Regular Article

The effect of NCG on the characteristics of hydraulic cavitation

College of New Energy, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, China

^* e-mail: liqiangsydx@163.com

Received: 16 December 2019
Accepted: 2 June 2020

Abstract

Hydraulic cavitation, as an important and complex hydrodynamic phenomenon, has long drawn attention. In this paper, the ZGB (Zwart-Gerber-Belamri) cavitation model is improved and the effect of NCG (noncondensable gas) on cavitation in water is studied by numerical simulation. The influence of NCG on the cavity length, the temperature of the cavities and the mixed viscosity of the cavities is investigated through the improved ZGB cavitation model. In addition, experiments on hydrodynamic cavitation produced by a Venturi tube are used to validate the improved ZGB cavitation model. The results show that NCG not only shortens the length of the cavity but also reduces the volume fraction of the vapor. The existence of NCG decreases the viscosity in the cavity of the Venturi tube but increases the viscosity at the sidewall of the tube. In addition, the temperature in the cavities increases with increasing NCG. Regardless of whether air is injected, the volume fraction of the vapor in the cavities increases first and then decreases with increasing temperature. However, the transition temperature decreases somewhat after injecting air. Therefore, the influence of NCG on hydraulic cavitation is significant, and the role of NCG should be considered in industry.