Case Study: How Evident Engineering Solved a Cavitation Issue with CFD

Problem: One of our customers came to us reporting loud noises coming from their water pumps. There were two pumps in parallel that pulled off a common receiver vessel with a single inlet pipe into the receiver.

Evident Engineering reviewed the installation, the system operating conditions, and the equipment performance. After ruling out the potentially more straightforward causes, Evident performed a computational fluid dynamics analysis to determine the root cause of the cavitation. CFD showed that there was a swirl present due to the flow pattern through the receiver and piping which was causing excess turbulence at the centrifugal pump inlets.

Solution: Evident performed several CFD simulations to determine the most cost effective baffle arrangement and tank modifications to solve the issue. The existing piping and receiver were able to be reused with minor additions of a straightener and baffle to correct the problem. In addition to providing a detailed CFD report, Evident Engineering provided manufacturing drawings for the baffle and straightener while also providing 3D models showing the installation and fabrication required.

Before:

After:

Note the swirl has been eliminated resulting in less turbulent flow to the inlet of the pumps.

Summary: Because Evident has extensive experience in field service, real world applications and system design, a systems approach to solving the problem was implemented. While knowing how to use simulation tools and modeling plays an important role, real world manufacturing, installation, and engineering experience are equally important to finding the best solutions for our customers.

All modeling, engineering, design, and implementation was performed by a licensed mechanical engineer with 14 years of experience and an MS in mechanical engineering based in Connecticut.