Improvement of energy performance of a two-way pumping station based on controllable diffusion technology

Energy performance is a crucial parameter for evaluating a two-way pumping station. However, the sharp decrease in efficiency within overload flow rates presents a challenge. To address this issue, the controllable diffusion technology (CDT) is developed based on asymmetric inflow theory. Transient numerical simulation is carried out under five different distortion angles. The energy performance and entropy production dissipation before and after the application of CDT are comprehensively studied. (a) First, CDT successfully improves the operation efficiency within the overload flow rate range. The reverse distortion has a better improvement effect than the syntropic distortion. (b) Second, under asymmetric inflow conditions, the reduction in the axial velocity causes the best-efficiency point to deviate toward the overload flow rate. This leads to an increase in the total entropy production (TEP) within 0.7Qdes–0.95Qdes, followed by a decrease within 1.05Qdes–1.3Qdes. (c) Third, the CDT-induced horizontal velocity causes a mismatch between the impeller inflow angle and blade placement angle, which leads to uneven spatial distribution of the total entropy production rate inside the pumping station.