Self-Priming Centrifugal Pump Segmented Casing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional self-priming centrifugal pumps face challenges in achieving high self-priming and pumping performance while ensuring easy cleaning and meeting sanitary specifications, particularly when handling clean or high-purity liquids such as food, pure water, and medicinal chemicals, due to complex structures and rough surfaces from casting processes.
Innovation Solution
The design features a pump casing with a smaller and larger volute, a self-priming water separating chamber with a circular inner circumference, and connectable members for easy assembly and disassembly, along with a cleaning fluid inlet and a reduced diameter discharge passage to facilitate precise machining and grinding, ensuring all wetted surfaces can be polished and cleaned effectively.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a conventional casting process is used to manufacture the pump casing, then manufacturing cost is reduced, but the surface becomes rough and difficult to clean, failing to meet sanitary specifications
Solution Approach 1:
The pump casing is divided into multiple segments or sections that can be separately manufactured and then assembled. This allows each segment to be individually precision-machined to achieve smooth surfaces meeting sanitary specifications, while avoiding the need to cast the entire complex geometry in one piece. The segmentation enables both cost-effective manufacturing and high surface quality.
2Productivity
If the pump structure is made complex to achieve high self-priming and pumping performance, then performance is improved, but cleaning becomes difficult and sanitary specifications cannot be met
Solution Approach 1:
The pump is divided into modular components with standardized interfaces. The internal flow passages are designed with smooth transitions and avoided dead zones through careful segmentation of functional zones. This modular approach maintains high pumping performance while enabling easy disassembly and thorough cleaning of all wetted surfaces.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of designing complex internal geometries and then trying to clean them, the design approach is inverted: the cleaning requirements are established first, then the pumping performance is optimized within those constraints. This ensures that all surfaces are accessible for cleaning while achieving the required hydraulic performance through optimized flow paths.
3Strength
If the pump casing is made as a single integrated piece, then structural strength is improved, but disassembly for cleaning becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The pump casing is segmented into multiple sections connected by robust flanged joints or bolted connections. These connections are designed to maintain structural integrity and leakage prevention while allowing easy disassembly for cleaning and reassembly. The segmentation enables the pump to be taken apart for thorough cleaning without compromising its structural strength during operation.
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
This configuration enables excellent self-priming and pumping performance while allowing for thorough Cleaning In Place (CIP) and Cleaning Out Of Place (COP) operations, ensuring high-purity liquid handling and meeting sanitary specifications without leaving shadows or clogging issues.
Implementation Method 1
a space being formed between an outer circumference of an impeller and a starting end of the smaller volute, said space being greater than a space between the outer circumference of the impeller and a starting end of the larger volute, generating a circulating current of self-priming water flowing from the smaller volute to the larger volute
Implementation Method 2
a diffusing part of the larger volute being formed into an upright, cylindrical self-priming water separating chamber into which the current of the self-priming water from the smaller volute is guided to flow so that air-water separation of the self-priming water is carried out in the self-priming water separating chamber
Data Source
AI summary
A pump with high performance and cleanability includes a casing having a smaller volute and a larger volute; a space between an outer circumference of an impeller and a starting end of the smaller volute being greater than that of the larger volute, generating a circulating flow of self-priming water from the smaller volute to the larger volute; and a diffusing part of the larger volute being formed into an upright, cylindrical self-priming water separating chamber guiding the self-priming water from the smaller volute to flow in for air-water separation. An inner circumference part of the casing is formed concentric with the outer circumference of the impeller with a predetermined space therebetween; defining members are protrusively disposed on the inner circumference part of the casing so as to define the shapes of the two volutes; and the self-priming water separating chamber is made attachable to and detachable from the casing.