Selection Of Wind Pumping System And CFD Simulations Of Two-phase Flow In Vertical Tube

There is shortage of water in China, especially in rural area. The method by consumption of conventional energy is becoming unsuitable for sustainable development. Wind energy technology played an important role in the development and utilization of new clean energy. As one of important forms of wind utilization, wind pumping can be applied to solve the problems of farmland irrigation, human livestock drinking water, environmental protection and so on, especially pneumatic wind pumping system, which is well featured by simple structure, high efficiency and low cost. Therefore, a study on pneumatic wind pumping system has an important realistic meaning.Firstly, this paper briefly describes the development of wind pumping at home and abroad as well as the research progress of the gas-liquid two phase flow.Secondly, a wind resource assessment of Boketu town of Hulunbeier city in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Regions is carried out. At the end of the wind resource assessment, wind speed distribution and wind energy distribution can be achieved to provide theoretical information for the wind pumping system selection.Thirdly, the paper summarizes the structural characteristics and working principle of three mainly wind pumping system in detail, such as wind power generation pumping system, piston wind pumping system, pneumatic wind pumping system. It is concluded that pneumatic wind pumping system is more suitable for Boketu town of Hulunbeier city according to its wind resource conditions, which can realize the work of pumping water with the wind turbines separate from water source in the places where there is short of power, fuel and electricity.Finally, ANSYS FLUENT14.0is applied to mechanism research of airlift pump, the key section of pneumatic wind pumping system. Considering the effect of submerged depth and air speed, the gas-liquid two phase flow in the vertical tube of bubble pump and Geyser Pump is numerically simulated with the VOF model by CFD method.In conclusion, Taylor bubbles are intermittently present in the vertical tube, and there are two factors which influence the mass flow rate of air pump. Under certain submerged depth, the mass flow rate of the two airlift pumps is increased with the rising air-inlet speed, butthe mass flow rate of bubble pump is higher than Geyser pump. However, Geyser pump has more advantages for its higher lift head and stable flow rate because of its special structure.