Experimental study on external characteristics of vertical axial flow pump

In order to further study the external characteristics of axial flow pump device with volute outlet channel for ensuring the safe and stable operation of Jiangou pump station after construction, the hydraulic performance of Jiangou pump station was studied based on the model test and its optimized operation scheme. The result shows that when the pump station works with the blade angle of −2°, the pump device could operate with the highest efficiency of 71.4%, and the flow and head are similar to the designed condition, indicating that it can be used as the designed angle for the future operation of the pump station. With the gradual increase of head, the flow decreases gently, which satisfies the economic requirements of long-time and large flow drainage of the pumping station. Additionally, the cavitation performance of the pump device has met the design requirements and when the blade angle is −4°, the runaway speed reaches the highest value which is less than twice the rated speed, in which the runaway characteristics are excellent. In conclusion, the performance of the tested pump device is relatively excellent as a drainage pump device which has the great value of in-depth research and development. This study can provide some reference for the design of drainage projects with similar heads and large flow rates.