Comparative analysis of the performance of food rotary lobe pumps when delivering highly viscous media
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Lobe pumps (LP) are used for transporting food media with high viscosity when it is necessary to preserve a product structure. The article presents a comparative analysis of the LP performance manufactured by three companies. The publicly available test results of these three companies are served as the initial data. The approach based on the load characteristics when pumping media with the highest values of effective dynamic viscosity (EDV) has been used to simulate the performance of processed cheese (PC) by the lobe pumps. LP performance is calculated as the product of the working volume by the difference between the current rotor speed (RS) and its minimum required value (MRV) to start the liquid flow. The MRV RS decreases with an increase in EDV and a decrease in pressure drop in all studied LP. However, the absolute MRV RS may differ significantly for different LP with an EDV of less than 200 sP. The method is proposed for reducing the load characteristic to a dimensionless form (the dependence of the dimensionless performance on the dimensionless values of the pressure drop, EDV and the RS for a correct comparison of the LP performance with a small difference in the working volume. The dimensionless feed of LP 034-WCB turned out to be the largest of the three studied aggregates. However, the difference between the values of the dimensionless performance of different LP turned out to be significant only at a pressure drop of about 1 MPa and an EDV of less than 300 sP. PS, as a rule, are transported at lower pressures. Under such conditions, the difference in the dimensionless performance of the studied LP becomes insignificant. The results of this study can be used to select LP with the necessary parameters.
Source: KSTU News
Authors: V. A. Naumov, O. I. Levicheva
Institution: Kaliningrad State Technical University
Language: English
Subfield: Fluid Flow and Transfer Processes
Field: Chemical Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W7128201620