CENTRIFUGAL PUMPS

What is centrifugal pump?

It is the type most widely used in the
chemical industry for transferring liquids of
all types- raw materials, materials in
manufacture, and finished productsas well
as for general services of water supply,
boiler feed, condenser circulation,
condensate return, etc.

 These pumps are available through a vast range

of sizes, in capacities from 0.5 m3/h to 2 104
m3/h (2 gal/min to 105 gal/min), and for
discharge heads (pressures) from a few meters
to approximately 48 Mpa (7000 lbf/in2). The size
and type best suited to a particular application
can be determined only by an engineering study
of the problem.

A centrifugal pump is of kinetic energy type

- it imparts energy to a liquid by means of
centrifugal force produced by a rotating
impeller. A positive displacement
pump imparts energy by mechanical
displacement. Piston, diaphragm, plunger,
screw, vane, and gear pumps are some
examples.

Advantages of Centrifugal Pump

Simplicity
Low first cost
uniform (non-pulsating) flow
small floor space
low maintenance expense
quiet operation
adaptability for use with a motor or a turbine drive

Working Principle
Works on the principle of centrifugal force. This is the force that pushes
the liquid away from the centre(in tangential direction).
Converting Prime Mover energy into Mechanical energy through shaft .
Converting Mechanical energy into fluid energy through impeller.
Converting kinetic Energy into pressure energy through the volute
casing.

Major Parts
Shaft: It transmit the torque/Power. and supporting the impeller and
other rotating parts. Shaft is protected from erosion ,corrosion and
wear at the seal chamber through renewable sleeve.

Impeller: An Impeller has vanes that pushes the liquid through the
impeller. Transmit energy into the fluid (hydraulic energy).

Volute/Casing: Impeller are fitted inside the casing. Volute

casing is a curved shaped ,increasing in cross sectional area.
Volute reduces the velocity of the liquid and increases the
pressure.

Major Parts

Impeller/
Blades
Volute
Casing
Shaft

Types Of Impeller

OPEN

SEMI OPEN

CLOSED

Types Of Impeller
Single suction - pump with
single suction impeller (impeller
has suction cavity on one side
only); simple design but impeller is
subjected to higher axial
thrust imbalance due to flow
coming in on one side of impeller
only.
Double suction - pump with
double suction impeller (impeller
has suction cavities on both sides);
has lower NPSHR than single
suction impeller. Pump
is considered hydraulically
balanced but is susceptible to
uneven flow on both sides of
impeller if suction piping is not
done properly.

Types of Volute
Single volute - pump volute has
single lip which is very easy to
cast. Is usually used in small low
capacity pumps where a double
volute design is impractical due to
relatively small size of volute
passageway which make
obtaining good quality
commercial casting difficult.
Pumps with single volute design
have higher radial loads.
Double volute - pump volute has
dual lips located 180 degrees
apart resulting in balanced radial
loads; most centrifugal pumps are
of double volute design.

Action of a Centrifugal Pump

Power from an outside source is applied to shaft A, rotating the

impeller B within the stationary casing C. The blades of the impeller in
revolving produce a reduction in pressure at the entrance or eye of
the impeller. This causes liquid to flow into the impeller from the
suction pipe D. This liquid is forced outward along the blades at
increasing tangential velocity. The velocity head it has acquired when
it leaves the blade tips is changed to pressure head as the liquid
passes into the volute chamber and thence out the discharge E.

System Curves
In addition to the pump design, the operational performance of
a pump depends upon factors such as the downstream load
characteristics, pipe friction, and valve performance.
Typically, head and flow follow the following relationship:
(Q2)^2 = h2
(Q1)^2 h1
where the subscript 1 refers to the design condition and 2 to the
actual conditions. The above equation indicates that head will
change as a square of the water flow rate.

System Curves
Figure 10-42 shows the schematic of a pump, moving a fluid from
tank A to tank B, both of which are at the same level. The only force
that the pump has to overcome in this case is the pipe friction, variation
of which with fluid flow rate is also shown in the figure.

System Curves
On the other for the use shown in Fig. 10-43, the pump in addition to pipe
friction should overcome head due to difference in elevation between
tanks A and B. In this case, elevation head is constant, whereas the head
required to overcome friction depends on the flow rate.

System Curves
Figure 10-44 shows the pump performance requirement of
a valve opening and closing.

Pump Selection
One of the parameters that is extremely useful in selecting a pump
for a particular application is specific speed Ns.
Specific speed of a pump can be evaluated based on its design
speed,
flow, and head:
Ns =NQ^1/2
H^3/4
Where
N=rpm
Q= flowrate in gpm
H= head in ft.lbf/lbm
Specific speed is a parameter that defines the speed at which
impellers of geometrically similar design have to be run to
discharge
one gallon per minute against a one-foot head.

In general, pumps with a low specific speed have a low

capacity and high specific speed, high capacity. Specific
speeds of different types of pumps are shown in
Table 10-14 for comparison.

Another parameter that helps in evaluating the pump suction

limitations,
such as cavitation, is suction-specific speed.
S = NQ^1/2
(NPSH)^3/4
Typically, for single-suction pumps, suction-specific speed
above 11,000 is considered excellent. Below 7000 is poor and
70009000 is of an average design. Similarly, for doublesuction pumps, suction specific speed above 14,000 is
considered excellent, below 7000 is poor, and 900011,000 is
average.

Figure 10-45 shows the schematic of specific-speed variation for different

types of pumps. The figure clearly indicates that, as the specific speed increases,
the ratio of the impeller outer diameter D1 to inlet or eye diameter D2 decreases,
tending to become unity for pumps of axial-flow type.
Typically, axial flow pumps are of high flow and low head type and have a
high specific speed. On the other hand, purely radial pumps are of high head and
low flow rate capability and have a low specific speed. Obviously, a pump with a
moderate flow and head has an average specific speed.