TITLE: CENTRIFUGAL PUMP PERFOMANCE CHARACTERISTICS

OBJECTIVES

To obtain performance characteristic for a variable speed centrifugal pump operating at 3

different impeller speeds.
Performance characteristic of pump:
*pressure (head) jump
*power requirement
*flow rate influence
*pump speed influence

INTRODUCTION

Pump

A pump is a device used to move gases, liquids or slurries. A pump moves liquids or gases from
lower pressure to higher pressure, and overcomes this difference in pressure by adding energy to
the system (such as a water system). A gas pump is generally called a compressor, except in very
low pressure-rise applications, such as in heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning, where the
operative equipment consists of fans or blowers.

Centrifugal pump

A centrifugal pump is a rotodynamic pump that uses a rotating impeller to increase the velocity
of a fluid. Centrifugal pumps are commonly used to move liquids through a piping system. The
fluid enters the pump impeller along or near to the rotating axis and is accelerated by the
impeller, flowing radially outward into a diffuser or volute chamber, from where it exits into the
downstream piping system. Centrifugal pumps are used for large discharge through smaller
heads.
 Figure 1.Basic element of a centrifugal pump

Centrifugal pump works

A centrifugal pump works by the conversion of the rotational kinetic energy, typically
from an electric motor or turbine, to an increased static fluid pressure. This action is described by
Bernoulli's principle. The rotation of the pump impeller imparts kinetic energy to the fluid as it is
drawn in from the impeller eye (centre) and is forced outward through the impeller vanes to the
periphery. As the fluid exits the impeller, the fluid kinetic energy (velocity) is then converted to
(static) pressure due to the change in area the fluid experiences in the volute section. Typically
the volute shape of the pump casing (increasing in volume), or the diffuser vanes (which serve to
slow the fluid, converting to kinetic energy in to flow work) are responsible for the energy
conversion. The energy conversion results in an increased pressure on the downstream side of
the pump, causing flow.

Cavitations is the problems in the pump.It is defined as the phenomenon of formation of

vapour bubbles of a flowing liquid in a region where the pressure of the liquid falls below its
vapour pressure. Cavitation is usually divided into two classes of behavior: inertial (or transient)
cavitation and non-inertial cavitation. Inertial cavitation is the process where a void or bubble in
a liquid rapidly collapses, producing a shock wave. Such cavitation often occurs in pumps,
propellers, impellers, and in the vascular tissues of plants. Non-inertial cavitation is the process
in which a bubble in a fluid is forced to oscillate in size or shape due to some form of energy
input, such as an acoustic field. Such cavitation is often employed in ultrasonic cleaning baths
and can also be observed in pumps, propellers etc.

Due to the general complexity of flow through a centrifugal pump ,the actual
performance of the pump cannot be predicted on a completely theoretical basis .Actual pump
performance is determine experimentally through test on the pump and the result are presented as
pump performance curve .Performance characteristics for a given pump geometry and operating
speed are usually given in the form of plots of head rise ,efficiency and power versus flow rate (
commonly referred as capacity).This information is most helpful to the engineer responsible for
incorporating pump into a given pipe flow system.

THEORY-Performance characteristics

Consider the experimental arrangement for determining the head rise (or pressure rise) gained by
fluid flowing through a pump, as show schematically below.

Figure 2. Experimental Arrangement for Pump Performance Characteristics.

The pump head rise can be expressed using the energy equation as

2 1 22 12
2 = + (2 1 ) +
2
Typically the differences in elevation and velocities (between inlet and outlet) are also small so
that

2 1
=

The power P, gained by the fluid is given by the equation

The pump overall efficiency , is the ratio of power actually gained by the fluid to the shaft
power supplied W shaft as given by the equation

Typical performance characteristic for a centrifugal pump of given size operating at a constant
speed is shown below.

Figure 3. Typical Performance Characteristics of a centrifugal pump.

APPARATUS

The experimental set-up consists of

I. Water-flow bench and centrifugal pump

II. Instrumentation for data acquisition

Instrument Panel- Refer to the schematic diagram below

I. Speed Control to change pump speed. Pump speed can be varied over range

Of 0-3000 rpm.

II. Pump suction and delivery pressures

III. Torque measurement.

Flow Measurement- Using V notch weir

I. Flow rate in the system can be measured relating the height of the water seen in the sight
glass to graph and reading of the flow rate in liters per minute.
 Preliminaries

1) We were supervised adequately.

2) The pump discharge and suction valves were turned to fully open and the motor speed
turned to zero.

3) The electrical supply and motor drive switch are switched on. The motor control knob
is adjusted slowly to around half way position. The system is ensured to have no
leaking. All the gauges etc. are checked to reduce the motor speed back to zero and it is
ready for testing.

Actual Experiment

i) Suction valve is opened and the discharge valve is closed. The maximum speed N1 is
selected by adjusting speed control to 50%.
ii) Discharge valve is fully opened and water is allowed to circulate. The volume of flow
indicator is noted and decides suitable increments in flow to give adequate sample points
about 15 points between zero and maximum flow).
iii) The discharge valve is closed (corresponding to no flow). When the measured readings
are steady read all the measurements.
iv) The discharge valve is opened slightly, to give the first increment in volume flow. When
readings are steady, take the measurements.
v) Step 4 is repeated. The final measurements corresponding to the valve being fully
open.
vi) The entire experiment is repeated at pump speed corresponding to speed control position
of 75% and 100%.
 RESULT AND DATA ANALYSIS

PUMP TEST SHEET

TEST 1

PUMP SPEED, N : 1439 rpm

:150.7 rad/s

No. INPUT OUTPUT

Water Output
head, power,
Discharge Efficiency,
Water Shaft power Volume flow rate Inlet pressure, P1 h Watt
Torque, pressure, P2
height, (m)
T (Nm) (100%)
mm (100%)
Hp
W l/min m3/s mH2O N/m2 psi N/m2
(100%)
1 0 0.7 105.5 14.15 0 0 0.1 0.958 9.8 67571 6.91 0 0

2 52 1.0 150.71 20.21 50.50 0.000875 0 0 9.0 62055 6.34 54.24 36

3 69 1.1 167.78 22.23 70 0.00117 0 0 8.0 55160 5.64 64.54 39

4 69 1.2 180.80 24.25 105 0.00175 -0.05 -0.490 7.0 48265 4.93 84.46 47

5 72 1.3 195.90 26.27 119 0.00195 -0.3 -2.930 6.0 41370 4.23 80.68 41

6 76 1.4 210.97 28.29 135 0.00225 -0.4 -3.910 5.0 34475 3.53 77.68 37

7 78 1.4 210.97 28.29 145 0.00242 -0.5 -4.890 4.0 27580 2.82 66.76 32

8 80 1.5 226.04 30.31 155 0.00258 -0.7 -6.850 3.0 20685 2.12 53.38 24

9 84 1.5 226.04 30.31 170 0.00283 -0.9 -8.860 2.0 13790 1.41 39.05 17

(h,,Hp,) vs Q
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Series1 Series2 Series3

 PUMP TEST SHEET

TEST 2

PUMP SPEED, N : 2178 rpm

:228.08 rad/s

No. INPUT OUTPUT

Water Output
head, power,
Volume flow Inlet Discharge
Shaft power h Watt Efficiency,
Water rate pressure, P1 pressure, P2
Torque, (m)
height,
T (Nm) (100%) (100%)
mm
Hp
W (100%) l/min m3/s mH2O N/m2 psi N/m2

1 0 1.1 250.89 33.64 0 0 0.1 0.968 20 137900 14.10 0 0

2 70 2.1 478.97 64.23 110 0.00183 0 0 18 124100 12.69 227.1 47

3 77 2.4 547.39 73.41 145 0.00242 -0.3 -2.93 16 110320 11.28 266.48 49

4 82 2.5 570.2 76.47 165 0.00275 -0.7 -6.85 14 96530 9.87 265.48 47

5 87 2.7 615.8 82.58 180 0.0030 -0.9 -8.8 12 82740 8.46 248.25 40

6 89 2.8 638.6 85.64 200 0.00333 -1.2 - 10 68950 7.05 229.6 37

11.74
7 92 2.9 661.4 88.7 220 0.00367 -1.5 - 8 55160 5.64 202.49 31
14.67
8 94 3.0 684.24 91.76 225 0.00375 -1.8 - 6 41370 4.23 155.2 23
17.61
9 95 3.0 684.24 91.76 235 0.00392 -1.9 - 4 27580 2.82 108.19 16
18.58

(H,HP,N) VS Q
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Series1 Series2 Series3

 PUMP TEST SHEET

TEST 3

PUMP SPEED, N : 2945 rpm

: 308.4 rad/s

No. INPUT OUTPUT

Water Output
head, power,
Volume flow Inlet pressure, Discharge Efficiency,
Water Shaft power h Watt
Torque, rate P1 pressure, P2
height, (m)
T (Nm) (100%)
mm (100%)
Hp
W l/min m3/s mH2O N/m2 psi N/m2
(100%)
1 0 1.8 555.120 74.44 0 0 0.1 0.978 37 255120 26.08 0 0

2 78 3.5 1079.40 144.75 145 0.00242 -0.2 -1.96 34 234430 23.97 567.33 53

3 85 3.9 1202.76 161.29 180 0.0030 -0.9 -8.8 31 213750 21.85 641.26 53

4 92 4.2 1295.28 173.7 220 0.00367 -1.3 -12.7 28 193060 19.74 708.58 55

5 95 4.4 1357.00 181.98 235 0.00458 -1.7 -16.6 25 172380 17.63 789.55 58

6 97 4.5 1387.8 186.11 245 0.00408 -2.0 -19.56 22 151690 15.5 618.98 45

7 99 4.7 1449.5 194.38 260 0.00433 -2.2 -21.52 19 131010 13.4 567.4 39

8 101 4.8 1480.32 198.51 275 0.00458 -2.8 -27.39 16 110320 11.28 505.39 34

9 104 4.9 1511.16 202.65 290 0.00483 -3.0 -29.34 13 89640 9.17 433.1 29

10 106 5.0 1542.00 206.79 310 0.00517 -3.2 -31.3 10 68950 7.05 356.63 23

(H,HP,N) VS Q
250

200

150

100

50

0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Series1 Series2 Series3

Sample Calculation

Pump speed: 1439-rpm

Speed control = 50 %.

Density, = 997kg/m3
Gravity, g = 9.81-m/s2

When h = 52-mm,
From T1-graph;

Q = 52.5 l/min

1 1 m3 1 min
= 52.5 min
1000
1
60 s
.

= 0.000875 m3/s

P1 = gh
0
= 997 9.81 (1000)

= 0.0 Pa

P2 = 9.8 psi

= 9.8 psi 6.895

= 67.571 kPa

P2 - P1
hf =
rg
620550
=

= 6.34 m
Pf = pgQ h f

= 997 9.81 0.000875 6.34

= 54.26 W

2pN
BHP = T
60
23.14214391.0
= 60

= 150.71 W
= 0.2021HP

Pf
h =
W shaft
54.26
=
150.71

= 0.36 @ 36%
REFERENCES

1. Bruce R. Munson, D. F. (2006.). Fundementals of Fluid Mechanics, 5th Edition . Asia:

John Wiley & Sons.

2. Frank M. White. (2003). Fluid Mechanics, 5th Edition. New York, USA: Mc Graw Hill.

3. John F. Douglas, J. M. (2001). Fluid Mechanics, 4th Edition. Scotland: Pearson Prentice
Hall.

4. Fluid Dinamics Handbook By; R. D. Blevins, Van Nostrand Reinhold Co., New
York,1984.
APPENDICES