Centrifugal Pump

Date Performed: October 15, 2007

Date Submitted: October 29, 2007

By: Davinder Dhaliwal,

Vineet Kapoor
&
Jagroop Randhawa
Summary
The centrifugal pump is composed of many different parts and many different
values were taken and put together at the end to find the characteristics of the
pump at different rpm’s. We found out that our overall efficiency for the pump
averaged around 20%. And the calculated flow of water compared to the one we
read on the flow meter was within 4% error margin. Our calculate pressure change
from suction to discharge to that of the one we read on the meter was within 13%
error margin. So overall our readings were very close to the ones we read.
Introduction
A centrifugal pump converts kinetic energy into static pressure using a rotating
impeller. The rotating impellers increase the velocity of the fluid and therefore
increasing the kinetic energy of the fluid. Once the shaped casing guides the fluid to
the outlet, all of the kinetic energy is converted to potential energy, which increases
the pressure at the pump outlet.
Experiment Procedure
Refer to CHEN 302 – Centrifugal Pump Lab Manual for detailed procedure

Report
1) TABLE OF RAW DATA

Table 1: 1500 rpm

Trials Weight of Flow rate Differential Suction Discharge Voltage

torque (GPM) Pressure (inHg) ( lbs/in2) (Watts)
(grams) (lbs/in2)
1 350.0 21 4.5 0 5.0 250
2 300.0 19 4.7 0 5.5 250
3 300.0 15 4.7 0 5.8 220
4 250.0 9 4.9 0 6.2 200
5 200.0 0 5.1 0 6.5 175

Table 2: 2000 rpm

Trials Weight of Flow rate Differential Suction Discharge Voltage

torque (GPM) Pressure (inHg) (lbs/in2) (watts)
(grams) (lbs/in2)
1 650.0 38 7.5 0.5 8.2 600
2 600.0 34 8.0 1.1 10 570
3 555.0 28 8.5 0 11 550
4 500.0 19 8.9 0 12 510
5 350.0 0 9.5 0 13 390

Table 3: 2500 rpm

Trials Weight of Flow rate Differential Suction Discharge Voltage

torque (GPM) Pressure (inHg) (lbs/in2) (Watts)
(grams) (lbs/in2)
1 1050 52 11.9 3 13.5 1090
2 950 45 12.1 2 14.2 1000
3 850 38 12.6 1.5 16.1 940
4 750 23 13.8 0 19.5 860
5 550 0 14.3 0 21.0 660
Comments:

At 1500 rpm the discharge and suction pressure doesn’t equal to the differential pressure reading but as
the rpm was increased to 2000 rpm the sum of suction and discharge pressure was very close to
differential pressure reading.

Table 4: Accuracy flow meter

Flow meter Tank Depth lbs of H2O Time

(gpm) (inches) (From Graph) (sec)
49 3.5 72 11
40.5 6.6 112 20
29 7.5 128 36
20 8.7 144 54
10 9.5 154 110

Comments:

Reading from the flow meter and calculated flow by timing were very close to each other. You can see
the comparison in Table 12.

2) PUMP PERFORMANCE CURVE

 3) CALCULATIONS

1. Pump Performance

a) Calculate head in meters from the observed differential pressure.

Table 5: Head Calculations

1500rpm 2000rpm 2500rpm

Differential Differential Differential
Pressure head (m) Pressure head (m) Pressure head (m)
(lbs/in2) (lbs/in2) (lbs/in2)
4.50 3.16 7.50 5.27 11.90 8.37
4.70 3.30 8.00 5.62 12.10 8.51
4.70 3.30 8.50 5.98 12.60 8.86
4.90 3.44 8.90 6.26 13.80 9.70
5.10 3.59 9.50 6.68 14.30 10.05

b) Convert observed flow in gpm to m3/s

Table 6: Flow Rate in m3/s

1500rpm 2000rpm 2500rpm

Flow Rate Flow Rate Flow Rate Flow Rate Flow Rate Flow Rate
(gpm) (m3/s) (gpm) (m3/s) (gpm) (m3/s)
21 0.00132489 38 0.00239742 52 0.00328068
19 0.00119871 34 0.00214506 45 0.00283905
15 0.00094635 28 0.00176652 38 0.00239742
9 0.00056781 19 0.00119871 23 0.00145107
0 0 0 0 0 0
 c) Calculate hydraulic power (delivered to fluid by the pump)

Table 7: Calculating Hydraulic Power

1500rpm 2000rpm 2500rpm

Flow Head Hydraulic Power Flow Head Hydraulic Power Flow Head Hydraulic Power
3 3 3
(m /s) (m) (kW) (m /s) (m) (kW) (m /s) (m) (kW)
0.0013 3.1636 0.0411 0.0024 5.2726 0.1240 0.0033 8.3658 0.2692

0.0012 3.3042 0.0389 0.0021 5.6241 0.1183 0.0028 8.5065 0.2369

0.0009 3.3042 0.0307 0.0018 5.9756 0.1036 0.0024 8.8580 0.2083

0.0006 3.4448 0.0192 0.0012 6.2568 0.0736 0.0015 9.7016 0.1381

0.0000 3.5854 0.0000 0.0000 6.6786 0.0000 0.0000 10.053 0.0000

d) Calculate Shaft Power

Table 8: Calculating Shaft Power

1500rpm 2000rpm 2500rpm

Mass of Weights Shaft Power Mass of Weights Shaft Power Mass of Weights Shaft Power
(kg) (W) (kg) (W) (kg) (W)
0.350 164.389 0.650 407.058 1.050 821.943

0.300 140.905 0.600 375.746 0.950 743.663

0.300 140.905 0.555 347.565 0.850 665.383

0.250 117.420 0.500 313.121 0.750 587.102

0.200 93.936 0.350 219.185 0.550 430.542

 e) Efficiency Calculations

Table 9: Calculating Hydraulic Efficiency

1500rpm 2000rpm 2500rpm

Hydraulic Hydraulic Hydraulic

Hydraulic Shaft Hydraulic Shaft Hydraulic Shaft
Efficiency Efficiency Efficiency
Power (W) Power (W) Power (W) Power (W) Power (W) Power (W)
(%) (%) (%)
41.117 164.389 25.012 124.004 407.058 30.464 269.242 821.943 32.757

38.855 140.905 27.575 118.348 375.746 31.497 236.914 743.663 31.858

30.675 140.905 21.770 103.555 347.565 29.794 208.328 665.383 31.309

19.188 117.420 16.341 73.576 313.121 23.498 138.102 587.102 23.523

0.000 93.936 0.000 0.000 219.185 0.000 0.000 430.542 0.000

Table 10: Calculating Motor Efficiency

1500rpm 2000rpm 2500rpm

Shaft Motor Shaft Motor Shaft Motor
WaltMeter WaltMeter WaltMeter
Power Efficiency Power Efficiency Power Efficiency
reading (W) reading (W) reading (W)
(W) (%) (W) (%) (W) (%)
164.39 250 65.76 407.06 600 67.84 821.94 1090 75.41
140.90 250 56.36 375.75 570 65.92 743.66 1000 74.37
140.90 220 64.05 347.56 550 63.19 665.38 940 70.79
117.42 200 58.71 313.12 510 61.40 587.10 860 68.27
93.94 175 53.68 219.18 390 56.20 430.54 660 65.23

Table 11: Calculating Overall Efficiency

1500rpm 2000rpm 2500rpm

Hydraulic WaltMeter Overall Hydraulic WaltMeter Overall Hydraulic WaltMeter Overall
Power reading Efficiency Power reading Efficiency Power reading Efficiency
(W) (W) (%) (W) (W) (%) (W) (W) (%)
41.117 250 16.447 124.004 600 20.667 269.242 1090 24.701
38.855 250 15.542 118.348 570 20.763 236.914 1000 23.691
30.675 220 13.943 103.555 550 18.828 208.328 940 22.163
19.188 200 9.594 73.576 510 14.427 138.102 860 16.058
0.000 175 0.000 0.000 390 0.000 0.000 660 0.000

EFFICIENCY NUMBERS ON PUMP PERFORMANCE CURVES

i. HYDRAULIC EFFICIENCY TREND
 II. MOTOR EFFICIENCY TREND

III OVERALL EFFICIENCY TREND

COMMENT: From the above curves it can be noticed that both hydraulic efficiency and overall
efficiency are going up as the capacity of the pumps are increasing. However, the motor
efficiency is keeping steady as the flow rate increases.

4) ACCURACY OF FLOW METER

TABLE 12: CALCULATION OF FLOW OF WATER

Flow of Water (lb/s) Calculated Flow of Water (gpm) Actual Flow of Water (gpm)
6.55 47.08 49
5.6 40.28 40.5
3.56 25.58 29
2.67 19.18 20
1.4 10.07 10

Comment: Calculated flow of water was very close to the actual measured
flow of water.

6) Calculate differential pressure from suction and discharge pressure gauges.

Table 13: Calculated Differential Pressure at 1500rpm

Differential Pressure
Suction (inHg) Discharge ( lbs/in2) Calculated ( lbs/in2)
(lbs/in2)

4.5 0 5 5
4.7 0 5.5 5.5
4.7 0 5.8 5.8
4.9 0 6.2 6.2
5.1 0 6.5 6.5

Table 14: Calculated Differential Pressure at 2000rpm

Differential Pressure
Suction (inHg) Discharge ( lbs/in2) Calculated ( lbs/in2)
(lbs/in2)
7.5 0.5 8.2 8.45
8 1.1 10 9.46
8.5 0 11 11
8.9 0 12 12
9.5 0 13 9.5
Table 15: Calculated Differential Pressure at 1500rpm

Differential Pressure
Suction (inHg) Discharge ( lbs/in2) Calculated ( lbs/in2)
(lbs/in2)
11.9 3 13.5 12.03

12.1 2 14.2 13.22

12.6 1.5 16.1 15.4

13.8 0 19.5 19.5

14.3 0 21 21

Comment: As differential pressure is increased, error is reduced.

7) PRIMING THE PUMP

A pump starting out full or air might not have enough pressure to pump put
the air, therefore it will never achieve the flow of liquid. To prime the pump, an
operator should fill the pump up with the liquid to remove all the air. Usually there is
a check valve fitted in the suction line so that the liquid will not drain out if the
pump is stopped. The reason to do pump prim is that if there were vapours present
in the pump while the motor is on, the impeller of the pump becomes gas-bound
and the pump will be powerless.

8) CAVITATION

At high flow rate and high rpm we noticed a white strip. The pump sounded
different and we could hear growling sounds and vibration. As the suction valve was
closed the liquid inside the pump started vaporizing due to pressure drop to vapor
pressure limit. Some bubbles could also be seen in the pump.

9) The calculated NPSHA for the pump was 7.59m.

Conclusion

• When operating the pump, we need to first prime the pump therefore the
data won’t have a high % error in calculations
 • When cavitation occurs within the pump, to correct it you must change
operating conditions such as increasing suction pressure and maintaining
pipe lines.
• The pump has a better efficiency when running at higher rpm’s
• The measured flow rate and the calculated flow rate were not the same due
to equipment.
• The differential pressure measured and the differential pressure calculated
was not equal due to lack of pressure sensitivity in pressure gauges.

Recommendations

 Using gauges which sense lower pressure and this will provide more
accurate readings.

 Torque arm sometimes got stuck while weights were placed on it, a
digital weighing machine will provide more accurate results.

References

• Centrifugal Pump Lab Module Chen 302

• Applied Fluid Mechanics Text Book pg.407