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Centrifugal Pump Performance Characteristic

The document describes an experiment to obtain the performance characteristics of a centrifugal pump at three different impeller speeds. Key parameters such as head, power requirement, flow rate, and efficiency are measured. The experimental apparatus includes a water flow bench, centrifugal pump, instrumentation for data acquisition, and sensors to measure speed, pressure, flow rate, and power. Performance curves are generated from the experimental data showing relationships between flow rate, head, efficiency, and brake horsepower. The best operating point is identified as 100 LPM based on the data. Suggestions for improving pump performance include reducing pipe length and friction, using distilled water, and proper maintenance.

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Orcra
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302 views

Centrifugal Pump Performance Characteristic

The document describes an experiment to obtain the performance characteristics of a centrifugal pump at three different impeller speeds. Key parameters such as head, power requirement, flow rate, and efficiency are measured. The experimental apparatus includes a water flow bench, centrifugal pump, instrumentation for data acquisition, and sensors to measure speed, pressure, flow rate, and power. Performance curves are generated from the experimental data showing relationships between flow rate, head, efficiency, and brake horsepower. The best operating point is identified as 100 LPM based on the data. Suggestions for improving pump performance include reducing pipe length and friction, using distilled water, and proper maintenance.

Uploaded by

Orcra
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Centrifugal Pump performance Characteristic

Objective: To obtain performance characteristic of the


centrifugal pump on three different impeler speed.
The performance characteristic of a pump
Pressure (head) jump
Power requirement
Flow Rate influence
Pump speed influence

Experimental Apparatus
Water Flow bench and centrifugal pump
Instrumentation for data acquisition consists of:
Instrumentation panel
1. Speed control to change pump speed(0-3000Rpm)
2. Pump Suction and delivery pressure
3. Power measurement
Flow Measurement using rotameter
The flow rate can be obtain by measuring the height of water
seen in the sight glass
Speed measurement
The motor speed is determine using sensor locater at the
motors end.

Introduction
The most common type of radial-flow turbo machine is the
centrifugal pump. This type of pump has two main componenents:
an impeller attached to a rotating shaft and a stationary casing (or
housing) enclosing the impeller. Schematic diagram of the
centrifugal pump is shown as below.

Figure 1 Basic Element of Centrifugal Pumps


The water flows through the eye into the blades of the impeller then
flowing outwards through the discharge channel. The rotating blades
increases the pressure creating suction through the eye pulling the
water. The rotating blade also increases the energy in the water
making them flow faster when they get discharged out of the pump.
The performance of a centrifugal pump cannot be determined based
on the theoretical basis only. The performance of the pump is
determine via testing and data collection that will result in a
performance curve. The performance curve is very usefull for an
engineer trying to incorporate the pump into the pipe flow system
as it display the pumps head rise, efficiency and power versus the
flow rate.
Consider the arrangement of the pump as follows:

Figure 2 Arrangement for Pump Performance Characteristic

The pump head rise can be determine by the energy equation:


p
z
( 2z 1 )+(V 22V 21 )/2 g
( 2 p 1)/ g+
h2=
Typically the difference in elevation and velocities is so small the
equation can be simplified:
h p =( p2 p1 )/ g

The power, Pf gained by the fluid is given by


Pf =gQ h p
The pumps efficiency is the ratio of power gained by the fluid and
the power supplied through the rotating impeller.
Pf
W shaft
Where the Wshaft is the product of torque and angular velocity
=

W shaft =T shaft
An example of a performance curve for a centrifugal pump can be
seen as follow

Procedure
1. Opened the suction valve and closed the discharged valve.
Select maximum pump speed by adjusting the speed control
to 100%.
2. Opened discharged valve fully and allowed water to circulate.
The volume flow rate is noted and suitable increment is
selected.
3. The discharge valve is closed
4. The discharge valve is opened slightly . Readings are taken
when the measurement are steady
5. Step 4 is repeated and the final measurement correspond to
the valve being fully open.
6. The experiment is then repeated on 1300Rpm and 1500 Rpm.

Result and Discussion


From the data acquired we can see the relationship between Volume
Flow Rate and Head, Efficiency, Brake Horse Power (Wshaft). The
Head as defined by the Bernoulli equation is the energy in pipe flow:
h p =( p2 p1 )/ g
In the experiment the head decreases with the increasing Flow rate
and pressure drop or pressure loss. The pressure drop is proportional
to the viscosity of the fluid and it would be zero if there were no
friction. We can say that the friction causes the head loss.
The Brake horse power or the external power supplied to the pump
increases when we increase the volume flow rate. The BHP will
continue to increase untill a point where it wont increase but
maintain a steady value that is according to the theory.
The Efficiency meanwhile is in the range 3% to 9% making the setup
inefficient. The efficiency graph rise untill at 100 LPM it decreases as
seen on the 1700 Graph We attribute this to the old and probally the
system havent been maintaned properly to age well.

Best Operating Range


In theory the best operating point would be the highest point in
efficiency but due to the small range of data collected we can only
see the drop in efficiency in the 1700 RPM curve which happens at
100 LPM point. Thus the most effective point to operate the pump is
at the 100 LPM.

Improvement
The head curve decreases due to the friction of water flow in the
pipe. This decreases the energy contained in the water
The efficiency curve is determined by the ratio of output
power(water power)
and the shaft power. Output power will increase untill a certain point
where it drops also due to the energy loss to friction. At that point
the efficiency curve drops.
To improve the system
Reduce the length of the pipe in the system to reduce friction
Use better quality pipe that dont have rust build up on the
inner lining of the pipe

Use distilled water to reduce the impurities so that the friction


rust build up can be reduced
Proper maintanence of the system
A paralel pump system may lessen the load for one pump.

Sample Calculation
Take
RPM= 1500
Power = 120kW
Volume Flow Rate = 20.5LPM
Inlet Pressure = 2.96%
Discharge Pressure = 2.72%
Water Density = 1000 kg/m3
Torque, Tshaft
9.549*Power(W)*10^3/RPM
9.549*120*10^3/1500 = 763.92Nm

Shaft Power, Wshaft


Torque*Angular Speed
Torque* (RPM*2* )/60
763.92* (1300*2* )/60 = 119.997kW

Volume Flow Rate, Q (LPM m^3/s)


LPM*0.001/60
20.5*0.001/60 = 0.000342 m3/s

Inlet Pressure, P1
Percentage%/100*1.6 Bar*100kPa
(2.96/100)*1.6 Bar*100kPa = 4.736 kPa
Calculation with discharge pressure is a factor of 6 Bar, otherwise it
uses the same method.

Water Head, hp
(Discharge Pressure-Inlet Pressure)/(Water Density*9.81)
(16.32-4.736)/(1000*9.81) = 1.181m

Output Power, Pt
Water Density*9.81*Flow Rate*Water head
1000*9.81*0.000342*1.181 = 4kW

Efficiency,
(Output Power/Shaft Power)*100
(4/119.997)*100 = 3.33%

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