Comparative analysis of the performance of food rotary lobe pumps when delivering highly viscous media
https://doi.org/10.46845/1997-3071-2025-78-67-80
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.
Supporting agencies: The research was carried out within the framework of the state assignment of research and development work "Development and improvement of food industry production systems".
About the Authors
V. A. Naumov
Kalingrad State Technical University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Doctor of Engineering, Professor of the Department of Technosphere Safety and Environmental Engineering,
Kaliningrad
O. I. Levicheva
Kalingrad State Technical University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
postgraduate student,
Kaliningrad
References
1. Gorbatov A. V. Reologiya myasnykh i molochnykh produktov: monografiya [Rheology of meat and dairy products: monograph]. Moscow, Pishchevaya promyshlennost' Publ., 1979. 384 p.
2. Podrezov A. Nasosy dlya pishchevoy promyshlennosti [Pumps for the food industry]. Pererabotka moloka. 2016, no. 9 (203), pp. 26–27.
3. Lugovaya I. S. Klassifikatsiya gidravlicheskikh sistem dlya perekachivaniya vysokovyazkikh zhidkostey [Classification of hydraulic systems for pumping highly viscous liquids]. Nauka i tekhnika. 2019, vol. 18, no. 5, pp. 422–426.
4. Hsieh C.-F. A new curve for application to the rotor profile of rotary lobe pumps. Mechanism and Machine Theory. 2015. V. 87. P. 70–81.
5. Li Y., Guo D., Li X. B. Mitigation of radial exciting force of rotary lobe pump by gradually varied gap. Engineering Applications of Computational Fluid Mechanics. 2018. V. 12. N 1. P 711–723.
6. Li Y., Zhang X., Guo X. D. Wang Numerical analysis and verification of flow characteristics of rotor cavity of spiral rotary lobe pump. Transactions of the Chinese Society of Agricultural Engineering. 2018. V. 34. N 10. P. 62–67.
7. Malael I., Costea F., Draghici M. Flow evaluation of the lobe pump using numerical methods. Applied Physics, System Science and Computers III. 2019. V. 574. P. 301–309.
8. Li Y., Du J., Guo D. Numerical research on viscous oil flow characteristics inside the rotor cavity of rotary lobe pump. Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering. 2019. V. 41. P. 1–11.
9. Amer M., Vaca A., Bowden M. Effects of different blade numbers on radial exciting force of lobe pump rotor. Bioprocess and Biosystems Engineering. 2022. V. 45. N 9. P. 1477–1488.
10. Liu D., Xu C., Shi L., Tian B., Jin X. Flow fluctuation abatement method and flow characteristics of lobe pump by external non circular gear drive. Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology. 2024. V. 38. P. 271–284.
11. Zhou H., Zhou P., Meng L., Li J., Xiang C., Qian H. Numerical analysis of the inlet and outlet diameter effects on pulsation dynamics and cavitation in the lobe pump. Journal of Applied Fluid Mechanics. 2025. V. 18. N 5. P 1189–1204.
12. Ginoyan R. V., Kulatkova A. S. Primenenie kulachkovykh nasosov v tekhnologicheskoy linii proizvodstva morozhenogo s tsel'yu stabilizatsii podachi smesi [The use of cam pumps in the technological ice cream production line in order to stabilize the supply of the mixture]. Sovremennye aspekty proizvodstva i pererabotki sel'skokhozyaystvennoy produktsii. Materialy VI Mezhdunarodnoy nauchno-prakt. konferentsii (Krasnodar, 31.03.2020). Krasnodar, Izd-vo KubGAU, 2020, pp.88–92.
13. Ginoyan R. V., Pasin A. V., Kulatkova A. S. Vliyanie soderzhaniya razlichnykh doz sukhogo obezzhirennogo moloka na strukturno-mekhanicheskie svoystva smesey morozhenogo i energopotreblenie tekhnologicheskogo oborudovaniya pri proizvodstve morozhenogo [The effect of the content of various doses of skimmed milk powder on the structural and mechanical properties of ice cream mixtures and energy consumption of technological equipment in the production of ice cream "Plombir"]. Vestnik VSGUTU. 2021, no. 2 (81), pp. 18–25.
14. Akhmedova N. R., Levicheva O. I., Naumov V. A. Vliyanie vyazkosti zhidkikh pishchevykh produktov na proizvoditel'nost' kulachkovykh nasosov (na primere perekachivaniya rybnogo zhira) [The effect of viscosity of liquid foodstuffs on the performance of lobe pumps (using the example of pumping fish oil)]. Vestnik Astrakhanskogo gosudarstvennogo tekhnicheskogo universiteta. Seriya: Rybnoe khozyaystvo. 2022, no. 3, pp.74–81.
15. Akhmedova N. R., Levicheva O. I., Naumov V. A. Performance characteristics of rotary lobe pumps for high viscosity food medium. IOP Conference Series. Earth and Environmental Science. 2024, vol. 1420, no. 1. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/1420/1/012013 (accessed 08 March 2025).
16. Levicheva O. I. Usovershenstvovanie analiticheskoy modeli nagruzochnykh kharakteristik pishchevykh kolovratnykh nasosov [Improvement of the analytical model of the load characteristics of food lobe pumps]. Vestnik nauki i obrazovaniya SeveroZapada Rossii. 2025, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 18–27.
Review
For citations:
Naumov V.A., Levicheva O.I. Comparative analysis of the performance of food rotary lobe pumps when delivering highly viscous media. KSTU News. 2025;(78):67-80. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.46845/1997-3071-2025-78-67-80
Views:
6
Email this article 