the impeller outlet interaction region. This paper provides a reference for improving the stable operation of multistage PATs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The multi-size group (MUSIG) model is employed in this paper to simulate the gas–liquid two-phase flow in pump as turbine (PAT) since the traditional Eulerian–Eulerian two-fluid model is unable to take into account the phenomena of breakup and coalescence of bubbles. First, the simulation of gas–liquid two-phase flow in a square column is compared with the experiment to verify the accuracy of the MUSIG model. Then, the results of gas–liquid two-phase flow in PAT simulated by the MUSIG model are compared with those by the conventional uniform bubble (UB) model and find that the MUSIG model is more favorable to capture the flow pattern at high gas content compared to the UB model. Based on the MUSIG model, the internal flow characteristics, pressure fluctuation, and bubble size distribution of the PAT are analyzed. The rotation of the blades breaks a part of big bubbles into small bubbles in the volute, resulting in a smaller diameter of the bubbles entering the impeller. As the gas content increases, the number and size of vortices in the impeller flow channel increase. The vortex is formed at locations where the gas phase distribution in the impeller flow channel is concentrated. The outlet of the impeller is more prone to bubble consolidation under high gas content conditions. In conclusion, the MUSIG model can well predict the complex flow characteristics of gas–liquid two-phase inside the PAT and identify the key influencing factors of energy acquisition, which can provide support for improving the performance of the PAT design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A five-stage centrifugal pump is utilized to investigate the interstage flow characteristics of the multistage centrifugal pump as turbine (PAT). The simulation results of performance are verified by comparing with the experimental results. Owing to the distinct structural attributes, significant differences in flow occur between the first stage and the other stages of the multistage PAT. To enhance the understanding of these disparities and explore their repercussions, this study focuses on analyzing the flow within the impellers in the first and second stages by a deterministic analysis. The main conclusions are as follows: The discrepancies in the inflow conditions are the major reason for the dissimilarities in the flow of impellers between stages. The impact loss generated by the misalignment between the positive guide vane outlet angle and the impeller inlet angle leads to flow deviation between impeller passages and affects the internal flow pattern. The unsteadiness under low flow rates is mostly produced by the spatial gradient of the blade-to-blade nonuniformities, which is relevant to the relative position between blades and the positive guide vanes. At high flow rates, especially in the second-stage impeller, the pure unsteady term is the primary cause of flow unsteadiness as a result of the flow separation induced by interactions between the blades and the positive guide vanes. This study can provide some references for the practical operation and performance optimization of the multistage PATs in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]