The Performance Analysis and Prospective of Cooling Pump Based on CFD Technique

Background: Water pump is the core of engine cooling system, the irrational design will make the engine too warm or too cold, both will influence the efficiency of the engine. Therefore, it is significant for an engine to design one good water pump. Various patents have been discussed in this article. Objective: In this study, we designed a good water pump to match its engine cooling system to reduce the cost of R by design and simulation. Methods: According to the actual working characteristics of an automotive centrifugal pump, we built its computational fluid model. At 80°C and different speeds, using freshwater as cooling liquid, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) technique was used to analyze the 3D turbulent flow inside the pump. Following this, the static pressure, speed and the turbulent kinetic energy distribution of the internal flow field of the pump were discussed. The pump head and efficiency were stimulated by using the CFD technique and compared with the results obtained from the experiments. Results: The experimental results showed that the obtained pump head and efficiency were in good agreement and the accuracy of the performance prediction can be guaranteed within 10%. When the speed was constant, in the case of small flow, the measured pump flow and head were different from CFD numerical simulation, while the consistency of efficiency was better. When the pump exceeded the maximum performance point under the constant speed, the flow continued to increase, the head difference in the centrifugal pump between CFD simulation and test became larger, and the measured test efficiency declined continuously from the maximum. Conclusion: The results showed that the complex condition of running water inside the pump can be exactly stimulated by the CFD technique, especially about the pump head and its efficiency, which provided the theoretical foundation for the later structural designs and optimization of the pump conduit.