Centrifugal Pump Ventilation Line for Air Cushion Removal
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional centrifugal pumps used in curing systems experience a decline in delivery capacity due to air entrainment in the brine, leading to the formation of an air cushion that impedes liquid suction, particularly in systems handling liquids with high air content.
Innovation Solution
A centrifugal pump system with a ventilation line routed from the pump chamber's rear side to the outside, connected to a suction line from the pump's outlet, incorporating a jet pump to actively remove air from the system, ensuring stable operation by maintaining a controlled air cushion and minimizing flow disruption.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a conventional centrifugal pump is used to circulate curing brine, then the pump can handle the liquid flow, but the delivery capacity drops over time due to air cushion formation in the pump chamber
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the air from the pump chamber by routing a ventilation line from the rear side of the pump chamber to the outside, connected to the suction line. This removes the harmful air cushion that forms during operation and causes delivery capacity drop, allowing the pump to maintain stable performance over time.
Solution Approach 2:
The ventilation line acts as an intermediary element that facilitates air removal from the pump chamber. By providing a dedicated pathway for air extraction, it mediates between the air accumulation problem and the pump's delivery capacity, preventing the air cushion from impeding liquid suction.
2Reliability
If a ventilation line is added to remove air from the pump chamber, then delivery capacity stability improves, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The ventilation line is routed from the suction line, which serves dual purposes: maintaining pump suction functionality while simultaneously providing air removal capability. This multi-functional approach eliminates the need for a completely separate air venting system, reducing overall complexity while maintaining reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses its own suction line infrastructure to provide the ventilation function, rather than requiring an entirely independent air removal system. The suction line serves both liquid transport and air evacuation purposes, allowing the system to self-manage air removal without additional complex components.
3Reliability
If the ventilation line outlet is positioned close to the impeller axis to limit air cushion volume, then air removal efficiency improves, but liquid flow may be disturbed
Solution Approach 1:
The ventilation line outlet is positioned at a specific location on the rear side of the pump chamber with controlled radial distance to the impeller axis. This localized positioning creates different functional zones: the ventilation line removes air from critical areas while the impeller front side maintains uninterrupted liquid flow, allowing each region to optimize its function.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution effectively prevents air cushion formation, maintaining stable pump delivery rates even with air-laden liquids, while minimizing performance loss through a low-volume bypass that actively removes air, thus ensuring consistent operation.
Implementation Method 1
a jet pump is arranged in this branch line, which creates a suction with which the air is actively passed over the ventilation duct is sucked off
Implementation Method 2
Due to the centrifugal forces occurring in the pump chamber, the air entrained in the suctioned brine is separated from the liquid
Data Source
Figure 1
AI summary
The invention relates to a circulating system for food-compatible fluids, having a circulating pump (12) comprising a suction fitting (18) opening into a pump chamber (24) and a radial impeller (28) disposed in the pump chamber, characterized in that that a bleed line (36) is fed from the side of the pump chamber (24) facing away from the suction fitting (18) to the outside.