Supersonic jet-pump vacuum generators: combined experimental and numerical investigations for performance improvement

我们的目标是与我们的加拿大工业合作伙伴IVAC合作开发超音速和大型喷射泵。该公司利用喷射泵运输与石油/天然气、采矿和林业等各种行业相关的材料。目前，IVAC的喷射泵面临两个主要问题。首先，它们的吸入质量流量没有得到优化，增加了泵的运行成本。其次，其运行的启动期与非稳定的大幅度声振荡有关，这可能会导致疲劳和/或对喷射泵的性能产生负面影响。*该项目旨在解决上述问题，该项目由不列颠哥伦比亚大学(UBC)的两名硕士研究生进行了实验和数值研究。首先，将建立一维气体动力学模型。该模型将作为喷射泵设计的指导方针，并允许最大限度地提高吸入流量。然后，根据模型的预测，将在不列颠哥伦比亚大学制造一个实验装置。该装置将配备一系列压力传感器和纹影成像系统。还将制造一个重复的压力测量系统，并将其与工业IVAC系统集成。来自UBC和IVAC设置的压力数据将被测量、比较，并作为计算流体动力学模拟的输入。利用这些模拟和纹影图像，将研究高速流动的非定常动力学。利用所生成的知识，将对喷射泵的设计进行进一步的修改，以消除启动期间不稳定声学的负面影响。新设计的喷射泵将使IVAC能够提高材料运输速度，从而加快加拿大石油/天然气、采矿和林业行业的生产，这些行业使用IVAC喷射泵。

We aim to develop supersonic and large-scale jet-pumps in collaboration with our industrial Canadian partner, IVAC. This company utilizes jet-pumps for material transport related to a variety of industries, such as oil/gas, mining, and forestry. Currently, IVAC's jet-pumps face two primary issues. First, their suction mass flowrate is not optimized, which increases the pump operation cost. Second, the startup period of their operation is associated with unsteady large amplitude acoustic oscillations, which may potentially lead to fatigue and/or negatively influence the jet-pump performance.****The proposed project aims to address the above issues following both experimental and numerical investigations performed by two Master's students at the University of British Columbia (UBC). First, a one-dimensional gas-dynamics model will be developed. This model will serve as a guideline for the jet-pump design and allows for maximizing the suction flowrate. Then, following the predictions of the model, an experimental setup will be manufactured at UBC. The setup will be equipped with an array of pressure transducers and a Schlieren imaging system. A duplicate pressure measurement system will also be manufactured and integrated with the industrial IVAC system. The pressure data from both the UBC and IVAC setups will be measured, compared, and provided as input for Computational Fluid Dynamics simulations. Using these simulations and Schlieren images, unsteady dynamics of high-speed flows will be studied. Using the generated knowledge, the jet-pump design will be further modified to eliminate the negative impact of unsteady acoustics during the startup period. The newly-designed jet-pump will allow IVAC to increase the speed of material transport, which accelerates production in Canadian oil/gas, mining, and forestry industries that utilize IVAC jet-pumps.