Pumps General Suction System 104 Suction System NPSH Available. Suction System NPSH for Studie: Suction System NPSH with Dissolved Gas... Larger Impeller Construction Materials...Pumps 105 Affinity Laws Dynamic type pumps obey the affinity laws: 1, Capacity varies directly with impeller diameter and speed. 2. Head varies directly with the square of impeller diameter and speed. 3. Horsepower varies directly with the cube of impeller diameter and speed. Horsepower ‘The handiest pump horsepower formula for a process engineer is where: HP = Pump horsepower Jallons per minute AP =Delivered pressure (discharge minus suction), psi HP = GPM(APY/1715(Ef1) Eff = Pump efficiency, fraction Efficiency ‘An equation was developed by the author from The equation gives results within about 7% of the the pump efficiency curves in the eighth edition of The GPSA Engineering Data Book.' provided by the M. W. Kellogg Co. The curves were found to check vendor data well. The equation admittedly appears bulky, but is easy to use. Eff, = 80 — 0.2855F + 3.78 x 10“FG ~ 2.38 x 107 + 5.39 x 10°F ~ 6.39 x 10°FG +4 x 10° PG where Eff. = Pump percentage efficiency Developed head, ft G= Flow, GPM Ranges of applicability F 50-3008 100-1,000GPM aforementioned pump curves. This means within 7% of the curve valve, not 7% absolute, ie., if the curve valve is 50%, the equation will be within the range 50 + 3.5%. For flows in the range 25-99GPM a rough efficiency can be obtained by using the equation for 100GPM and then subtracting 0.354/GPM times the difference between 100GPM and the low flow GPM. For flows at the bottom of the range (25-30GPM), this will give results within about 15% for the middle of the head range and 25% at the extremes, This is adequate for ballpark estimates at these low flows. The horsepower at the 25~ 30GPM level is generally below 10. 1. GPSA Engineering Data Book, Natural Gas Processors Suppliers Association, 8th Ed., 1966 and 9th Ed., 1972. 2, Branan, C. R., The Process Engineer's Pocket Hand- book, Vol. 1, Gulf Publishing Co.. 1976. Minimum Flow Most pumps need minimum flow protection to protect them against shutoff. At shutoff, practically all of a pumps horsepower turns into heat, which can vaporize the liquid and damage the pump. Such minimum108 Rules of Thumb for Chemical Engineers flow protection is particularly important for boiler feed- water pumps that handle water near its boiling point and are multistaged for high head. The minimum flow is a relatively constant flow going from dis- charge to suction. In the case of boiler feedwater pumps, the minimum flow is preferably piped back to the deaerator. ‘The process engineer must plan for minimum flow pro- visions when making design calculations. For preliminary work, approximate the required minimum flow by assum- ing all the horsepower at blocked-in conditions turns into heat. Then, provide enough minimum flow to carry away this heat at a 15°F rise in the minimum flow stream's temperature ‘This approach will provide a number accurate enough for initial planning. For detailed design, the process en reer should work closely with the mechanical engineer and/or vendor representative involved to set exact requirements, including orifice type and size for the ‘minimum flow line. Also, a cooler may be required in the ‘minimum flow line orit may need to be routed to vessel. For boiler feedwater pumps, a special stepped type orifice is often used to control flashing. Branan, C. R., The Process Engineer's Pocket Handbook, Vol. 2, Gulf Publishing Co., 1983. General Suction System This is an important part of the pump system and should be thought of as a very specialized piping design. Considerable attention must be directed to the pump suction piping to ensure satisfactory pump operation. ‘A pump is designed to handle liquid, not vapor. Unfor- tunately, for many situations, itis easy to get vapor into the pump if the design is not carefully done. Vapor forms if the pressure in the pump falls below the liquid’s vapor pressure, The lowest pressure occurs right atthe impeller inlet where a sharp pressure dip occurs. The impeller rapidly builds up the pressure, which collapses vapor bubbles, causing cavitation and damage. This must be avoided by maintaining sufficient net positive suction head (NPSH) as specified by the manufacturer. ‘Vapor must also be avoided in the suction piping to the pump. It is possible to have intermediate spots in the system where the pressure falls below the liquid’s vapor pressure if careful design is not done. ‘Therefore, the suction system must perform two major jobs: maintain sufficient NPSH; and maintain the pres- sure above the vapor pressure at aif points. NPSH is the pressure available at the pump suction nozzle after vapor pressure is subtracted. It is expressed in terms of liquid head. I thus reflects the amount of hesd loss that the pump can sustain internally before the vapor pressure is reached. The manufacturer will specify the NPSH that his pump requires for the operating range of flows when handling water. This same NPSH is normally used for other liquids. For design work, the known pressure is that in the vessel from which the pump is drawing. Therefore, the pressure and NPSH available at the pump suction flange must be calculated. The vessel pressure and static head pressure are added. From this must be subtracted vapor pressure and any pressure losses in the entire suction system such as: 1. Friction losses in straight pipe, valves, and fittings 2. Loss from vessel to suction line 3. Loss through equipment in the suction a heat exchanger) (such as ‘The NPSH requirement must be met for all anticipated flows. Maximum flow will usually have « higher NPSH than normal flow. For some pumps, extremely low flows can also require higher NPSH. This usually necessary for the process engineer to have an idea of NPSH requirements early in the design phase of project. The NPSH sets vessel heights and influences other design aspects. The choice of pumps is an economic balance involving NPSH requirements and pump speed. The lower speed pump will usually have lower NPSH requirements and allow lower vessel heights. A low-speed pump may also have a better maintenance record. However, the higher-speed pump will usually doliver the required head in a cheaper package. ‘The suction system piping should be kept as simple as reasonably possible and adequately sized. Usually the suction pipe should be larger than the pump suction nozzle. ‘The second major job of the suction system is to main- tain the pressure above the vapor pressure at all points.Usually, possible points of intermediate low pressure ‘occur in the area of the vessel outlet (drawoff) nozzle Kem! gives some good rules of thumb on this point: 1. The minimum liquid head above the drawoff nozzle must be greater than the nozzle exit resistance. Based on asafety factor of 4 and a velocity head “K” factor of 0.5: hy = 2u?/2g where: Liquid level above nozzle, ft jozzle velocity, f/see 2.2 sec 2, For a saturated (bubble point) liquid, pipe vertically downward from the drawoff nozzle as close to the nozzle as possible. This gives maximum static head above any horizontal sections or piping networks ahead of the pump, Pumps 107 A vortex breaker should be provided for the vessel drawoff nozzle, Kern! shows some types. ‘Some suction line rules of thumb are: 1. Keep it short and simple, 2. Avoid loops or pockets that could collect vapor or dint 3. Use an eccentric reducer with the flat side up (to prevent trapping vapor) as the transition from the larger suction Tine to the pump suetion nozzle. 4. Typical suction line pressure drops: Saturated liquids = 0.05 to 0.Spsi/l0ott Subcooled liquids = 0.5 to LOpsi/100ft Sources 1, Kern, R,, “How to Design Piping for Pump-Suction Conditions.” Chemical Engineering, April 28, 1975. 2. Branan, C. R., The Process Engineer's Pocket Hand- book, Vol. 2, Gulf Publishing Co., 1983. ‘Suction System NPSH Available ‘Typical NPSH calculations keep the pump’s lowest pressure below the liquid’s vapor pressure as illustrated by the following three examples: I~ NPSH CALCULATION FOR SUCTION LIFT po une Loss carr SPECIC GRAVITY OF WATERHI0 ATMOSPHERE a7 Poa NPSH AVBILABLE NUST BE GREATER THAN NPSH REQUIRED BY THE PUMP Figure 1. NPSH calculation for suction lt. NNPSH CALCULATION FOR LIQUID AT BOILING PONT EAONG 375) 3 SPEORE GRAUITY OF N-BUTANE AT OTF +056 wns wr FR “Sg canner NPSH AVAL ABLE MUST aa BE GREATER THAN UNE Loss = 25 FT NPSH REQUIRED By THE PUMP Figure 2. NPSH calculation for liquid at boiling point,108 Rules of Thumb for Chemical Engineers NPSH CALCULATION FOR PRESSURED DRUM SPECIE GRAWTY OF WATER +10 GAUGE READNG 10 PS! lage NPSH AVAILABLE MUST BE GREATER THAN NPSH REQUIRED By THE Pu¥'P @ jure 3, NPSH calculation for pressured drum. LUNE Loss + 45 Fr Sources 1. McAllister, E. W.. Pipe Line Rules of Thumb Hand- book, 3rd Ed., Gulf Publishing Co., 1993. ‘Suction System NPSH for Studies For studies or initial design it is good to have quick estimates of pump NPSH. Evans discusses the general formula n(Q)"*/expsy’* = n= Speed, 1pm Q= Capacity, gpm =A constant between 7,000 and 10,000 Evans plotted the relationship with C= 9,000 resulting in the following graph for initial estimates of minimum where NPSH required. ‘MNEVUM NPSH FOR WATER, so} wt 99 atk abo oo Figure 1. Use these curves to find minimum NPSH required.