COPYINGANDDISTRIBUTINGAREPROHIBITEDWITHOUTPERMISSIONOFTHEPUBLISHER

Eccentricreducersandstraightrunsofpipeatpumpsuction
09.01.2010|Bloch,H.P.,HydrocarbonProcessingStaff,

Keywords:[pumps][piping][maintenance]
Questionsrelatingtoproperreducerapplicationincentrifugalpumpsuctionlinesdatebackmanydecades.Untilhisdeath(atage84,in1995),worldrenownedpumpexpertIgor
Karassikfrequentlycorrespondedwiththewriterandotherpumpusersonpumprelatedsubjects.Werarelypassupanopportunitytohighlightsomeofhisexperiencebased
comments.
Once,apumpuserreferredtoFig.1andnotedthatthiswasquitetypicalofillustrationsfoundinmanytextbooks.Inessence,Fig.1indicatesthat,withasuctionlineenteringthe
pumpinthehorizontalplane,theeccentricreducerisplacedwiththeflatatthetop.Availabletextsoftengivenoindicationastowhetherthepumpagecamefromaboveorbelowthe
pump.

Fig.1.Illustrationofeccentricreducermountingfrom
HydraulicInstituteStandards.

IgorKarassikagreedthat,ifthesupplysourcewasfromabovethepump,theeccentricreducershouldbeinstalledwiththeflat(horizontal)surfaceatthebottom.Entrainedvapor
bubblescouldthenmigratebackintothesourceinsteadofstayingnearthepumpsuction.Ifthepumpsuctionpipingenteredafteralonghorizontalrunorfrombelowthepump,
theflatoftheeccentricreducershouldbeatthetop.1
Still,inmanyoldertextsithasbeenassumedthatthepumpagesourceoriginatedatalevelbelowthepumpsuctionnozzle.KarassikremindedusthatolderHydraulicInstitute
Standardscommentedonthesuctionpipeslope:
...Anyhighpointinthesuctionpipewillbecomefilledwithairandthuspreventproperoperationofthepump.Astraighttaperreducershouldnotbeusedinahorizontalsuction
lineasanairpocketisformedinthetopofthereducerandthepipe.Aneccentricreducershouldbeusedinstead.
Thisinstructionappliesregardlessofwherethepumpageoriginates.Dependingontheparticularsofaninstallation,trappedvaporscanreducetheeffectivesuctionlinecross
sectionalarea.Shouldthatbethecase,flowvelocitieswouldtendtobehigherthananticipated.Higherfrictionlosseswouldoccurandpumpperformancewouldbeadversely
affected.
Inthecaseofaliquidsourceabovethepumpsuction,andparticularlywherethesuctionlineconsistsofaneccentricreducerfollowedbyanelbowturnedverticallyupwardanda
verticalpipelengthallassembledinthatsequencefromthepumpsuctionflangeupstreamitwillbemandatoryfortheeccentricreducerflatsidetobeatthebottom.Thatsaid,
Fig.2shouldclarifywhatreliabilityfocusedusersneedtoimplement.

Fig.2.Suggestedmodificationsforeccentricreducer
mountings.

Also,whenevervaporsmustbeventedagainsttheflowdirection,thelinesizeupstreamofanylowpointmustbegovernedbyanimportantcriterion.Thelinemustbeadiameter
thatwilllimitthepumpagevelocitytovaluesbelowthosewherebubbleswillrisethroughtheliquid.
Ingeneral,itcanbestatedthatwhereveralowpointexistsinasuctionline,thehorizontalpipingrunatthatpointshouldbekeptasshortaspossible.Inaproperinstallation,the
reducerflangewillthusbelocatedatthepumpsuctionnozzleandthereisusuallynostraightpipingbetweenreduceroutletandpumpnozzle.Straightpipelengthsare,however,
connectedtotheeccentricreducerinletflange.Onmostpumps,oneusuallygetsawaywithfivediametersofstraightlengthnexttothereducer.Inthecaseofcertainunspecified
velocitiesandotherinteractingvariables(e.g.,viscosity,NPSHmargin,pumpstyle,etc.),itmightbewisetoinstallasmanyas10diametersofstraightlengthnexttothereducer
inletflange.Thetwodifferentrulesofthumbexplainseeminginconsistenciesintheliterature,whereboththe5and10Drulescanbefound.HP
LITERATURECITED
1 Karassik,IgorJ.,CentrifugalPumpClinic,2ndEd.,MarcelDekker,Inc.,1989.

Theauthor

HeinzP.BlochisHPsEquipment/ReliabilityEditor.Theauthorof17textbooksandover470papersorarticles,headvisesprocessplantsworldwideonreliabilityimprovement
andmaintenancecostreductionopportunities.HiscoauthoredBloch/Budristext,PumpUsersHandbook,iscomprehensiveandverywidelyused.Findthe2ndeditionunder
[email protected].

DharmendraPatel
06.18.2015

Asperliteraturecited,positionofflatlineofeccentricreducerdependsonnatureoffluidhandled!Thevaporshandleneartodewpointby
Centri.MCsequipedwithflat(horizontal)surfaceatTOPwhereasfluidhandlesneartobubblepointequipedwithflatsurfaceatBOTTOM!The
Centri.MCstobeinterpretedasBLOWERorPUMPasperfluidapplication!

amalraj
06.11.2015

whatistheclearanceofeccentric&concentricforsuctionanddischargepiperouting?

rhenomaestrado
05.28.2015

iwanttoseetheimagesofareducerlikeeccentric

rhenomaestrado
05.28.2015

whyuseeccentricreducerinpumpsuctionline?

LalitKumar
05.04.2015

Wanttoknowhowtomanufactureeccentricreducerorproductionprocess.Andformulatocalculatelayoutofmaterialrequired

Antony
01.28.2015

Thisarticleisreallyniceanditclearssomemyth.
Formoredetailaboutpumppipingat
http://pipinginfo.blogspot.ca/2011/02/pumppipinglayoutdesignguidelines.html

ali
06.06.2014

whyuseeccentricreducerinpumpsuctionline

ManishJoshi
05.19.2014

SomeoftheEPCsusingastandardwheretheyuseecentricreduceratPumpsuctionwithflatsidealwaysatthetop.Veryvaluablereferencetoask
themtobeflexiblewiththeirstandardifthepumpageisfromabovethepump.
Thanksforbringingthisclarity!!

susheel
05.12.2014

Eccentricareplacedflatsidedowninline.

pipingdesigners.com
03.25.2014

Greatarticle...IhavearguedthispointwithengineerswhoINSISTthatareducershallbeplacedflatsideup,regardlessofthesourceofthe
pumpage.
ConsiderthisarticleBOOKMARKED!
IknowI'llbepullingitoutforreference.

Abdul
03.14.2014

Canweuseeccentricreducerinsteadofconcentricreducerifwedowhatwillbetheeffectisthereanydisadvantage?...Cozoneofthefitterhadused
eccentricinsteadofconcentricinPSVconnection.UppersideBigDiaLowersideSmallDia
Pleasesuggest
iwanttoknowthattheuseofconcentricandeccentricreducer.

01.08.2014

PradipSinha
01.08.2014

wehave8noshighpressurepump(capacity156m3/hr,max.pressure15kg/cm2)withasinglesuctionheader.
So,everymonthoneofthempumpshaftisbeingdamaged.
Iwantsolution.

AbidBhatti
11.06.2013

Thanksforveryhelpfullarticle.

Mohamedmetawa
08.25.2013

thanksalot.

varun
06.13.2013

AstowhytheeccentricreducershouldbemountedwithflatbottomatbottomforpumpageSourceabovepumpsuctionisstillveryunclearto
me..Kindlyelaboratethesame

akshay
01.05.2013

Dear,
whatbenefitsofeccentricreducerwith1",2"pipeatsuctionofCFpump?alsowhichtypeofmaterialservice&parameterrequiredinpump
(Viscocity,spe.gravity)aremoresuitableforeccentricreducer?

Mr.Piper007
08.30.2012

isthereanypossibilitythatconcentricreducersbeusedonhorizontallinepiping?

mojtabajavan
06.11.2012

tanksforthispaper.
www.mojtabajavan.ir

CHARLES
02.09.2012

Thanxforyourinfo.Nowiknow.
Regards

Shankar
12.10.2011

Whyshouldprovidetheeccentricreducerinthepumpsuctionandwhynotprovideconcentricreducer????......ifanyspecialpurposeofprovidingthe
eccentric????......plsgivesuggestion.....

02.28.2011

AstowhytheeccentricreducershouldbemountedwithflatbottomatbottomforpumpageSourceabovepumpsuctionisstillveryunclearto
me..Kindlyelaboratethesame.
Rgds
Anirban
DearSir,

09.23.2010
Pleasealsoincludesomeguidelinefor
(1)straightlengthrequirementforvarioustypesofPumpsi.e.OH2/BB1/BB2/MultistagePumpsandfortypeofSuctioni.e.single/double
suction
(2)IfduetoLayoutconstraincanwegofor3Dstratghtlengthforsuction
Waitngforyourreply
Thanks,
Kiran

09.21.2010

ThankGodyouclarified.Thereareinnumerablereferences&bookspropagatingtheincorrectreducerconnectionAndtheremustbemillionsof
incorrectinstallations.Iasaprojectman(nonMech.)andgoingbybasicprincipalshadarguedwithPumpspecialistsoverthisanomalywhena
pumpwasmisbehavingbutwasshownthetextbook.

IhadthepriviledgetoattendapumpingproblemsclassledbyIgorKarrasik.Istillhavethecoursenotesandhaveusedthemforover30+years.
09.20.2010

PleasereadourTermandConditionsandPrivacyPolicybeforeusingthesite.Allmaterialsubjecttostrictlyenforcedcopyrightlaws.
2015HydrocarbonProcessing.2015GulfPublishingCompany.