Effect of Impeller Blade Thickness on the Performance and Internal Flow Characteristics of a Single Channel Pump Model

The single channel pump, which is widely used as a typical kind of sewage pump. Because of the special structure, it can reduce the damage of transportation substances. Therefore, it is possible to be employed for the transportation of alive fish and shrimp. In this study, a three dimensional (3D) modeling of single channel pump model was established by following the basic hydraulic design process. The blade thickness can be changed by modifying the outlet angle of suction surface. Two models of different blade thickness were modelled. The effect of blade thickness on the performance and internal flow characteristics of a single channel pump model was investigated by using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method. By the change of blade thickness, it has been proven that the impeller blade thickness gives considerable effect on the performance and internal flow characteristics and relatively thinner blade thickness showed better performance at the almost whole operation condition in this study.