Improving the performance of centrifugal pumps in serial and parallel configurations using digital twins

Centrifugal pumps are devices commonly used in countless industrial and residential applications, from water supply systems to oil and gas processing plants. These rotatory hydraulic machines have a strong impact on the energy consumption of industry worldwide, not only because of their vast amount but also because of their continuous operation. Therefore, developing techniques to improve the efficiency of pumping systems is of great help to make communities and industrial activity more sustainable. The overall performance of these pieces of machinery cannot be fully predicted by means of analytical procedures due to the complexity of the fluid flow phenomena that occurs in their interior, so it is common practice to resort to alternate modeling techniques, such as computer aided numerical analysis, which can predict the performance of a pump, given its CAD computer model. However, the performance of an actual centrifugal pump may deviate from its ideal behavior due to multiple causing factors which may alter the performance curves given by the manufacturers in the corresponding data sheets. The discrepancies between the real and the simulated responses of centrifugal pumps demand for better modeling and simulation techniques to improve the design of more efficient pumping systems. Digital twins have the ability to bring the simulation environment closer to reality, by replicating the behavior of the physical system in a simulation environment with the support of experimental data. The digital twin of a multiple pumps system with serial and parallel configurations was developed, based on two identical industrial centrifugal pumps available in the laboratory. Experimental data was collected to calibrate the digital twin system so that the simulated system can predict the response under changing operating conditions. The simulation environment was developed with the assistance of a commercial Computational Fluid Dynamics computer program. After validating the behavior of the virtual components, with respect to the behavior of their actual counterparts, tests were carried out to predict the behavior of the pumping system in case of downstream disturbances which can affect the operating point of the overall pumping system and its corresponding efficiency. The development of the digital twin for the pumping system allowed visualizing how the pumps connected in series or in parallel can be maneuvered to adjust its operating conditions to achieve higher efficiency operating conditions in response to changes in the conditions downstream in the pipeline.