Innovative two stage miniature pump

The paper presents experimental and numerical results obtained with a miniature two-stage pump. The machine was designed to be compact, to be easy to manufacture and to assemble. The first stage is a centrifugal pump with 8 radial blades; the second is a radial disk viscous pump. The overall dimensions of the machine are contained in a cylinder, 10mm diameter and 10mm high. A radial impeller with a 3mm diameter and blade widths of 0.4mm, coupled with a two disks viscous pump, was tested over a wide range of operating conditions. Pump performance characteristics, including pressure increases up to 12 kPa (Psi = 0.4), and flow rate up to 150 ml/min (Fi = 0.12), are presented with rotational speeds up to 24,000 rpm. The experimental data were compared with 3D time-dependent CFD simulations. The focus of the simulations was to study the flow field structure inside the two stages of the pumps