THEORY:

Pumps are devices for supplying energy or head to a flowing liquid in order to overcome head losses due to friction and also if necessary, to raise liquid to a higher level. The fluid may be a gas or liquid of low viscosity, or it may be a highly viscous liquid, possibly with non-Newtonian characteristics. It may be clean, or it may contain suspended particles and be very corrosive. All these factors influence the choice of pump.

The energy required by the pump will depend on The height through which the fluid is raised, The pressure required at delivery point, The length and diameter of the pipe, The rate of flow, The physical properties of the fluid, particularly its viscosity and density.

There are two basic types of pumps: positive-displacement and dynamic or momentum change pumps: Positive Displacement Pumps In this type, a cavity opens, and the fluid is admitted through an inlet. The cavity then closes, and the fluid is squeezed through an outlet, hence the volume of liquid delivered is directly related to the displacement of the piston and therefore, increases directly with speed and is not appreciably influenced by the pressure. It used for high pressure and constant rates. Dynamic pumps It is simply add momentum to the fluid by means of fast-moving blades or vanes or certain special designs. There is no closed volume: The fluid increases momentum while moving through open passages and then converts its high velocity to a pressure increase by exiting into a diffuser section.

Centrifugal pumps This type depends on giving the liquid a high kinetic energy, which is then converted as efficiently as possible into pressure energy. It used for liquid with very wide ranging properties and suspensions with high solid content including, for example, cement slurries, and may be constructed from a very wide range of corrosion resistant materials This pump consists of an impeller rotating within a casing. Fluid enters axially through the eye of the casing, is caught up in the impeller blades, and is whirled tangentially and radially outward until it leaves through all circumferential parts of the impeller into the diffuser part of the casing. The fluid gains both velocity and pressure while passing through the impeller. The doughnut-shaped diffuser, or scroll, section of the casing decelerates the flow and further increases the pressure

The Total Head (h) The head imparted to a flowing liquid by a pump is known as the total head (h).

System Heads The important heads to consider in a pumping system are: Suction head Discharge head Total head The total head (h), which is required to impart to the flowing liquid is the difference between the discharge and suction heads.

The suction head (hs) decreases and the discharge head (hd) increases with increasing liquid flow rate because of the increasing value of the friction head loss terms (hF)s and (hF)d. Thus the total; head (h) which the pump is required to impart to the flowing liquid increases with increasing the liquid pumping rate.

Centrifugal Pump Relations

The power (PE) required in an ideal centrifugal pump can be expected to be a function of the liquid density (), the impeller diameter (D), and the rotational speed of the impeller (N). If the relationship is assumed to be given by the equation, PE = c a Nb Dc ---------------------------------(1) then it can be shown by dimensional analysis that PE = c1 N3 D5 ---------------------------------(2) where, c1 is a constant which depends on the geometry of the system. The power (PE) is also proportional to the product of the volumetric flow rate (Q) and the total head (h) developed by the pump. PE = c2 Q h ---------------------------------(3) where, c2 is a constant. The volumetric flow rate (Q) and the total head (h) developed by the pump are: Q = c3 N D3 ---------------------------------(4) h = c4 N2 D2 ---------------------------------(5) where, c3 and c4 are constants. Equation (5) could be written in the following form, h3/2 = c43/2 N3 D3 ---------------------------------(6) Combine equations (4) and (6) [ eq. (4) divided by eq. (6)]

When the rotational speed of the impeller N is (rpm), the volumetric flow rate Q in (USgalpm) and the total head h developed by the pump is in (ft), the constant Ns in equation (8) is known as the specific speed of the pump. The specific speed is used as an index of pump types and always evaluated at the best efficiency point (bep) of the pump. Specific speed vary in the range (400 10,000) depends on the impeller type, and has the dimensions of (L/T2)3/4. [ British gal=1.2USgal, ft3=7.48USgal, m3=264USgal] Homologous Centrifugal Pumps Two different size pumps are said to be geometrically similar when the ratios of corresponding dimensions in one pump are equal to those of the other pump. Geometrically similar pumps are said to be homologous. A sets of equations known as the affinity laws govern the performance of homologous centrifugal pumps at various impeller speeds.

Applications

Metering pump for gasoline and additives. Pumps are used throughout society for a variety of purposes. Early applications include the use of the windmill or watermill to pump water. Today, the pump is used for irrigation, water supply, gasoline supply, air conditioning systems, refrigeration (usually called a compressor), chemical movement, sewage movement, flood control, marine services, etc. Because of the wide variety of applications, pumps have a plethora of shapes and sizes: from very large to very small, from handling gas to handling liquid, from high pressure to low pressure, and from high volume to low volume. Liquid and slurry pumps can lose prime and this will require the pump to be primed by adding liquid to the pump and inlet pipes to get the pump started. Loss of "prime" is usually due to ingestion of air into the pump. The clearances and displacement ratios in pumps used for liquids and other more viscus fluids cannot displace the air due to its lower density.

Pumps as public water supplies

First European depiction of a piston pump, by Taccola, c.1450.

One sort of pump once common worldwide was a hand-powered water pump over a water well where people could work it to extract water, before most houses had individual water supplies. From this came the expression "parish pump" for "the sort of matter chattered about by people when they meet when they go to get water", "matter of only local interest". However water from pitcher pumps are more prone to contamination since it is drawn directly from the soil and does not undergo filtration, this might cause gastrointestinal related diseases. Today, hand operated village pumps are considered the most sustainable low cost option for safe water supply in resource poor settings, often in rural areas in developing countries. A hand pump opens access to deeper groundwater that is often not polluted and also improves the safety of a well by protecting the water source from contaminated buckets. Pumps like the Afridev pump are designed to be cheap to build and install, and easy to maintain with simple parts. However, scarcity of spare parts for these type of pumps in some regions of Africa has diminished their utility for these areas.

Sealing Multiphase Pumping Applications Multiphase pumping applications, also referred to as tri-phase, have grown due to increased oil drilling activity. In addition, the economics of multiphase production is attractive to upstream operations as it leads to simpler, smaller in-field installations, reduced equipment costs and improved production rates. In essence, the multiphase pump can accommodate all fluid stream properties with one piece of equipment, which has a smaller footprint. Often, two smaller multiphase pumps are installed in series rather than having just one massive pump. For midstream and upstream operations, multiphase pumps can be located onshore or offshore and can be connected to single or multiple wellheads. Basically, multiphase pumps are used to transport the untreated flow stream produced from oil wells to downstream processes or gathering facilities. This means that the pump may handle a flow stream (well stream) from 100 percent gas to 100 percent liquid and every imaginable combination in between. The flow stream can also contain abrasives such as sand and dirt. Multiphase pumps

are designed to operate under changing/fluctuating process conditions. Multiphase pumping also helps eliminate emissions of greenhouse gases as operators strive to minimize the flaring of gas and the venting of tanks where possible. Specifications Pumps are commonly rated by horsepower, flow rate, outlet pressure in feet (or metres) of head, inlet suction in suction feet (or metres) of head. The head can be simplified as the number of feet or metres the pump can raise or lower a column of water at atmospheric pressure. From an initial design point of view, engineers often use a quantity termed the specific speed to identify the most suitable pump type for a particular combination of flow rate and head. Pumping power The power added to the fluid flow by the pump (Po), is defined using SI units by:

where: Po is the output power of the pump (W) is the fluid density (kg/m3) g is the gravitational constant (9.81 m/s2) H is the energy Head added to the flow (m) Q is the flow rate (m3/s) Power is more commonly expressed as kW (103 W) or horsepower (multiply kW by 0.746), H is equivalent to the pressure head added by the pump when the suction and discharge pipes are of the same diameter. The power required to drive the pump is determined by dividing the output power by the pump efficiency Power needed to pump a given flow against a given head and pipe size, can be calculated using this spread sheet.

Various aspects of pumping energy usage are covered in "Energy Efficiency in Pumping". Energy is consumed by the pump, and also lost in the pipework and these must be considered. Pump efficiency Pump efficiency is defined as the ratio of the power imparted on the fluid by the pump in relation to the power supplied to drive the pump. Its value is not fixed for a given pump, efficiency is a function of the discharge and therefore also operating head. For centrifugal pumps, the efficiency tends to increase with flow rate up to a point midway through the operating range (peak efficiency) and then declines as flow rates rise further. Pump performance data such as this is usually supplied by the manufacturer before pump selection. Pump efficiencies tend to decline over time due to wear (e.g. increasing clearances as impellers reduce in size). One important part of system design involves matching the pipeline headloss-flow characteristic with the appropriate pump or pumps which will operate at or close to the point of maximum efficiency. There are free tools that help calculate head needed and show pump curves including their Best Efficiency Points (BEP). Pump efficiency is an important aspect and pumps should be regularly tested. Thermodynamic pump testing is one method The Affinity Laws of centrifugal pumps or fans indicates the influence on volume capacity, head (pressure) and/or power consumption of a pump or fan due to

change in speed of wheel - revolutions per minute (rpm) geometrically similarity - change in impeller diameter

Be aware that there are two sets of affinity laws

affinity laws for a specific centrifugal pump - to approximate head, capacity and power curves for different motor speeds and /or different diameter of impellers

affinity laws for a family of geometrically similar centrifugal pumps - to approximate head, capacity and power curves for different motor speeds and /or different diameter of impellers

Pump Affinity Laws for a Specific Centrifugal Pump Volume Capacity The volume capacity of a centrifugal pump can be expressed like q1 / q2 = (n1 / n2)(d1 / d2) where q = volume flow capacity (m3/s, gpm, cfm, ..) n = wheel velocity - revolution per minute - (rpm) d = wheel diameter Head or Pressure The head or pressure of a centrifugal pump can be expressed like dp1 / dp2 = (n1 / n2)2 (d1 / d2)2 where dp = head or pressure (m, ft, Pa, psi, ..) Power The power consumption of a centrifugal pump can be expressed as P1 / P2 = (n1 / n2)3 (d1 / d2)3 Where: P = power (W, bhp, ..) (3) (2) (1)