Investigation of Centrifugal Pump Performance Under Two-Phase Flow Conditions

A one-dimensional two-fluid model has been used to study the centrifugal pump head degradation phenomena and to analyze the gas-liquid interaction within the pump impeller under high pressure, steam-water two-phase flow conditions. The analytical model was used to predict the two-phase pump head data for the small-scale and full-scale nuclear reactor pumps and the predictions of the head degradation compared favorably with the test data for different suction void fractions. The physical mechanisms responsible for head degradation were also investigated.