Centrifugal Pump and Controls Lab

Group 4-1

Louis Macuch

John Paul Metz

Matthew DuCharme

Eli Belflower

Scott Brodmann

Nina Verstandig
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Results

Put data (figure/tables) here

Identify and describe trends in collected data and calculated values.

Discuss differences between experimental and analytical data, if any exist.

Identify and discuss potential sources of these differences.

Results and Discussion

In this lab we worked with a centrifugal pump powered by an electric motor to

demonstrate concepts such as cavitation, total dynamic head (TDH), flow rate and pump

efficiency. A pump is any machine that adds energy to a fluid, in this case from an electric motor

to an impeller. The purpose of this lab was to further reinforce what we learned in fluid

mechanics regarding fluid flows through pipes. The lab was divided up into two parts. One part

focused on the centrifugal pump while the other focused on the controls of the pump.

The purpose of the centrifugal pump section of the lab was to better acquaint our team

with the total dynamic head of a pump and its relationship to flow rate. In industrial settings,

total dynamic head is the total amount of pressure when water is flowing through a system. By

closing the discharge valve of the system, we were able to map the values of flow rate and TDH

on a computerized graph (Figure 1). From this figure we can observe that as flow rate increases,

TDH in the system decreases. This makes sense because flow rate would decrease if it was acted

on by a pressure force in the system and since TDH is a measure of pressure these values check
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out. The relationship between flow rate and efficiency is slightly different. The graph of flow

rate vs efficiency takes the shape of a negatively facing parabola. The most efficient flow rate for

a pump exists at the peak of this parabola where pump efficiency is the highest.

With regard to centrifugal pumps, describe cavitation and its causes. Discuss the

effects of cavitation, including whether they are desirable. Include no more than two

illustrations / photographs.

If our pump cannot generate enough inlet head to fill the pipe completely with water but

instead draws in a mixture of air and water, cavitation may occur. Cavitation is a phenomenon

that destroys impellers by sending a combination of liquid and error though the pump and into

the ends of the veins. This combination exerts extreme forces on the impeller and leads to

inefficiencies, damage, and even total failure of the element.

In order to avoid cavitation we calculate the Actual Net Positive Suction Head at the

eye of the impeller and compare it to the Minimum Net Positive Suction Head. If aNPSH <

mNPSH then the pump will not produce enough pressure to fill the whole system with liquid and

thus lead to cavitation. Therefore if aNPSH > mNPSH the system will work properly without

damage being done to the pump. The major components of the NPSH are liquid temperature, the
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type of liquid, the piping design, the elevation difference between the pump and liquid source. In

our case the liquid, water at room temperature, has little friction with the simple piping design

and is only located one foot below the pump leading to aNPSH > mNPSH.

Compare the upset response of the trial and error gains to the upset response of the

Ziegler-Nichols gains for the MATLAB system.

The trial and error gains produced a much more accurate graph although maybe unrealistic.

These very high values could crash the factory. With kp = 1300, ki = 1000, kd = 6000 the rise time was

.0015 sec, steady state error was 0.53% and there was no overshoot. The Ziegler- Nichols gains

produced a graph that satisfied the requirements and takes a shape more characteristic of similar

systems. The values we used were kp= 300, ki= 6.9686, and kd= 0.42554. The rise time was . The

steady state error was . And the initial over shoot was.

Discuss the upset response of the PumpLab system.

The upset response was efficient after dialing in the P, I, and D values calculated using the

Ziegler-Nichols Method. Looking at figure 5 it is clear that the pump maintained our desired flow rate

of 30 GPM for most of the valve turns. Around 130 seconds the pump can no longer keep up with the

flow rate due to the valve being too far shut, but as long as the pump is able to physically maintain the

flow rate the response to the upset adjusted quickly. This upset response shows that the

Ziegler-Nichols method is a useful way of determining the P, I, and D values by hand.

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Conclusion

This lab report demonstrates the effect of changing the diameter of flow pipes on flow

rate, total dynamic head and pump performance. In this lab we systematically closed valves on

either side of a centrifugal pump and observed the resulting change in flow rate and pressure.

From our results, we can conclude that as flow rate increases, feet of head decreases due to the

drop in pressure on the discharge side of the pump (Figure 1). In regards to flow rate and

efficiency, from our data we can conclude that the graph of flow rate vs efficiency is reverse

parabolic in nature with the optimal setting between efficiency and flow rate occurring at the

peak of this parabola. To properly set a pump and motor for maximum efficiency, determine the

ratio of power delivered to the fluid and power consumed by your motor. This ratio will give you

your pump efficiency values. Graph these values and the values of flow rate vs total head on the

same graph and determine the location of maximum efficiency and its corresponding flow rate

value.

The controls portion of the lab had to do with controlling the pump from a computer

interface. The electric motor driving the pump is controlled by a variable frequency drive which

is designed to accept feedback from a pressure transducer mounted in the flow and adjust the

motor speed accordingly. Using a proportional integral derivative controller, or PID, our team

was able to perform what is known as Ziegler-Nichols loop tuning to determine the precise

values of the PID controller algorithm which optimized the performance of the motor and gave

us a constant flow with minimal variations. This method was able to minimize oscillation in our

system response graphs (Figure 2) extremely quickly for every turn of the discharge valve until
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total flow restriction. Our findings show that the Ziegler-Nichols method is a superb method for

tuning system control loops.

Appendix

Calcualtion

MATLAB System PID Gains

Ziegler- Nichols

P 132

I 0.5882

D 0.03676

Table 5: PumpLab PID Gains

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Figure 2.

Figure 3

MATLAB System PID Gains

Trial & Error Ziegler- Nichols

P 1300 300

I 1000 6.9686

D 6000 0.43554

Table 4: MATLAB homework

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Technical Background

The pump is an essential tool in industry and is studied in depth in fluid mechanics. We

operated and analyzed some important variables involved in the flow of fluids through piping

using a pump to better understand the centrifugal pump theory and the idea of Total Dynamic

Head.

A pump adds energy to a fluid leading directly to the flow of the fluid. This fluid flow

normally acts against the forces of gravity and travels through pipes at a 90 degree angle with the

incoming pipe. There are 3 main components of the pump; the volute, the impeller, and the

motor. The volute is the housing where the motor, impeller, and fluid interact and acts as the

constraining volume on the fluid. The impeller is a circular disk lined with veins that when

spun by the motor, force the fluid from the low pressure area called the eye at the center of the

impeller to the edges with an increased velocity and pressure. While the fluid is being shot to

the edges of the impeller and out of the volute through the pipes, a negative pressure is being

created in the eye drawing or sucking more fluid in from the incoming pipes. The veins of the

impeller can be spaced differently, angles, curved ect to allow for greater change in pressure

depending on the application.

Bernoulli Head or pressure is the summation of pressure head, velocity head and static

head. Net Head H, is a term used to describe the difference in Bernoulli head between the inlet

and outlet of the pump. Net Head is more commonly referred to as Total Dynamic Head.

Bernoulli Head =
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A final consideration to conclude the needed background information for this lab is the

difference in height between the reservoir and the pump. There exist about 12-14 in of height

difference from the eye of the impeller to the surface of the water in the reservoir. If our pump

cannot generate enough inlet head to fill the pipes and or suck water through the pump it could

become damaged through cavitation. Cavitation destroys impellers by sending a combination of

liquid and error though the pump and into the ends of the veins. This combination exerts extreme

forces on the impeller and leads to inefficiencies, damage, and even total failure of the element.

In order to avoid cavitation we calculate the Actual Net Positive Suction Head at the

eye of the impeller and compare it to the Minimum Net Positive Suction Head. If aNPSH <

mNPSH then the pump will not produce enough pressure to fill the whole system with liquid and

thus lead to cavitation. Therefore if aNPSH > mNPSH the system will work properly without

damage being done to the pump. The major components of the NPSH are liquid temperature, the

type of liquid, the piping design, the elevation difference between the pump and liquid source. In

our case the liquid, water at room temperature, has little friction with the simple piping design

and is only located one foot below the pump leading to aNPSH > mNPSH.

All of our measurements and calculations were made based of the collection of data from

3 sensors located at the inlet and outlet to pressure and a flow rotometer in between the outlet

and water reservoir to measure flow. Some error exists in these digital measuring devices per the

uncertainty and propagation of errors theories shown in the figures and calculations at the end of

the report.

Procedure
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Table 1 1800 RPM Experimental Data

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Table 2 1800 RPM Calculated TDH Data

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Table 3 1800 RPM Calculated Efficiency Data

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Figure 1 Performance Curves Gold Impeller

Table 5 PumpLab Gains

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Figure 4 PumpLab System Response to Process Upset Ziegler Nichols Gains 1

Figure 5 PumpLab System Response to Process Upset Zielger-Nichols Gains 2