LAUSR

Summary The side channel pump, which is a common energy conversion equipment, has undergone high developmental trends and has become very popular in recent times because of its wide applications in many fields. The side channel pump is a type of regenerative pump that plays a role in between the centrifugal pump and the positive displacement pump. This kind of pump delivers a high head at relatively small flows compared with other axial and centrifugal pumps even though it requires a low specific speed. Depending on the number of impellers used, the side channel pump can be single-stage or multistage. This paper first focuses on the physical principle behind the internal flow characteristics illustrating the complex flow and the energy from the blade to the fluid and the side channel inside the pump. Further discussions disclosed that the hydraulic performance of the pump greatly depends on the variations of the geometrical parameters. This review draws conclusion that enhancement of the computational modeling techniques will improve the efficiency of this pump, thereby broadening its applications.