Memorandum

To:
From:
Date:
Re:

Professor Alan S. Feitelberg

Muhammad Khan and Saddmun Ahsan (subgroup of Th4)
September 18, 2014
New apparatus for measuring pump performance

Per the instructions contained in your memo dated 26-August-2014, we have tested the new
apparatus manufactured by Olin Engineering by flowing water through a closed loop powered by
a March Pumps TM TE-7R-MD magnetic drive pump. The water flow rate was varied between 2
and 20 gallons per minute (gpm) and the reading at each of the two pressure gauges was
recorded. The current drawn from the pump motor, displayed by the ammeter, was also recorded.
The system curve, which tracks head loss throughout the entire piping circuit, was determined
before the experiment was conducted. It takes into account friction from motion through the
piping and resistance encountered at fittings, such as elbows, tees and globe valves. The DarcyWeisbach equation was used to construct relationships between fluid mechanical quantities, such
as the Reynolds number and the Fanning friction factor (f ), relevant to the pump test. The total
head loss can be calculated by 1Equation 1, which takes into account head loss from both
frictional effects at fittings and rotameter.
v2
L
P
4 f + K f +
(1)
2g
D
g
v represents the average velocity of the fluid, g the acceleration due to gravity, P the pressure
difference across the rotameter, and is a kinetic energy correction factor (1.05 for fullydeveloped turbulent flow).

hloss =

The data obtained while conducting the experiment are summarized in Table 1. The two pressure
gauges differed in height by approximately 7.0 inches, which accounts for the head gain due to
the change in gravitational potential energy of the process fluid.
These data are used to construct the pump curve (for a 2.5-inch impeller) shown in Figure 1,
which delineates the relationship between the head gain of the fluid, the sum of the gains due to
the pressure gradient across the pump, and the change in gravitational potential energy, versus
the flow rate. The pump curves for the 3.0-inch and 3.5-inch impellers were determined based on
the fact that fluid velocity is linearly dependent on the diameter1, which implies that the first term
in Equation 1 (corresponding to head loss due to frictional effects at fittings and joints) varies
with the square of the diameter (since it depends on the square of the velocity), as is indicated by
Equation 2 below. With the value of the frictional head loss already calculated for a 2.5-inch
impeller, Equation 2 was employed to construct the other two pump curves.

[ (
2

v
L
4 f + Kf
2g
D

)]

new

[ (
2

v
L
4 f + K f
2g
D

)] ( )
o ld

D new
Dold

(2)

The error in the experiment could have been reduced by taking more than one set of readings and
have one person record the measurements versus different members of the group. Furthermore, a
more accurate curve would have been producible if we incremented by a smaller flow rate, and
collected more data points.

Figure 1: Pump Curve illustrating relationship between head gain and flow rate

The efficiency was calculated by computing the ratio between the fluid work and the total
amount of energy delivered by electrical pump motor, each of which is easily calculated by
consulting Eqns. [5] and [6] from the course notes1. Table 1 summarizes the efficiencies and the
electrical energy in the experiment.
Rotameter
Reading
(gpm)

Gauge 1
Reading
(psig)

Gauge 2
Reading
(psig)

Ammeter
Reading
(A)

2
4
6
8
10
12
12.8

0
0
0
0
0
0
0

11.6
11.6
11.1
10.7
10.1
9.35
8.90

2.45
2.51
2.55
2.60
2.65
2.70
2.71

Fluid
Work
(horsepower)
0.01354
0.02707
0.03886
0.04994
0.05893
0.06546
0.06646

Electrical
Energy
Available
(horsepower)
0.36015
0.36897
0.37485
0.3822
0.38955
0.3969
0.39837

Efficiency

3.76%
7.34%
10.37%
13.07%
15.13%
16.49%
16.68%

Table 1: Summarizes measurements taken during the experiment and calculated energies and efficiencies of the
closed-loop process.

References
1. Professor Feitelberg, personal communication, 29-August-2014.