Three-objective optimization of a single-channel pump for wastewater treatment

The impeller and volute of a single-channel pump used for wastewater treatment were simultaneously optimized to improve the hydraulic efficiency and reduce unsteady radial force sources due to the impeller volute interaction. Steady and unsteady Reynolds averaged Navier Stokes equations were solved with the shear stress transport turbulence model as the turbulence closure model using tetrahedral grids to analyze the internal flow in the single-channel pump. Five design variables related to the internal flow cross-sectional areas of the impeller and volute were selected to simultaneously optimize the hydraulic efficiency, the sweep area of the radial force during one revolution, and the distance of the mass center of the sweep area from the origin as the three objective functions. The response surface approximation model and genetic algorithm were employed to obtain three-dimensional Pareto-optimal solutions representing the trade-off between the efficiency and the radial force sources. The results of the three-objective optimization show that the representative clustered optimum designs enhanced the efficiency and reduced the radial force sources simultaneously in most cases, compared to the reference design. In addition, it was confirmed that the trade-off between the efficiency and the radial force sources clarifies with controlling the internal flow cross-sectional areas of the impeller and volute of the single-channel pump.