Design and analysis of quad-acting reciprocating pump: A novel approach

Reciprocating pumps are those in which the oscillating motion of pistons, plungers or membranes causes a fluid to move. The discharge of a single-acting reciprocating pump is low compared with a double-acting one for the same input power. In this respect an attempt has been made to increase the discharge by making some modifications in the double-acting pump with the same input power. Two additional pistons have been placed vertically and adjacently to the main cylinder. The fluid flow analysis of four quad-acting reciprocating pump has been performed in ANSYS FLUENT V12. The various parameters such as mass flow rate of fluid flow, velocity of the fluid flow, volume of the fluid flow and force of the fluid flow have been considered in this paper. These parameters have been studied for each cylinder in an outlet to determine the performance of the pump. The results show that, using the same input power used for the double-acting reciprocating pump, the total discharge of fluid of the four-acting pump has been increased