A method of increasing pump efficiency

The flow structure at the inlet to a hydraulic machine affects the efficiency. The flow at the end of the inlet device to a pumping system at present has a non-uniform velocity pattern and chaotic flow vortices. Inlet designs that modify the flow structure before the blade disk are described. These were tested on a large-scale model for a pumping station unit in the hydroenergy plant laboratory at St. Petersburg State Technical University. A preliminary vortex was produced before the disc. This improved the pump efficiency.