Eductor pumps: the calculations ‘The eductor pump, or ‘ejector’, is as old as the Greeks, but not as well ut ised as the centrifugal pump with which it shares some performance features. The principal reason is the poor overall power effici iency, but lack of use creates lack of familiarity. In fact, if treated just as a water-operated suction pump the eductor is embarrassingly simple and becomes another tool in the skilled pump man's range. Trevor Benjamin describes the principles of how it works, provides guid: lance on how procedure selecting the right dimensions. centrifugal pump — will Seliver two o thee times ae eee ppamp for tho same powes, iris smaller fod famillae The educeor pump however survives in comers of the fd fondling field where power is fet the frst consideration and other prem come hieber on the lst They can be totally unsuitable for ninety nine applications bur fi one Tike a glove ‘The eductor pump: how does it work? a fie jo i pointed at che surface of lke che war moves away in eds facm the point of impact. The eneray nthe fire jr has heen transfered 2 the water in the lake and that water bas ow ben moved on The sme’ fect takes place when the whi snooker ball is seat dows the table at high speed. The reds seater mainly in a direction sway fom che cuz ball The cue bal slows havi pred wth is energy in hitting the te Aa ductor pump compres 9 jot Eee cetera ‘The only moving parts ae dhe uid ‘The energy in the power fl linpared to he entrained in the callecting pipe and both ane moved Terminology Ac tis poine its worth defining our tens, As most pumps handle water rain che tems water and air ill be used in the rest of this article as a ‘general descripsion ~ Flucs of all fonts can he handled, including lorries and fluid borne rash nd priculates. Ainfiguid Liquide Liguiiquid Combinations. The range is wide. Eductors ae bing used, powered by gaseous ammonia to plants. They are used co create exceptionally high vtctms with Tiguid ring pumps: They shift muds feed cris see ay este eg Wests fon deep wells Stearn ee ss power is particularly effective im ee Four 1. Bate perils of he sactor 34) WORLD PUMPS. fe9:37/ 2001 1162 76210V5 snot mtr & 2001 er Senet hs ee can be applied and Even sand ean be pumped usins ie feluctoe samp as a mixer and she Airfair Air eductors ate vacuum paraps a have ‘applicaion where gee telisbiiy i vauired dlity ot corosive conditions. They ako permit very high vacuums Be schieved at second stages a mechanical vacuum pups, Airfliquid The scert spray wses compres fiom che rubber bulb co force 2 jee aie aco te top oa dip pipe ase scent bow. This his the scene ani dices icat night angles , pumping where needed, Us to move a liguid has the drawhack that the discharge is expansive and dhe liguil is spread into the open ‘wot in kop chat are iu to opel coalesce. The scent spr, the paint sun and che carburettor howeser exploit chis ‘deawback? full: The coluctor is more common than we reals. Liquidiair Many Ihoratory sinks ave sll ‘water opened vacuum efacton fad to their taps 50 chat at = tam the water tap a suction sam be applied to a filter fannel, fe instance. The filate can be wed away down the sink with the power Liquiditiquid ‘This article will concentrate on the more conventional liguids The diluting rive water bos great benefit ae keeping slurries moving in the lscharge pipe andl the decp soctomY vt F E f + Basictee Deep well Cancenine capsbility can be exploited in pumping difficle liquids from Inaccoshle places The calculations fer for compresible fluids and this article will concentrate on the Mud you will. moat ike to need to consider and the iguidLiguid pump. Shape and size ‘A tubular tee shape with aside inlet Js the most common for large versions. Deop well pumps have aU shape with a hortom ines. This allows them fit snugly down a well, Slim versione sre available in which the pressure pine and the discharge pipe are concentric ond give the appearance of a single hose ‘They are very manageable and if the pipe is flexible hose they have the ‘operating feel of wing a vacuum cleanse Because ofthe poor nergy ficiency, very large edctrs are not coma, “There arena obvious ‘Grand Coulee’ sie. However sillays of dams iver Figure 3.The teminlosy of eduction. and coastal defences and lange dainage schemes take imo account velocity jer warer bas transfered its the pump but the poorer the the eneny transfer equations that cnetgy the whole boly of water ness —sflciency: apply to be slowed down otherwise the "fiction! loses, as we call them, will Here we must pase aguin to establish are vigblearein be 100 wascelal. Slowing the water the terminoky. The term nozle i ‘The bigest sesh the ‘multiple kiloware' band and che carefully changes its Kinetic energy, sometimes applied to. this par. smallest can be ting, As a rule of which isa resale ofthe velocity, inka However an eductor pump aleeady has thumb LiguifLiguid eductor pumps potential energy, which we ell head. a nel, the par ehat bas so fr been are in the 25 mm pipe sse up ta 500 This is done with a tapered pipe referred to as the jet. This can ‘mm, the most common being in the which conacets the throat the pine confiss, The terms Jet, Throat and ‘smaller end of is range woke “Taper os aed in Fig, 3 have been found t0 be easly understood. The Whether the sce is small or large and Exactly the sme consideritions apply term nocle is eliminated however the exterior i configured, — tothe centrifugal pup. The water i the heart of the eductor is shown in ooted up to high velociy by the The throat. figt impeller and chen run theough a The throat diameter contol the relatively small entrance into a shape of the curve, when related to The taper Lapeed pipe We call his the volute. the jet diameter A narow threat High velocity warerat low pressure is gives ahh hea gain at the cost of Consider again the fire jet and lake, changed to high pressure at low flow. Opening up the dose improves As the edies srl away ffom the velocity and he presse drives the the flow entrained ard the solid sie point of impact their energy is water along the pipe against che that can he pased but atthe los of lissinated and not much gats 10 the system hend Ihead. es this jet to thot ratio that other side. By surrounding the point fs the main design poine, Seepanoh ‘of impact with a pipe we can direer The taper controls the rate of ainhis excellent treatise on centri the lake water to where we want i If deceleration and the edd losses. ess and other pumps, covers eductor the sutounding pipe istoo ig eddies tolerane of wide variation but §° pumps, He ses the ratio ofthe areas sail form so closer fit is required inclusive is 9 popular compromise of the jer and throat which needs around the entrance. Once the high angle. The wider the ang heshorer further mathematics. [ have always )wrrevertdpumps cm WORLD PUMPS fFeinior/ 2001 35‘Characteristic curves of ecucors | | | | Figure 4, characte carves of eductors sed che ratio ofthe diameters which {s mote pratial in engineering. This ratio designated R, The jet “The jet controls the amount of dive water going into the thioar. The Igher the presi at the entrance the jet the more the flow that goes though it. Table gives the practical rests for jets in the commonty use sizes. The presaue mst ake into secount any exta static head which tay reve from the eductor pump being below (or above } the point of reading the pressure For instance the jer in a pump in a well with have the benefit of all the static head above ity less any friction losses, at the je. The connections “The pine connections will depend on the flow carcied by cach. Presse ratings will suit the conditions, allowing for maximum closed valve resunes in the event of blockage ‘The discharge ie is often one sie Taeges than the deve pipe, Because itis coming both flows, One ste lrset hha twice the capacity The performance curve “The performance curve of an eductor pump is therefore much like that of centrifugal pump. Instead of each ‘ave being marked fr input ep the ‘aves are marked for inpur pressure Cavitation curves have the same fonmac Deep ell pumps are presented iferently, to suit theie mode of we) The recovered head. Fig. 5 gives the relationship between, the drive presute and the recovered head. The recovered head is thar presire measured at discharge end of the taper sus ae with any ceneligal pump with which we ae all familia: ‘This bs designated H. The recovered bead is always less chan the deve bead. Typically only 30% ofthe deve pressures seen at che discharge ofthe dct pup The entrained flow “The entrained flow is that coming in fo the eductor pump fom the surtoundings. Tes the water that you fre trying ta mou. The tatio of the entmined flow to the drive flow & designated Q. The entrained flow i ‘normally [ss than the drive flow, but 50% to 80% i reasonably achievable ‘The entrained flow can be greater thay the drive flow but at severe los ot ie Best efficiency point (On Fig 6 the best ficiency point ic ‘edicated by a dot on the eurve. This does tot take ints account the best efficiency point of the dive pump fone i used, a ie usualy i Cavitation ‘The eductor pump, even one designed for liguidliguid operation, will pull very high ir and worer vacuums However they al avicace and for igh end lows hey fen need | submering 10 inprove che NPSHa | The yorum achievable ay Be ices ceo | Surface finish and radii | Rounding the throat inlet and bellmouthing the entry are improvements. There was an instance however where a perfectly flat entry improved the efficiency of Drive in bars 2 eee ran | 3 42 ee 9.70 . ee s ee Ce > is e | ip ts | 9 74 WwW? 169 [os wa a 36| WORLD PUMPS Februar) 2001 ws wie i 154 ura v2 2A ma 352 as 68S m3 266 a7 nz A 360A 230 0 3012 aD m2 ong 02 a7 219 © 50080 m2 5 109 sa 710 26 sos 794 at 6 870155 or 940 er | 3 79 e278 ne 12 20ssimpling eduetor: Chamfering Recovered head and entrained flaw ealios | the exit e the jet rsducesbreakawy atthis point and reduces wear which is due to peripheral recirculation of fine parcieles at that point. One of the henefits ofthe eductor pomp however its resistance to abuse and ‘wea. Irwill soldier on giving liable pumping avhen_mechanieal pumps are im pieces on the workshop floor Adee pump issill quire fu this dene eee drive water or even another other fluid, Tt can also be more accessible Pumping in series and in parallel Jost like a centrifugal pump edctor Ss ramps may be operated in series and in pavallel, with similar straightforwarsl_ precautions. In Procedure for selecting the dimensions eductor pump in series with a centrifugal pump. The educeor is 4. Decide on the flow that you require. (The entrained flow). | wl Gon its seste operation, deep 2. Select an Rratio curve in the middle of Fig. and select a point | lie et. and the centrifugal provides ‘on that curve near a bp. the more efficient encigy teansfer 4 Cheek the ive flow required by require by the O factor Te crive flow than the induced flow. 4, Decide onthe head you require atthe dicharge of the eductor I pump. (Taking into account the static head and an estimate for the friction atthe combined drive and induced flows.) | 5. Check the crive head ratio H required atthe edutor pump for | the point selected above inline 2. Multiply the dscharge head from line 4 by this factor to get the drive head. This will be | “rate high presure dive pump: ee an aii ie lel an 6, Toget the drive pump pressure add or subtract any static head | c%¢ of slurries reduces the pressure and ine losses This together with line 3. gives you the sizeof | eal the seasvchandingatsof Dressure pump or hydrant characteristics needed to drive the | che ssem tuctor pum, 7. From the dive pressure and flow select ajet size from Table 1. | Gener ‘his in tur will ive you the thvoat size from the R ratio that you selected Inline 2 eee eae | @ The throat size establishes the small end of the taper and @ | uct faun asikt » nulen pence taper of 8° included angle brings the diameter up to that Of | tation, or a car plant, yetting water | ‘the appropriate pipe connection. It is usually necessary t0 tY | froin a long way across or down, need | diferent combinations o get an ideal combination to match x the availabilty of drive pumps and to allow for throat diameters large enough to pass sli, | 9. Tha gap between the jet and throat is not critical and dimension of one throat ciameter is suitable on. most occasions Concentricty and alignment should. be. within standard general engineering practice cama geaceee o.| 10. When handling denser entrained fluids the flow and heed will | iter rang A be reduced th proportion to the pectic gravity in a snilat| Novumoeond NEt0 EC Ok ‘manner to a centrifugal pump. a Pais ee eee 11, When handling viscous materials (8) also apples. This an | =x 7 161 g2280 ee ee eee eee een oe 9 the flow that you | once the water hos heen hroushe inormally be greater | hin rner Deep well stems are generally Like this and the dive water recicultes through the centrifugal pump. Caleuations are cuore involved. Al an engine driven borehole pump, an he the hes ectoe pump might jos choice. And once sastlled it wil silly he Fit and Fonsce . 38 WORLD PUMPS Febuary 2001 vomartpumpacem