Numerical investigation of the flow field and mass transfer characteristics in a jet slurry pump

Abstract

A jet pump is used to transport a variety of working media and is especially suitable for dredged soil transporting. In this study, a three-dimensional numerical study of a jet pump that is used for slurry delivery was carried out. The characteristics of the internal flow field of the mixing chamber with different working parameters were comprehensively analyzed. The results indicate that the pressure of the axial line decreases with increasing flow ratio (ratio of suction flux and inlet flux) while the pressure of the injected slurry shows a downward trend. With the increase in the flow ratio, the pressure ratio (difference between inlet pressure and suction pressure divided by the difference between exit pressure and suction pressure) falls off while the efficiency presents a parabolic distribution. The pressure ratio can be promoted by properly increasing the length of the mixing chamber so that the available efficiency is broadened. When the mixing chamber length is L = 2.5D_n~4.0D_n (D_n is nozzle outlet diameter), the highly efficient area is wide; in particular, when L = 3.5D_n, the jet slurry pump with the highest efficiency of 27.6% has the best performance.