Watch out with variable speed

pumping
Pump curves suggest
control strategy

rethinking the usual

By Cecil L. Smith
May 02, 2008
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Its increasingly popular to team a
centrifugal pump with a variable speed
drive (VSD) rather than couple a constant
speed pump with a control valve on
the discharge. However, many
engineers dont understand a
VSDs impact on flow and how that
affects control.
A pump/control-valve combination
small valve openings, although in
flow is required. However, with
always smooth at reduced speeds
Here, well focus on the pump
pump performance curves can lead
because this requires the
group, not the electrical
departments can provide a good
with pump performance curves.

Fig
ure
1.
As
the
val
ve
clo
se
s,
fric
tio
n
he
ad
inc
rea
se
s,
lea
din
g
to
lo
we
r
flo
w.

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pump performance
Tackle Tough Services for
Centrifugal Pumps with Care
Consider changing the speed not
the pump
provides smooth flow even at very
some cases protection against low
variable speed pumping, flow isnt
due to either the pump or the drive.
specifically, how certain aspects of the
to variations in flow at reduced speeds
expertise of people in the process
department. Most electrical
analysis of the drive but arent familiar

Fig
ure
centrifugal pump with a constant
2.
recirculation back to either an
of the pump. A proven approach is to
Th
pump and send the value to a
e
control valve in the recirculation line.
var
ian
The set point for the controller is
the minimum required pump flow.
ce
Under normal operating conditions, in
flow should exceed this level; so the
controller will close the valve in the he
recirculation line. However, should flow
drop below the minimum, the
controller will quickly open the control
ad
valve to provide the necessary
flow.
lea
A control valve also is required in
the line to the process to provide
ds
appropriate flow. In some
configurations, this flow loop is the
to
inner loop for a level-to-flow
cascade, a temperature-to-flow
cascade or other cascade
arrangement. In some cases, the flow
twi
isnt measured; instead the output ce
of the level, temperature or other
controller is connected directly to
the control valve.
as
mu
Often some modifications are
ch made to reduce costs. Well assume a flow
controller here, but the points
var generally apply to all configurations.
ian
ce
in
flo
w.
Constant speed pump
Low flow protection for a
speed drive normally entails
upstream vessel or to the suction
measure the flow through the
controller that manipulates a

Because pressure measurements are less expensive than flow ones, a

measurement of either discharge pressure or pump differential pressure is
substituted for the pump flow measurement. The success of this approach
depends on the nature of the pump performance curves; it only works if the
pressures significantly change with pump flow.
The control valve can be avoided by inserting a fixed orifice into the recirculation
piping. This provides some recirculation at all times, even when the process flow
exceeds the minimum necessary for low flow protection. It requires extra energy
and, possibly, a larger pump.
Variable speed pumping
In contrast, with a VSD a flow measurement is used to adjust a speed or torque
controller included with the drive electronics.
Vendors always stress possible energy savings with a VSD. However,
especially in industries such as specialty chemicals, few drives are large
enough to provide sufficient energy savings to justify their additional cost.
However, a VSD offers other potential benefits. It may make the following
equipment unnecessary:
1.
sensor/transmitter for pump flow
2.

recirculation piping

3.

control valve in the recirculation piping

4.

control valve in the line to the process

Fig
ure
4.
Th
e
var
ian
ce
in
Nevertheless, eliminating even a single item of equipment, particularly one he
would be made of stainless steel or other expensive material, may easily
ad
the additional VSD cost. And these savings come upfront, which appeals
ca
project managers.
us
es
A VSD also can provide maintenance savings. Control valves are high
tri
items, and handling corrosive and toxic fluids makes matters worse. Just
ple
replacing a control valve with a block valve reduces maintenance costs.
the
var
From a control perspective, a VSD has another distinct advantage it
exhibit stiction, hysteresis and other mechanical issues posed by a control iati
on
Todays drives incorporate either speed control or torque control, thus
providing the counterpart to the positioner advocated by control engineers in
control valves.
flo
w.
The controller for pump flow also is eliminated but this component is likely
to be in the software of the digital controls and therefore free.
The above only considers normal process operations. The minimum flow
for the VSD will be lower than that for the constant speed drive but wont
be zero. Therere always startup issues to be addressed and usually other
considerations. For example, it may be important to prevent fluid
backflows through the pump. If positive shutoff is required, the control
valve in the line to the process must be replaced by a block valve.

Fig
ure
3.
On
ly
pu
mp
sp
ee
ds
gre
ate
r
tha
n
2,3
70
rp
m
pr
ovi
de
flo
w.

that
offset
to

upkeep

doesnt
valve.
for

Flow regulation with a control valve

The flow through a pump is determined by the following curves:
Pump performance curve (or just pump curve). This curve, provided by
the pump manufacturer, relates pump flow, pump head and pump speed.
System performance curve (or just system curve). This curve relates the
head and flow of all components in the fluid flow path (the flow system) excluding
the pump. Two components determine this curve:
Static head. This is the difference in head across the flow system
when flow is zero. It includes pressure head and hydrostatic head. The pump
must work against this head even at zero flow.
Friction head. As flow increases, pressure drop due to the fluids
resistance to flow increases by approximately the square of the flow. All
components in the flow system contribute to friction head.

Fig
ure
5.
Suppose friction head is known for a specific flow. (This data point should be
available from design calculations.) Assuming friction head varies with the square As
sp
of the flow, the system curve can be approximated by:
ee
d
HP = HS + HD (QP/QD)2 (1)
inc
where QP is process flow, gal/min; HP is head at process flow QP, ft; HS
rea
is static head, ft; QD is design flow, gal/min; and HD is friction head at flow
se
QD, ft.
s,
the
The operating point is always where the pump curve intersects the system
im
curve.
Control valves regulate flow by varying friction head that is, they work
pa
entirely through the system curve, as illustrated in Figure 1. It presents
ct
system curves for a fully open control valve and a control valve that is
of
75% open. For the fully open valve, flow is 177 gal/min. As the control
sp
valve closes, resistance to flow increases. This raises the friction head
ee
component of the system curve, which makes that curve intersect the
d
pump curve at a lower flow at 75% open, flow is 127 gal/min.
ch
Fig an
Small variations in both static and friction head occur in any pumping
ure ge
installation. These head variations cause flow variations, which also can
6.
s
be determined from the performance curves.
No
on
nli
flo
Suppose the static head is 60 1 ft. Figure 2 shows system curves for 59
ne
w
ft. and 61 ft. and where they intersect with the pump curve. For the fully
ar
de
open control valve, flow is 177 2 gal/min; for the 75% open control valve,
rel
flow is 127 2 gal/min. In each case, a head variance of 1 ft. leads to a
cre
flow variance of 2 gal/min.
ati
as
Closing the control valve doesnt significantly affect the propagation of
on
es.
variance from head to flow. But as we shall see, this isnt necessarily the
shi
case for variable speed pumping.
p
ca
Flow regulation with a VSD
n
With variable speed pumping, the system curve is fixed but the pump
ha curve
shifts with pump speed. Some vendors provide pump curves for certain
selected speeds; others provide a pump curve only for the rated speed of mp a
er obtain
constant speed drive. In either case, the affinity laws can be applied to
usi
pump curves at other speeds:
ng
PI
D
co
ntr
ol.

Q(N) = QC (N/NC)
H(N) = HC (N/NC)2

(2)
(3)

where N is speed, rpm; NC is speed for the pump curve supplied by the manufacturer,
rpm; Q(N) is volumetric flow at speed N, gal/min; QC is volumetric flow at speed NC
(from the pump curve), gal/min; H(N) is head at speed N, ft.; and HC is head at speed
NC (from the pump curve), ft.
Flow decreases in proportion to the pump speed; head decreases in proportion to the
square of the pump speed. The affinity laws also state that power decreases with the
cube of the pump speed, which strengthens the energy savings arguments by VSD
manufacturers.
Figure 3 illustrates regulating flow by varying pump speed. The system curve is
fixed. For a pump speed of 3,450 rpm, the flow through the pump is 177 gal/min;
for 2,850 rpm, 98 gal/min; and for 2,370 rpm, 0 gal/min. In fact, 2,370 rpm is the
minimum pump speed for flow that is, flow occurs only for speeds above 2,370
rpm.
The minimum speed to obtain flow is easily computed. When theres no flow, the
system head is the static head. The pump curve shows the head delivered by a
pump with no flow and running at speed NC. The minimum pump speed to obtain
flow is computed using the affinity laws:
Nmin = NC (HS/HC0)

(4)

where Nmin is minimum pump speed for flow, rpm; HS is static head (from the
system curve); and HC0 is head at speed NC and zero flow (from the pump
curve), ft.

Fig
ure
7.
For our example, NC is 3,450 rpm, HS is 60 ft., and HC0 is 127 ft. The minimum Mo
pump speed is 2,370 rpm. So, the VSD must operate over the range of 2,370 rpm
re
to 3,450 rpm. The minimum speed is 69% of the maximum speed; the turndown
lin
ratio is 1.46:1. VSDs are easily capable of this.
ear
Figure 4 illustrates propagation of variance from static head to flow for pump
speeds of 3,450 rpm and 2,450 rpm. At 3,450 rpm, a static head of 60 1 ft. gives rel
a flow of 127 2 gal/min (just like for the fully open control valve). However, at
ati
2,450 rpm, a static head of 60 1 ft. gives a flow of 19 6 gal/min. As the pump
on
speed decreases, the variance in flow increases by a factor of three.
shi
p
Even with this increase in variance, the pump probably would still perform
bet
satisfactorily. At low flows, the pump curve in Figure 4 exhibits a significant
ter
sensitivity of head to flow. This isnt the case for all pumps. For some, the pump
ma
curve at low flows is essentially flat (slope is zero) that is, at low flows, pump
tch
head is independent of flow. For such pump curves, the propagation of variance
es
from static head to pump flow would be much larger.
the
Pumps with a flat pump curve at low flows likely will experience cycling between
PI
no flow and some positive flow. Avoid them if you want a VSD to perform
smoothly at low flows. Pumps with pump curves such as in Figure 6 probably
D
wouldnt exhibit the cycling.
co
ntr
ol
eq
uat
ion
.

Sensitivity of flow to pump speed

Its also important to understand the change in flow produced by a given change
in pump speed.
Figure 5 presents the sensitivity of flow to pump speed for the range of speeds
over which the pump could operate. (The somewhat erratic nature of the graph is
the result of digitizing the pump curve.) It shows that the sensitivity
increases as the pump speed decreases that is, at low pump speeds, a
change in speed has a larger effect on flow than the same change at high
speeds.
Such a change in sensitivity affects the performance of the control loop
(flow, level, temperature or other) whose output determines the pump
speed. As the sensitivity increases, more oscillations can be expected in
that loop. So, to use the same tuning at low flows and at high flows, either
tune the loop under a low flow condition or conservatively tune the loop at
high flows. The results are essentially the same the controller is tuned
with a lower gain. For the controller to function at low flows, performance
is sacrificed at high flows.
While techniques such as scheduled tuning could address this problem,
conservative tuning usually can accommodate a change in
sensitivity of 3:1. But its possible that the change in sensitivity
could far exceed 3:1. At low flows, the pump curve in our example
exhibits a significant sensitivity of head to flow. However, the pump
curve for some pumps is basically flat. For such pumps, the
increase in sensitivity would be much larger than 3:1 and could
even lead to instabilities in the loop that outputs to the pump
speed.
Torque
Pump curves traditionally are drawn with pump speed as a
parameter. This might imply that the flow through the pump is best
controlled by varying the pump speed, but it isnt necessarily the
case. Changing the torque may make more sense. VSDs can
control either of these variables.

Fig
ure
When the input signal to the drive electronics adjusts pump speed,
10.
the relationship between flow through the pump and pump speed
Ne
is important. This can be computed from the pump curve and
curve (Figure 6). The departure from linearity is noticeable and arl
consistent with the changes in the sensitivity of flow to speed
y
5).
lin
ear
rel
When the input signal to the drive electronics adjusts torque, the
relationship between flow through the pump and torque is
ati
important. This also can be computed from the pump curve and
on
curve (Figure 7). The graph exhibits only a slight departure from
shi
linearity, making it preferable for PID control as that control
p
equation is linear.
Figure 8 presents the sensitivity of flow to torque for the range over off
the pump could operate. The somewhat erratic nature of the graph ers
ad
result of digitizing the pump curve. The sensitivity changes only
over the operating range.
va
nta
ge
for
co
ntr
ol.

Fig
ure
9.
Hi
gh
se
nsi
tivi
ty
of
flo
w
to
sp
ee
d
at
lo
w
rp
m
co
uld
lea
d
to
cy
cli
ng.

Fig
ure
8.
Val
ue
re
ma
ins
rel
ati
vel
y
co
nst
ant
ov
er
the
ent
ire
op
era
tin
g
ran
ge.
system
is
(Figure

system

which
is the
slightly

These graphs were computed from the pump curve (Figure 5), which exhibits significant
sensitivity of head to flow at low pump flows. As already mentioned, for some pumps the
pump curve is flat at low flows that is, the head is almost constant at such flows.
Figure 9 shows flow as a function of speed for a pump with a flat pump curve. The
departure from linearity is much greater. At low flows this graph is almost vertical, so the
sensitivity of flow to speed at low flows will be very large, which could lead to cycling in
the flow.
However, even for a pump with a flat pump curve, the relationship between flow and
torque is nearly linear (Figure 10). Generally linear behavior leads to better performance
from the controls.
So, for a centrifugal pump with a VSD its usually preferable to use torque to control flow.
This also seems consistent with the future directions for VSD technology.
Cecil L. Smith is president of Cecil L. Smith, Inc., Baton Rouge, La. E-mail him
atcecilsmith@cox.net.