Centrifugal pumps
General Information
● Pumps are those devices which adds energy to the fluids with the help of a rotating
wheel called the impeller
● The centrifugal pump works on the principal of forced vortex flow.
● According to forced vortex when a mass of water is rotating about an axis then there is a
rise in pressure in the radial outward direction and the rise in pressure is directly
proportional to the square of the speed.
● Centrifugal pumps are radially outward flowing machines with high discharge capacity
and can be used for lifting high viscous liquids e.g. sewage water, chemicals etc.
● The casing is volute or spiral in shape in which there is an increase in the area in the
outward direction of the flow
● A part of the kinetic energy available at the impeller outlet is converted into pressure
energy by the use of diffuser blades. The blade passages have an increasing
cross-sectional area which reduces the flow velocity and hence increases the static
pressure of the fluid.
● And when the fluid moves from the diffuser blades into the volute casing, the velocity of
the fluid decreases and some of the velocity head converted into pressure head.
Impeller Power
°
● Centrifugal pump has zero whirl component at inlet (𝑉𝑤1 = 0, α1 = 90 , 𝑉1 = 𝑉𝐹1)
𝑉𝑤1 = Whirl component at inlet
α1 = Guide vane angle at inlet
𝑉1 = Absolute velocity at inlet
𝑉𝐹1 = Flow velocity at inlet
● Therefore the impeller power (IP) = ρ𝑄(𝑉𝑤2. 𝑢2)
π𝑑2𝑁
𝑢2 = Blade speed at outlet = 60
𝑑2 = Impeller diameter at outlet
Impeller power per unit weight (Euler Head)
Efficiencies of centrifugal pump
Manometric efficiency
𝑀𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑐 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑔𝐻𝑚
Manometric efficiency (η𝑚) = 𝑊𝑜𝑟𝑘 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑖ṁ𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑟
= 𝑉𝑤 .𝑢2
2
Manometric head (𝐻𝑚) = It is the net head (Considering all the losses) against which pump has
to work.
When there are no losses, Manometric head = Head provided by the impeller =
If we consider the losses, Manometric head = Head provided by the impeller – Head loss
Mechanical efficiency
There is a loss in the bearings of the shaft due to friction as a result the power to the impeller is
less than the shaft power
Overall efficiency
It is the ratio of power imparted to the fluid to the power input to the shaft and given as
Density of the fluid
Discharge
Manometric head
Power input to the shaft
Types of blade curvature
There are three types of blade curvature
i. Forward facing for which the blade curvature is in the direction of rotation and, therefore,
ii. Radial vane for which
iii. Backward facing for which the blade curvature is in a direction opposite to that of the
impeller rotation and therefore,
Pump Performance curve or Characteristic curve
● The variation of manometric head, power and efficiency with respect to discharge at
constant speed gives the operating characteristic curves of the pump.
● Characteristic curves are necessary to predict the behavior and performance of the pump
when the pump is working under different flow rate, head and speed.
● The head corresponding to zero discharge is known as shut-off head.
● When the head provided by the pump is zero then the flow rate at that condition will be
known as Free delivery
Specific speed of pump
It is defined as the speed at which the pump would deliver unit discharge when working under
unit head and it is given as
The dimensionless specific speed
The specific speed with dimension is
Priming of pump
● The process of filling the water or removing the air from the casing and the suction pipe is
known as priming of pump
● Priming is done to ensure that the impeller does the work directly on working fluid
generally water
Cavitation
● Cavitation is likely to occur at the inlet to the pump as it has minimum pressure in the
flow. Cavitation happens when the pressure at the inlet to the pump falls below the
vapour pressure.
● Thoma cavitation coefficient
, is manometric head
Net Positive Suction Head (NPSH) is the difference between the pressure head at entry
to the impeller and vapour pressure head at the operating temperature.
To avoid cavitation
Critical cavitation factor
Design point and Operating point
● Design point is the point at which pump work with maximum efficiency
● Operating point of the pump is the point where the head discharge characteristic of the
pump intersects the head discharge characteristic of the piping system
● The H-Q characteristic curve of pump is developed based on its design speed and impeller
diameter. This curve has a negative slope because the available head of the pump
decreases as the discharge increases.
● The H-Q characteristic curve of the system is basically the curve between the system head
and flow rates. This curve has a positive slope because with the increase in flow rate the
system head will increase.
System head = Static head (𝐻𝑆) + Head loss in the system
The system head will increase because the resistance to flow increases with increase in
flow rate which will increase the head loss in the system.
Points to Remember:
● Pumps are combined in series to obtain an increase in head
● Pumps are combined in parallel for an increase in flow rate