Theory

Centrifugal pump
A centrifugal pump converts the input power to kinetic energy in the
liquid by the acceleration of a revolving device called an impeller.
The impeller consists of many blades that are narrow sheets of
metal that frame the shaft. This impeller rotates at high speed when
the fluid enters the pump through the eye of the impeller. The
acceleration of the fluid is radiated outward from the pump chasing.
As the fluid enters the eye of rotating impeller the pressure at the
inlet is reduced. Fluid is continuously draws into the pump through
the impellers eye where a vacuum is created. The process is shown
in figure 1.

Figure1

Pump performance
By the use of graphs or pump performance, the operating
characteristics of a centrifugal pump can be illustrated. There are
three commonly used graphs to represent the pump performance:

Change in total head produced by the pump (Ht)

Power input to the pump (Pe)
Pump efficiency (Egr)

Total Head
Work done by the pump results in a change in the total head
produced by the pump, which can be calculated as :

Ht = change in static head + change in velocity head +

change in elevation

Hs= change in static head , where it is equal

Hs=

P out P
g
HV= Change in velocity head

Hv=

, where it is equal

V out V
2g

He= change in elevation :vertical distance between inlet and

outlet .

He= 0.048 m for FM50 (for the experimental setup in lab)

Power input
The mechanical power input to the pump is :
P=2 N
P=w
where N = rotational speed of pump in revolutions / second
= shaft torque in Nm

Pump efficiency
The efficiency of the pump could be calculated as the following
E gr=

Ph
100
Pe

Ph = hydraulic power imparted to fluid

P h = Ht Q g
Q = volumetric flow rate (m3/s)
All of these parameters are measured at constant pump speed, and
plotted against the volumetric flow rate, Q, through the pump. An
example of this graphical representation is shown in figure 2.

Figure 2: model of operating characteristics

Figure 2: model of operating characteristics
It can be observed from figure 2 that the head of the pump
decreases gradually as the flow increases and vice versa. While the
pump efficiency increases with the flow until a maximum is reached
where it will then gradually decrease again. When the flow is zero,
the head is then observed at that time and that is called the shutof
head and occurs when the discharged valve is closed. The
conditions required for operations to process is when the duty
point of head and flow overlaps with a point of maximum efficiency.

Selection of pump using system curve and pump

performance curve:
A system curve is used to graphically represent the impact the flow
has on piping systems. A system curve is a plot of the total head vs.
the flow for a given system. In order to select a pump it is really
important to utilize the pump's system curve in addition to its
performance curve. The operating point for the intersection point of
the performance represents the system and system curves of the

pump as shown in figure below. This point gives the total head and
flow that satisfy both the system equation parameters and the
pump equation.

Figure 3. Pump curve and system curve intersection for estimation

of the operating flow rate and head.

Experimental setup & Procedure

Setup and equipment used:
Electric Motor (19)

Spare Impeller (8)

Drain Valve (10)

Acrylic Reservoir (11)

Support Plinth (2)

Flow Control Valve (16)

Centrifugal Water Pump (6)

Inlet pipe valve (9)

Procedure:
1. By adjusting the power controller to 50%, the maximum pump
speed N is selected.
2. When the inlet valve (V1) was fully opened and the discharge
valve (V2) was closed, the pump starts where the pump motor

starts under a minimum load. The discharge valve in then

opened to allow water circulation until all the air bubbles have
dispersed.
3. In order to correspond to the condition of no flow, valve (V2)
was closed and a sample was taken by clicking Go and the
measured readings were observed till it was sufficiently
steady.
4. The first increment in the volume flow at the bottom of the
screen was observed when valve (V2) was opened slightly and
started the experiment by clicking Go whenever the readings
were steady.
5. The opening of valve (V2) was gradually increased for the
following steps repeated and values of the flow rate Q were
increased and the last sample point corresponded to valve (V2)
being fully opened.
6. Same steps were repeated for pumps speeds 50% and 100%.
7. The recorded set of results of head-flow data was examined in
the various software screens and download into a spreadsheet
file.