Finite Element Transient Thermal Analysis Of An Axially Split Horizontal Multistage Pump

Abstract

Often the industrial power generation market specifies that boiler feedpumps must be capable of withstanding thermal transient conditions when operating in boiler feed service. A thermal transient analysis was performed in order to better define whether an axial split multistage pump design was suitable for service conditions specified for the combined cycle power market. The pump is a nonsymmetric design and contains complex hydraulic shapes that required 3-D modelling to accurately represent the real geometric condition. The analysis model was built using currently available 3-D CAD technology. Once developed, the 3-D model was translated into finite element (FE) code by international graphics exchange standard (IGES) translation. The 3-D model was then further divided into smaller portions to allow meshing. The model was meshed with 407,000 elements with 541,000 nodes, which resulted in 1.8 million degrees of freedom (Figure 1).