ANALYSIS OF CHANGE IN SHAPE OF SUCTION MANIFOLD TO IMPROVE PERFORMANCE OF POLTPROPYLENE CENTRIFUGAL PUMP USING CFD

Centrifugal pumps are broadly used for irrigation, water supply plants, steam power plants, sewage, because of their suitability in practical service. Hence it is crucial to find out the design parameters and working conditions that result optimal output and maximum efficiency with lowest power consumption. Study shows that CFD (Computational fluid dynamics) analysis is being increasingly applied in the design of centrifugal pumps.  The suction side of the pump typically consists of a single pipe of a nominal bore same as or greater than the delivery pipe. This arrangement may not be effective for higher capacity pumps used in the industry or public distribution system. The effort of this dissertation work would be to identify suitable configuration for the suction side of the Centrifugal Pump to enhance the utilization of the power.  ANSYS Fluent would be used to evaluate the variants for the intake manifold for determining the discharge and the pattern of flow of water through the manifold. Minimal pressure drop combined with a high value of discharge would be the criteria for assessment of the variants.