AUTHOR=Jia XiaoQi , Chu Qingyang , Zhang Li , Zhu ZuChao TITLE=Experimental Study on Operational Stability of Centrifugal Pumps of Varying Impeller Types Based on External Characteristic, Pressure Pulsation and Vibration Characteristic Tests JOURNAL=Frontiers in Energy Research VOLUME=Volume 10 - 2022 YEAR=2022 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/energy-research/articles/10.3389/fenrg.2022.866037 DOI=10.3389/fenrg.2022.866037 ISSN=2296-598X ABSTRACT=This paper performed external characteristics, dynamic pressure and vibration tests on the closed impeller model, semi-open type impeller model, and open impeller model in order to study the influence rule of the impeller structure of the centrifugal pump on the operational stability of the pump. According to research findings, the external characteristics of the three impellers enjoyed favorable stability with flat curves under a low flow rate. As the flow increases, the stability of the external characteristics weakens, and the poorest stability can be observed in the open impeller while the best stability in the enclosed impeller under a large flow rate. Besides, intense pressure fluctuations arise near the casing tongue due to the dynamic and static interference between the blade and the casing tongue, causing that there is a large amplitude of pressure pulsation near the casing tongue and the pump outlet. It can be seen that the stability of pressure pulsation of the closed impeller in the casing tongue area was the best, whereas the stability of pressure pulsation of the open impeller was the poorest. The minimum casing vibration can be found in the closed impeller, followed by the semi-open impeller, and the open impeller with the maximum vibration. In addition, the optimum stability of rotor vibration can be observed in the closed impeller, and semi-open impeller and open impeller with similar stability of rotor vibration.