Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
Key terminology
Positive-displacement pump. The term pump typically
refers to the equipment from flange to flange, i.e., between
the suction and discharge flanges, while the term pump system includes the motor, coupling, baseplate, tanks, connect* The authors of the book from which this article is excerpted are:
Lev Nelik, Pumping Machinery Co., and Luis F. Rizo, SABIC Innovative
Plastics. Contributing to the Procedure were: Gordon Kirk, Univ. of
Virginia; Gary Lent, Wilden Pumps; Alan Wild, Moyno Industrial
Products; Les Warren, Cat Pumps; John Joseph, Amoco; Jim Brennan,
IMO Pump; John Purcell, Roper Pump; and Jim Netzel, John Crane.
The members of the ETPC who coordinated the Procedure were: Prashant
Agrawal, Kellogg Brown and Root; S. Dennis Fegan, Hermetic Pumps,
Inc.; and Robert J. Hart, du Pont (retired).
32
www.aiche.org/cep
December 2007
CEP
tems with low inlet velocities, and in these cases, the velocity head portion (dynamic head) has generally been ignored.
NPIPR (required NPIP) is the difference between the
inlet pressure and the vapor pressure (corrected to the centerline of the pump inlet port) necessary for the pump to
operate without a reduction in flow. The Hydraulic Institute
defines the minimum required pressure (or equivalent
NPIPR) as the pressure where 5% of the flow reduction
occurs due to cavitation.
For PD pumps, an increase in the available NPIP
(NPIPA) has no effect on volumetric efficiency, as long as
NPIPA is greater than NPIPR. Low values of NPIPA may
result not only in flow reduction, but also in significant
pressure spikes, vibrations, noise and possible damage to
the pump.
Power. The gross power delivered by the driver to the
pump is the brake horsepower (BHP), while the net power
delivered to the fluid by the pump is the hydraulic (or fluid)
horsepower (FHP). The difference between the brake and
hydraulic power is due to internal mechanical and volumetric losses in the pump.
Efficiency. Historically, overall pump efficiency () has
not been as widely used in connection with PD pumps as
for centrifugal pumps. Instead, a volumetric efficiency
(vol) is more commonly used to compare different designs
and applications.
PD pumps are, inherently, approximately constant-flow
machines with regard to differential pressure. In theory, a
constant volume of fluid is displaced (hence the name) with
every rotation, stroke or cycle. However, because of the
internal clearances, a certain amount of fluid slips back
from the discharge side to suction. This slip depends on the
lateral and radial clearances and on the overall differential
pressure that drives the slip. The higher the viscosity of the
fluid, the more it resists the slip.
For More Information
This article is based on the new book,
Positive Displacement Pumps: A Guide
to Performance Evaluation, 1st edition,
published by AIChE and prepared by the
AIChE Equipment Testing Procedures
Committee (ETPC). The book is
designed to provide pump users with
simple, easy to read and understand
procedures that take into account the
imperfect realities of actual fields conditions. In addition to
rotary pumps, the book also covers progressive cavity, airoperated diaphragm and reciprocating positive-displacement
pumps, as well as auxiliaries such as seals, bearings, rotors
and piping, plus installation. The book (ISBN 978-0-47018097-6) is available from Wiley (www.wiley.com); the AIChE
member price is $32.00 ($39.95 nonmembers).
(1)
vol =
Q0 Qslip
(2)
Q0
(3)
Greek Letters
= overall efficiency
vol
= volumetric efficiency
motor = motor efficiency
= dynamic viscosity, cP
CEP
December 2007
www.aiche.org/cep
33
Cover Story
Figure 1. External gear pump (top) and internal gear pump (bottom).
34
www.aiche.org/cep
December 2007
CEP
Types of PD pumps
The two major classes of PD pumps are rotary and reciprocating. The majority of industrial applications are handled
by the following types of pumps:
rotary (gear, lobe, screw and vane)
progressive cavity
diaphragm
piston/plunger.
This article covers the various rotary pumps. Testing procedures for the other types of PD pumps can be found in
Positive Displacement Pumps: A Guide to Performance
Evaluation (box, p. 33).
Gear pumps (Figure 1) may be of the external or internal
design. Internal designs may have a crescent between gears.
Fluid entering the pump fills the cavities between the gear
teeth and the casing. The fluid is then moved circumferentially to the outlet port, and from there it is discharged.
Radial hydraulic forces are unbalanced, and bearings or
bushings are required to support the rotors. Since the gears
touch, the materials of construction should be dissimilar,
especially for low-viscosity or poorly lubricated applications. For example, a stainless-steel drive gear, if running
against a stainless idler gear, will tend to gall and so should
not be used. Typically, a stainless-steel drive gear is run
against a nonmetallic (e.g., Teflon) idler gear.
Lobe pumps (Figure 2) are similar to gear pumps, except
that the lobes are not in contact, and a timing mechanism is
used to transfer the rotation of the drive rotor to the idler.
The number of lobes varies between one and five.
Screw pumps (Figure 3) usually have a two-screw timed
design or a three-screw untimed design. Entering fluid fills
the cavities between the screws and the casing or liner. The
fluid is moved axially to the outlet port, then discharged.
Radial forces are unbalanced in the two-screw pump, but
are balanced in the three-screw design.
The Hydraulic Institute classifies progressive cavity
pumps as a single-screw design variation. However, there is
much more similarity between the two- and three-screw
designs than between either of those and a progressive cavity design. For this reason, progressive cavity pumps are
treated separately in the procedure, and due to space limitations are not covered in this article.
Vane pumps (Figure 4) employ stationary or rotating
vanes in the form of blades, buckets, rollers or slippers,
which cooperate with a cam action to allow liquid to fill the
cavity between the vane and the casing liner. The fluid is
moved circumferentially to the outlet port and discharged.
Radial hydraulic forces may be balanced or unbalanced.
Some designs provide variable flow by varying the cam
action eccentricity. (Figure 4 illustrates a vane-in-rotor, constant-displacement, unbalanced vane pump.)
December 2007
www.aiche.org/cep
35
Cover Story
www.aiche.org/cep
December 2007
CEP
I V motor
1, 000
( 4a )
I V 1.732 motor PF
1, 000
( 4b )
Discharge
Vessel
Flow Indicator
Relief
Valve
Flowmeter
Motor
Tachometer
Gate
Valve
Suction
Tank
Discharge
Pressure
Pump
Gage
Suction
Pressure
Gage
(6)
Flowrate, gal/min
p Q0
+ viscous losses
1, 714
Tank Overflow
100
80
60
40
20
0
p, psi
120
Input Power (BHP), hp
FHP =
Atmospheric
Vent
100
80
60
40
20
0
p, psi
December 2007
www.aiche.org/cep
37
Cover Story
Atmospheric
Vent
Tank Overflow
Discharge
Vessel
Flow Indicator
Relief
Valve
Flowmeter
Motor
Suction
Tank
Throttling
Valve
Pump
Throttling
Valve
(used during
testing for ps,min)
Flowrate, gal/min
25
20
15
10
5
0
MRSP
Decreasing Suction Pressure, psi
www.aiche.org/cep
December 2007
CEP
Other tests
Many other tests may be performed on pumps other than
the two just described (performance and suction). The three
most common are sound pressure-level, vibration and temperature measurements.
Sound pressure level. Sound pressure-level measurements may be taken at the pumps normal operating condition, or may be made in conjunction with one of the tests
described earlier to create a record of the sound pressure
levels across a wide range of conditions. The microphones
for the test should be located approximately 5 ft above the
floor or walkway nearest the pump. (All of the readings are
taken 5 ft above the floor.)
One reading should be taken at each end of the pump and
motor set, approximately 3 ft from the housing of the pump
or motor. Other readings should be taken at the pumps inlet
and discharge ports and on both sides of the motor. If the
pump and motor are mounted vertically, take a reading at
four positions, 90 deg. apart around the pump, 3 ft away
from the nearest part of the pump or motor housing.
Note that the environment around the pump, such as
acoustically reflective or absorbent surfaces, can have a
large influence on the measured sound pressure value. Other
Literature Cited
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Further Reading
Heald, C. C., ed., Cameron Hydraulic Data Book, 19th ed.,
Flowserve Corp., Irving, TX, www.flowserve.com.
Nelik, L., Extending the Life of Positive Displacement Pumps,
Part 1: Gear Pumps, Pumps and Systems, 7 (4), pp. 3031
(Apr. 1999).
Nelik, L., 10 Steps to Proper Pump to Piping Alignment,
Pumps and Systems, 13 (9), pp. 1617, (Sept. 2005), 13 (10),
pp. 2021 (Oct. 2005), and 13 (11), p. 19 (Nov. 2005).
Stepanoff, A. J., Centrifugal and Axial Flow Pumps: Theory,
Design and Application, 2nd ed., Krieger Publishing Co.,
Melbourne, FL (1992).
Shaft
Speed,
rpm
Suction Pressure,
psia
psig
Discharge
Pressure,
psig
P,
gpm
Flowrate,
gpm
Liquid
Temp.,F
Viscosity,
cP
Input
Power,
hp
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
Speed,
rpm
Suction
Pressure,
psia
Discharge
Pressure,
psig
Flow,
gpm
Current,
amp
Temp.,F
CEP
Unusual
Sounds?
December 2007
Vibration,
in./s
Recorded
By
(initials)
www.aiche.org/cep
39