Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID 2007KY93B

A Three Dimensional Computational Fluid Dynamic Code for Simulation of Pump Stations

Institute: Kentucky
Year Established: 2007 Start Date: 2007-03-01 End Date: 2008-02-29
Total Federal Funds: $5,000 Total Non-Federal Funds: $10,258

Principal Investigators: Scott Yost

Abstract: A water jet plunging into a body of water is common in natural and manmade structures. Plunging water causes significant turbulence and air entrainment, which lead to a complex and unpredictable flow field. In pump station design, turbulence and adverse flow fields can lead to the formation of vortices and air entrainment can be devastating to pump operation. Large bubbles entrained into the system have a reasonable chance of escape to the free surface without causing many problems. However, smaller bubbles, which are less buoyant, can remain and migrate in the system into pump intakes. These smaller bubbles not only cause deterioration of pump efficiency, but also excess wear on the pump and motor. This study will concentrate on the improvement of an existing computational fluid dynamic code to take into consideration air entrainment and transport, coupled with the hydrodynamics of a plunging water jet.