Wear ring clearance considerations for centrifugal pumps
“
By Gene Vogel
EASA Pump & Vibration Specialist
Editor’s Note: PDFs of this article are
available in English and Spanish in the
“Resource Library” of www.easa.com.
l l l l l
One of the most common repairs on
centrifugal pumps is replacing worn or
damaged wear rings. For pumps with
closed style impellers (impellers with a
front shroud as described below), there
will be a casing wear ring and possibly
an impeller wear ring which is fitted to
the outside diameter (OD) of the impel-
ler suction eye. Impellers may also have
Impeller Specific Speed
• Specific Speed is a ratio of Flow to Head
273 rpm
Radial Flow Mixed Flow
High Head (relative to Flow)
High Flow (relative to Head)
Figure 1. Specific speed is related to Head / Flow.
Electrical Apparatus Service Association, Inc. • Copyright © 2018 •
rear wear rings which are important for
controlling axial thrust. Pumps with
open style impellers generally do not
have suction eye wear ring clearance
concerns, but they often have rear
wear rings. The clearances between
the stationary casing wear ring and
the rotating impeller wear ring are
critical to proper pump operation.
Although many pump manufacturers
will provide proper clearances and
dimensions, some do not; there are
plenty of old pumps around from now
defunct manufacturers where dimen-
sion data is simply not available.
Before providing a rule of thumb
and reference chart information, it’s
important to understand that the wear
ring clearances are more critical on
certain style impellers and less criti-
cal on others. The difference is related
to the relationship between the head
and flow characteristics of the pump.
That relationship is described by the
“specific speed” of the pump design.
Impeller speed
Note that the specific speed is not
the pump rotating speed; it is simply a
ratio of head to flow. See Figure 1. The
higher specific speed impellers (to the
27300 rpm
Axial Flow
www.easa.com • October 2018
Before providing a rule
of thumb and refere nce
chart information, it’s im-
portant to understand that
the wear ring clearances
are more critical on cer-
tain style impellers and
less critical on others. The
difference is related to the
relationship between the
head and flow character-
istics of the pump. That
relationship is described by
the “specific speed” of the
”
pump design.
right of the illustration) produce high
flow but low head. Low specific speed
impellers (to the left in the illustration)
are designed to produce greater head
at lower relative flow rate. The purpose
of the suction eye wear ring is to limit
the flow of pumpage from the high
pressure discharge of the impeller to
the low pressure suction side. There-
fore, the wear ring clearances are more
critical for low specific speed impellers
since the pressure differential is greater
and any leakage across the wear ring
represents a greater percentage of the
total flow. Conversely, wear ring clear-
ances are less critical for high specific
speed impellers.
It will also be helpful to understand
that the purpose for rear wear rings is
different than for suction side wear
rings. Obviously the suction side wear
ring clearance limits the flow of pump-
age from the higher pressure discharge
side to the lower pressure suction side;
flow across that wear ring represents
volumetric loss of efficiency. The rear
wear rings have a completely different
purpose. When rear wear rings are
present, the impeller will have holes
drilled through from the suction eye
of the impeller to the back side of the
Continued on Page 2
1
Wear ring clearance considerations for centrifugal pumps
Continued From Page 1

Table 1. API-610 Minimum Internal Running Clearances chart.

Diameter of rotating Minimum diametral Diameter of rotating Minimum diametral
member at clearance clearance member at clearance clearance
mm mm (in) (in)
< 50 0.25 < 2.000 0.010
50 to 64.99 0.28 2,000 to 2,499 0.011
65 to 79.99 0.30 2,500 to 2,999 0.012
80 to 89.99 0.33 3,000 to 3,499 0.013
90 to 99.99 0.35 3,500 to 3,999 0.014
100 to 114.99 0.38 4,000 to 4,499 0.015
115 to 124.99 0.40 4,500 to 4,999 0.016
125 to 149.99 0.43 5,000 to 5,999 0.017
150 to 174.99 0.45 6,000 to 6,999 0.018
175 to 199.99 0.48 7,000 to 7,999 0.019
200 to 224.99 0.50 8,000 to 8,999 0.020
225 to 249.99 0.53 9,000 to 9,999 0.021
250 to 274.99 0.55 10,000 to 10,999 0.022
275 to 299.99 0.58 11,000 to 11,999 0.023
300 to 324.99 0.60 12,000 to 12,999 0.024
325 to 349.99 0.63 13,000 to 13,999 0.025
350 to 374.99 0.65 14,000 to 14,999 0.026
375 to 399.99 0.68 15,000 to 15,999 0.027
400 to 424.99 0.70 16,000 to 16,999 0.028
425 to 449.99 0.73 17,000 to 17,999 0.029
450 to 474.99 0.75 18,000 to 18,999 0.030
475 to 499.99 0.78 19,000 to 19,999 0.031
500 to 524.99 0.80 20,000 to 20,999 0.032
525 to 549.99 0.83 21,000 to 21,999 0.033
550 to 574.99 0.85 22,000 to 22,999 0.034
575 to 599.99 0.88 23,000 to 23,999 0.035
600 to 624.99 0.90 24,000 to 24,999 0.036
625 to 649.99 0.95 25,000 to 25,999 0.037
NOTE: For diameters greater than 649.99 mm (25,999 in), the minimum diametral clearances shall be 0.95 mm (0.037 in.)
plus 1 µm for each additional 1 mm of diameter or fraction thereof (0.001 in. for each additional 1 in.).
These are minimum, not maximum, clearances for pumps used in petroleum processing applications. Minimum clearances are specified
since tighter clearances would risk incurring contact between the rotating and stationary components, likely resulting in a catastrophic
machine failure.
Continued on Page 3

Electrical Apparatus Service Association, Inc. • Copyright © 2018 • www.easa.com • October 2018 2
Wear ring clearance considerations for centrifugal pumps
Continued From Page 2

impeller. See Figure 2. These holes

conduct the lower suction pressure to
the back of the impeller. The resulting
low pressure behind the impeller and
inside of the rear wear rings reduces
the axial thrust force created by the
impeller suction. Thus, when rear
wear ring clearances are excessive, the
result is not lost efficiency, but high
axial thrust force that can damage the
thrust bearing.
The tolerance guidance provided
below applies to both suction side and
rear wear ring clearance.
Manufacturers' tolerances are al-
ways the best guidance for evaluating
as-found wear ring clearances and
fitting replacement wear rings. When
manufacturer ’s tolerances are not
available, the following (see Figure 3)
guidelines work well for common wa-
ter service pumps (municipal water,
waste water, HVAC applications, etc.).
Further guidance is provided by the Figure 2. Rear wear ring and balancing holes to limit axial thrust.
API-610 Minimum Internal Running
Clearances chart (see Table 1). failure. Ensuring efficient, reliable
These are minimum, not maxi- Wear ring clearances are always pump operation
mum, clearances for pumps used in specified in diametric measurements.
The guidance provided in this
petroleum processing applications. That is, the difference between the in-
article will be useful for designing
Minimum clearances are specified side diameter (ID) of the stationary ring
replacement wear rings when the
since tighter clearances would risk and outside diameter (OD) of the rotat-
manufacturer ’s tolerances are not
incurring contact between the rotat- ing ring. So the actual running clearance
available. They can also be a guide for
ing and stationary components, likely is one half the diametric clearance.
evaluating the as-received clearances
resulting in a catastrophic machine
and deciding if a replacement is neces-
sary. Some manufacturers recommend
replacing wear rings when clearances
have increased by 40% of the original
For New Wear Rings specified clearance. This recommen-
dation is good for pumps in common
• General – up to 5” (125 mm) diameter water service applications, and for
impellers in the mixed flow range of
– 0.010” + 0.002” (250 microns plus 50 microns) per specific speed. As described above,
inch of diameter pumps with low specific speed impel-
lers should be held to tighter clearances
• General – 5” (125 mm) to 10” (250 mm) diameter and pumps with high specific speed
– 0.015” + 0.001” (375 microns plus 25 microns) per impellers have more leeway. Proper
inch of diameter wear ring clearances are a fundamental
concern for ensuring efficient and reli-
• For galling materials add 0.005” (125 microns) able pump operation. The guidance
provided here should help service
centers achieve that objective. l

Figure 3. General wear ring diametral clearance tolerances.

Electrical Apparatus Service Association, Inc. • Copyright © 2018 • www.easa.com • October 2018 3