APPLICATION GUIDELINES FOR PUMPING LIQUIDS THAT HAVE A LARGE DISSOLVED GAS CONTENT by Daniel W. Wood Application Engineer Flowserve Corporation ‘Wilmington, Delaware Robert J. Hart Principal Consultant and Ernesto Marra Project Engineer DuPont Engineering ‘Wilmington, Delaware Daniel W. (Dan) Wood is an Application Engineer for Flowserve Corporation. He is currently on special assignment with DuPont, in Wilmington, Delaware. He began his career af Flowserve Corporation in 1991 as a Product Development Engineer Mr. Wood's main function in his ‘eurrent postion 15 t0 act as a technology transfer channel between DuPont and Flowserve Mr Wood graduated from the University of € incinnat in 1991 (BS.ME,). He is @ member ofthe Vibration Institute and isa cerified Level If Vibration Analyst. He i also @ member ofthe Hydraulic Institute and STLE. Eynesto (Emie) Marra is a Project Engineer in the Energy Engineering Group of the DuPont Company, i Wilmington Delaware. He has been employed with the ‘company for 23 years. Mr Marra is responsible for ailty systems engineering for domestic and foreign capital projects. "Mme He specializes in low temperature refrigeration systems, compressed air . stems, and industrial HVAC and process “Mr Marra received an AAS-ME from Delaware College (1974). He is a registered Professional Engineer in the State of Pennsylvania Robert J. (Bob) Hart is a Principal Consultant in the Rotating Machinery Group with the Engineering Department of the DuPont Company, in Wilmington, Delaware. He has been employed with the company for 25 years. Mr “Hart provides individual consultation and group training throughout the DuPont Corporation onthe QO °F Ore es th nas and covenon of poems sith exting systems Hecht the companys Conorat Pump Comninen sponse forte deeopmen and mae Corporate ‘stndaris ‘and the dcemtaton of technic idormaton raed epampingostens. He sa mente of ASME tha hae he ASME Brs Purp Commies ite rccvedaBS degree echnical Engineering) from Ohio sre vers, a ABSTRACT case history is presented pertining to five (four operating and ‘one spare), 150 hp sealless pumps operating in patllel ina closed oop ~65°F chilled liquid system, The pumping system is designed to woe a liquid refigerant as a heat transfer media, due to its esirable pumping characteristics at low temperatures, All five pumps experienced severe damage snd vegeated failures of the process lubricated bearings during startup of the system. Investigation and analysis of the system revealed two major problem areas in pumping liquids with dissolved gases ‘© The standard textbook calculation for NPSH, may not accurately predict the effective NPSH, for @ liguid with high dissolved gas content ‘© Two phase flow (gas and liquid) through sealless pumps may lead to proces tubicated bearing flues, The authors review a method for caluluting the effective PSH, when dissolved gases ate present, The authors aso presento PROCEEDINGS OF THE ISTH INTRRNAZIONAI, PUMP USERS SYMPOSIUM appropriae system design considerations intended to assist in ‘minimizing che amount of gas that enter, or is released within, 8 ‘pump to prevent major equipment damage. ‘Also discussed are imitations imposed on the chilling capacity of the case history pumping system due to heat rejected t0 the chilled liquid as it passed though the magnetic drive pumps INTRODUCTION Description of Pumping System ‘The pumping system consists of four operating sealless pumps ‘operating in parallel in a closed loop ~65°F chilled iqud system, a shown in Figure 1. The purpose of the syster is to transfer chilled liquid tthe condenser for as in cooling the process liquid, ‘CONDENSER =e = Fv Pv 000 GPM DE-INVENTORY TANK, REFRIGERATION EVAPORATORS aaa Figure 1. Case History Chilled Liguid Pumping System. GRADE Although no reigeration cycle staking place inthe confines of| the pumping system, a liquid refrigerant is used os the pumping media, Liquid refrigerants ae often used asa heat transfer media down to ~110°F for process cooling, due to their desirable low ‘temperature pumping Characteristics such as a water-like viscosity. ‘nthe pumping system, the liquid is fed into the pumps from a deinventory tank at grade level. A 25 psig nitrogen gas pad is maintained inthe deinventory tank vapor space. In the pest, suction vessels in these pumping systems were elevated to provide adequate NPSH, for proper operation ofthe pump. However, due to increased economic pressures, new suction vessels are now ‘mounted at grade and pressurized with gas to achieve NPSH, for ‘the pump. After te Tiguid exis the suction vessel, it flows through the pump suction piping, which follows good engineering design practice to provide equal flow to all the pumps (note that the [pumps are operating in parallel). The elbows aod tee branches in the suction line are also kept 1 a minimum to avoid liquid prerolation and excessive turbulence. After passing through the raps, the liquid flows into wo refrigeration evaporators. Some liquid is bypassed back to the deinventory tank by the use of a pressure control valve, while the main flow continues on to 11 process condensers. The flow through the condensers is controlled by a flow control valve. The flow then returns o the deiaventory tank and enters below the liquid level via a dip tube to avoid ges entrainment. A baffle system inthe deinventory tank also ats as an ‘ditional measure to avoid gas entrainment, Description of Pump The pump applied to this service is a magaetic drive pump similar to Figure 2. The reasoas magnetic drive pumps. were chosen for this service were environmental regulations and liquid 0st At the time of pump selection, it was fet that magnetic drive pumps would provide the best means for maintaining a leak-free H SIF MoTOR — Bouse, Figure 2. Construction of a Magnetie-Driven Sealless Pump. In the magnetic drive pump, the pump shafvimpellersssembly is driven by permanent magnets external tothe containment shel Within the containment shell, another set of permanent magnet i attached tothe pump shaft. The pump shaft bearings (Figure 3) are lubricated by the liquid being pumped. These bearings are typically constructed of hard materials such as silicon carbide. Abou chee to five percent of the fsid being pumped is directed through a recirculation path starting ac a high pressure point in the pump casing, entering the bearing area, and retuming © the casing ‘behind the impeller. Because the fluid moves from a high pressure point in the casing and returns toa low pressure point, the liquid is driven by the pressure/velocity differential. The liquid moving through this recirculation path both lubricates the bearings and caries away the heat generated by hydraulic friction, bearing friction, and eddy-corrents in the containment shel. Figure 3, Magnetic Drive Pump Shaft Bearings with Lubrication Path Shown.APPLICATION GUIDELINES FOR PUMPING LIQUIDS THAT HAVE A LARGE DISSOLVED GAS CONTENT 93 Description of Problem During startup and commissioning of these pumps, severe damage and repeated failures of the process lubricated bearings Occurred. These process lubricated journal and thrust bearing failures occurred due to the lack of lubrication caused by the two phase flow in the bearings. Obviously, this resulted in lost time and production, No additional damage was done wo tbe pump. ‘An additional problem was encountered with marginal refrigeration capacity due to inefficiency of the magnetic drive ‘pumps. The original desig predicted a larger margin of cooling capability design for these evaporators chat did not reflect in the actual operation. FAILURE ANALYSIS Bearing Failures Dry running of product lubricated bearings in sealless pumps's| the most common cause of failure for these types of pumps, A typical cause of dry run failures can be as obvious asthe attempted starzup of a pump porto filling it with liquid. Other causes of dry running relate to misapplication, such’ as insufficient NPSH, pressure-temperatute transients, enirained sr and gases, or blocked lubrication and circulation paths. After verifying that the pump was filed with liquid and the jpump's lubrication paths were open, the authors narrowed down ‘he possible problems to insutficient NPSH and entrained gas, Previous experience with pumping the same liguid revealed that entrained gas could be a serious problem. A similar application at another plant site utilized an elevated deinventory tank (which was not pressurized with gas), as shown in Figure 4, with magnetic drive pumps similar to the case history pumps. These pumps experienced similar process lubricated bearing failures. To alleviate this problem, availed dip tube were installed in the deinventory tank, so that the gas could liberate self fram the liquid before entering the suction pipe. The installation ofthe dip tube and bale system eliminated the pump failures. Knowledge of the failures due tothe entrained gas oa this application was known Dior to the design ofthe case history application. Therefore, prior tothe first startup, a dip tube and baffle sytem was installed on the case history deinventory tank to avoid entrainment of ritrogen into the liguid eteigerant a X ae ‘raronarone After feeling confident tu the enteained gas problem did not ‘exist on the case history application due tothe extensive design measures taken, attention turned toward the NPSH margin. Calculations revealed that NPSH, = 61 fe using the standard hnandbook calculation as follows: = Doge o available net positive suction head, i fof liquid total suction head, in fof liquid, absolute vapor pressure of liquid at suction nozzle, in fof liguid, absolute The manufacturer's published NPSHg was 10 f% making the overall NPSH margin 51 ft. Note that the magnetic drive pamps Were not tested for NPSHp as it was detennined thatthe NPSH margin was more than adequate. ‘After numerous failures, the cause of the process bearing failures could not be determined without losing more producting time. It was decided to remove the magnetic drive pumps from service and install standard double mechanical sealed centrifugal pumps. The replacement pumps would still provide a leakfree environment, but Would not be subjected to process lubricated bearing failures, The replacement pumps had an NPSHy of 11 f, which was confirmed by manufacturer testing. “The double mechanical sealed centrifugal pumps operated for three days without any noticeable problems. However, audible ‘crackling noises in and around the pump suction started to ocest after this inital period. When this cavitation began, it was noted tha differential pressure gauge reading the pressure drop through a suction strainer had increased to 1,75 ps fom its inital reading thee days price of 0.75 psi. It dd not make sense atte time that cavitation would appear with such a large NPSH margin, which ‘was now 50 ft with the replacement pumps. The strainer Was cleaned and replaced with a subsequent audible decrease in pump ‘cavitation. At this point, this was a clue that some parameter must bbe marginal 0 cause pump cavitation with such'a small increase in the suetion side frietional drop. This was strong enough evidence to convince the authors that the pump was operating in the ‘breakdown area of the NPSH curve (Figure 3) penton for gas-free liqiud breakdown for liquid with dissolved gas Head, H Q Figue 4. Application Showing Previous Experience with Gas Entrainment Pumping Sate Liquid as Case History Application (No nitrogen blanket on vessel) > NPSH ——> igure 5. NPSH Breakdown Curve. Itean be noted in Figute 5 that the gasfre liquid in curve a has ‘a much sharper breakdown than does the liquid with dissolved gas in curve b. The solubility of any gas in a Liquid decreases with9 PROCERDIN reduced pressure. Low available NPSH, therefore, liberates a major part of the gests dissolved inthe liquid into the low pressure zones of the suction line and impeller. This gas reduces the effective suction area ofthe pump that, in tur, decreases the head developed by the pump. Also, when dissolved gas is coming out of solution, a more gradual head drop-off such asin curve bin Figure 5, may be seen than when pumping a gas-ftee liquid, It should be stated that the gradual drop-off seen in curve can also be ‘observed without gas present when the pump operacing capacity is less than the best efficiency point capacity. Itcan also be noted from Figure 5 thatthe breakdown of curve b begins to happen at a higher NPSH than the gas-fee liquid of ‘curve a. This phenomenon causes the NPSH needed to maintain reliable pump operation 1 be higher when dissolved gas is present Tz the case history application, the authors felt that ‘phenomenon that causes the effective NPSH, to be lower than Anticipated must be occurring. Therefore, the next step was to understand this phenomenon and investigate the possibilty of dissolved 05, specifically dissolved nitrogen, coming out of solution and reducing the effective NPSH, Gas Solubility in Liguid Iti quite well known that gases are soluble in liquids suck as ‘water. The ability of fish o breathe is dependent upon this fac. Ad carbonated beverages have their characteristic properties because ‘ofthe solubility of carbon dionide in wate. Is known that a soda left open in 2 «arm room will get fat quickly. All of these observations are dependent upon the selublity of gases in liquid. Henry's Law Solids and liquids have some well-defined solubility in liquid solvents. Te solubility of gases, onthe other hand, depends on he pressure, according to Henry's Law. This say that as we increase the pressure ofthe gas Py (or more correctly, the partial pressure) the amount of gas dissolved (the solubility ,) increases, depending on the Henry's law constant ky. Some typical constants ate shown in Table 1 'A good example to understand the use of Henry’s law is to ‘examine a phenomenon called the bends, which affects deep-sea divers. Air is 78 percent nitrogen, which means that at ambient (atmospheric) pressure the pressure of nitrogen inthe atmosphere is 0.78 760 mm Hg = 590 mm Hg. With the Henry's law constant in Table 1, we can calculate that at ambient pressure, the feoncentration of N3 in water is Sp = $90 mm Hg x 842 10-7 molL mm Hg) (2) 97 x 10- mol Table 1. Gas Solubility at Ambient Prescure in Water Gas | ky moM(L-mm Hg) N, 8.42 x 107 0, 1.66 & 10 cO, 44x 10> Since one mole of nitrogen at 37°C occupies about 25.4 L, if there are 4.97 X 10~# mol of No, that corresponds to 1.26 * 10-2 L= 126 mL of nitrogen dissolved per liter of water. Blood is mostly water, go ths isthe amount of nitrogen dissolved in blood under normal conditions ‘Under the ocean, the pressure increases about one atmosphere every 10 m, of 33 ft Sof we dive toa depth of 155 fy, the pressure Py= atm + 155 £0033 faim) = 6 atm @ OF THE 15TH INTERNATIONAL PUMP USERS SYMPOSIUM. Ifthe diver is breathing air, then his or her blood will dissolve 6 % 126 mL = 76 mL No/L water, six times more than at atmospheric pressure. Effect of Temperature on Gas Solubility ‘As temperature increases, the solubility of gases decreases, as shown in Figure 6, Ths is the simple explanation of why se open soda kept cold will keep its fizz longer than one allowed to warm wp, CH, 20 — 0: Soha x am (cites! i) CO 10 i te ° 0 0 9 4 50 ‘eaperater ie C Figure & Gas Solublliies in Water as a Function of Temperature, Dissolved Gas and Is Effect on NPSH Tn oder to prevent cavitation in the pump, the pump suction pressure must be higher than the flui's vapor pressure at the pumping temperature. As stated earlier by Equation (1), this isthe definition of NPSHy. For cases in which the ligud contains no dissolved gases, the vapor pressure determination is determined by Equation (1). ‘Stepanoft (1993) indicates thatthe presence of gases in the Liquid does not affect the validity of Equation (2) except that, according to Dalton’s law of purtat pressures, the vapor will behave a8 if it occupied the voids alone, and vaporization will bein at an absolute pressure higher than is nora boiling point snd conesponding 10 the existing temperature. However, with dissolved gases, the situation is more complicated, because vapor pressure data ae usually not availble ‘Consequently, when the liquid eoters the eye of the impeller, some of the dissolved pa is iberated de othe reduced pressure ‘The pump inlet pressure drop in gas saturated liguid purnping systems may cause g05 to be released, reducing the calculated NPSH margin toa value such that heavy cavitation is experienced (Figures 7, 8, and 9) Relatively small amounts of gas experienced during wo" phase flow ean dramatically affect hydraulic performance and reliability In sealless pumps, a gas saturated liquid may release gas from solution as the liquid passes through the process lubricated Bearings and the static pressure drops. The gas release in the process lubricated bearings causes the bearings to run dry and eventually leads to failure. The author fel that tis was the eause for failure in the magnetic drive pumps that were initially installed. ‘So the question becomes—how does one approximate NPSH, if Aissolved gas is present. Accordingly, if the engineer plas it safeAPPLICATION GUIDELINES FOR PUMPING LIQUIDS THAT HAVE A LARGE DISSOLVED GAS CONTENT. 95 Figure 7, Test Setup with Clear Plastic Suction Pipe to Show Gas Coming Out of Solution—Standing Vortex Shown in Figure. Figure 8, Dissolved Gas Coming Out of Solution at Pump Suction with Pump Shown on Lef Figure 9, Dissolved Gas Coming Out of Solution and assumes (for lack of data) that the process pressure of the liquid-gas solution in the suction vessel is its vapor pressure, and the engineer consequently designs enough vessel elevation to Fully ‘compensate for friction losses between the vessel and pump, this elevation may be greater than necessary. Because ofthe elevation ‘requirement, this in turn would most likely be an uneconomical Solution. On the exer hand, if the engineer ignores the presence of the gas and bases the vessel elevation on the vapor pressure of the Vaporfre liquid, the vessel may not be high enough For an economical suction vessel design, an effective vapor pressure that lies berween the races pressure and te liguid vapor pressure should be used in calculating NPSH,. Chen (1993) offers aan analytic way to calculate the effective vapor presture ofa gas- saturated liquid that ean then be use for calculating the effective PSH 4 follows: \. Determine the liquid density p; andthe gas density pg atthe process conditions is. te pump suction vessel. The liquid density fs assumed 0 be constant (because only & small amount of gas i$ flashing). The gas density is atthe temperature and pressure ol pressure, not partial pressure) in the suction vessel 2. Determine Wy, the weight fraction of dissolved gas at the ‘pump suction vessel conditions, from simulation results, solubility data or Henry's law. 3. Use the results of Steps 1 and 2 10 calculate the solubility Factor S by Equation (4). S= WPL! Poo @ 4. Select a design value for the tolerable volume fraction fof ‘vapor at the pump eye: 0,025 (25 percent), 0.030 (3 percent) or some other value suggested by the pump vendor. Centrifugal pumps can tolerate a small amount of vapor, generally around three percent by volume, Note that dissolved pas coming out of solution has essentially the same effect on the pump as vapor forthe pump. "Therefore it can also be said that a centrifugal pump can generally tolerate around three pereest by volume of dissolved gas coming ‘ut of solution 5. Determine vapor pressure of the pure liguid P, atthe process temperature and calculate R by Equation (3), R=P\/Py o 6. Determine the saturation factor a (between zero and one: use fone if the factor is not known) and calculate the saturation coefficient 2 by Equation (6), beat(—a)P,/Po © Use the values of S and f obtsined above to caleulate the parameter N by Equation (7), N=(fa-91/S o 8. Use the rsuls of Steps 5, 6, and 7 10 caicelate onefficiens A, B, and C by Equations (8), (9), and (10), A=N(-R)+1 ® NR (LR) +b o C=NRUU-R) a9) 9. Caleulate y by Equation (11), and then the effective vapor pressure P, by Equation (I96 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ISTH INTERNATIONAL PUMP USERS SYMPOSIUM B+ VB?— 4ac ay ay P,=yP, «2 Calculated results for f= 0.030 appear in Figure 10. can be seen from the curves that the difference between the process Using Chen’s method and assuming a saturated solution, both a and b have 2 value of one. The calculations forthe case history effective vapor pressure are shown in Table 3 Table 3. Calculations for Effective Vapor Pressure for Case History Application. reuse and the effective vapor pressure becomes significa ol) ‘hen the gas solubility is low : 8 0.3667 R 0.01 Volume traction of tahed gas =0.090 1 a 10 b 1.0 : 08 N 0.0699 i "a > A 1.0695 Bos Y B 1.0009 8 iz Cc 0.0000 04 g = 0.9358 2 ne P, 37.43 psia : The equation for NPSH, is a al a Lad oe 1 NPSH, = (Pp — Py ~ friction toss), in feet 3) (Usui VPY{Operaing pressure) of liquid + h 0-5-0001 —HES00t AS20085 S05 —O-! Figure 10. Calculation of Effective Vapor Pressure for ‘and Various Listed Solubility Factors Case History NPSH, Calculation ‘When a blanket of inert gas is employed over a liguid to maintain desired process pressure above the liquid vapor pressure, some ofthe gas will dissolve in the liquid. As the Tiquid enters the pump, pat of the dissolved gas will lash ifthe liquid static head is insufficient fo overcome the pressure érop between the tank and the pump. This may cause severe cavitation if the ‘amount of flashed gas is substantial. In the case history application, it was desired to not exceed a maximum level of 2.5 percent dissolved gas coming out of solution at the pump suction. The given input forthe case history is shown in Table 2. ‘Table 2. Inpus for Case History Effective NPSH, Calculation Pe 0 ps T =e ‘Suction Piping Pressure Loss | 050 psi Suction Suainer Pressure Loss | 1.75 psi a 2507 Tee a 100.0 Toe 35 Gay Leo) f 0.025) W D32E-0e B 025 pala NES, To ® TOR Leth stand for the suction side static head, inf. In this case, ‘equals 7 f. Computing the NPSH,: «Ignoring the dissolved ges: 231 NPSH,=(40- 025-225) pix Fh +h cd) NPSH, = (540 +h) = 6L00 1 Taking dissolved gas into account (i.e, using the effective vapor pressure} wesH,= 40-3145 229 pix 2b ew a NPStg=05 +) RH758 + NSH tse on opening presse of pnp ston vee 2 NPsthy=40~ 40-229 9x22 +n a6 NPSH,, (32+ mh an IC the required NPSH is 10 fi, the required static heads above pomp centerline areas follows: ‘© Based on ignoring the dissolved gas: no additional positive static head is required ‘* Based on taking dissolved gas into account: an additional static head of 2.5 fis required, plus 5 efor safety margin, for a total of 7.5 {additional required static head, ‘* Based on the pump suction vessel pressure: an additional static head of 6.2 fis required, plus 5 ft for safety margin fr a total of 112 ft additional required static head. ‘The result cbtained by using liquid vapor pressure in the NPSH, ccleulation, namely that no postive static head is require, is tooAPPLICATION GUIDELINES FOR PUMPING LIQUIDS THAT HAVE A LARGE DISSOLVED GAS CONTENT ” optimistic, However, the calculation taking the dissolved gas into account concludes that inadequate NPSH,, existed inthe system. It also shows that the NPSH, was close to the NPSH,.As previously noted, audible cavitation was much more evident as the suction strainer grew ditty, signifying that the pumps were on the ‘breakdown arca of the NPSH curve, ‘The abave strongly suggests thatthe Chen method was fairly accurate in predicting he NPSH for this application. ‘Also, the result based on ‘using the plocess pressure is conservative, though not far off. The vessel suppor height es calculated is unnecessarily high by about 3.7 1t However, the authors do not feel an adequate design exists when NPSH, = [NPSH,. In this application, an NPSH margin of 5 ft should be employed. Heat Generation Another problem encountered in the eas history application, wen the magnetic drive pumps wer installed, was excessive heat Jou on the chilers. Tis excesive eat foad came from the ineticieny of the magnetic rive pumps and caused the chillers 19 rin close to sheit maximum apacty The excessive heat load would not have been seen as large problem if she system were heating unit. However, since the ‘Objective was to cool the liquid, the problem Was highly evident, 48 most of the heat from the inefficiency of the pumps went dlieoly ito the liquid. Tn the application, the overall efficiency ofthe magnetic dive ppmps was #3 percent. Te efficiency of the standard centrifugal ouble mechanical sealed pumps that replaced these pumps was 69 percen. Tis efficiency difference equated to a delta of 47 hp per Dump and, since there were fur operating pumps, te total pump bhp thatthe refrigeration evaporator had as an atonal heat load was 185 hp, assuming 100 percent of the ineficiency went ita heating the proces uid (pial, this might be closer to 85t0 90, percent. This 188 hp adational Read Toad equated to 40 tons of Shiller capacity, The chiller needed hp for every ton of refrigeration it produced and, thus, the chiller required 160 hp to ‘ake up forthe 40 ron heat lead. Taking the 188 hp of pump drive Inefficiency and adding it to the 160 hp reftigeration evaporator power requirement, equates to 348 hp of power losses. At five ents per kWh and 5870 hours per year tility, the 348 hp energy waste by the iniicency of the magnetic drive pumps. was approximated a costing $115,000 pox yea. Since the solution (othe bearing fire problems was to use a standaré mechanical scaled centtugal pup. the het generation problem disappeared, as did te power requtement for the pumps. In this particular gpplication, there was a lesson learned about the inefficiency of sealless punps. The objective of ths pumping system was (0 chil the proces id, making the performance of the originally installed magnetic dives contadictory due to the heat the parps added othe sytem, The magnetic drive pumps insalles were beer intended for «high temperature heat wansfer ‘pplication, 26 they would have kept the process fluid hot and ‘duced he load onaheat source such a bole However, ceain Magaetic pump designs exist that have Somposte containment Shells that have no eddy currents. The overall efficiency of these magnetic drive pumps is two to three points less than the equivalent pomp with a mechanical seal, when pumping lw Viscosity iguids “Te lesson is that the use ofa sealless pump shoud be weighed versus the use of a standard Sealed pump, du othe heat added to the system in cryogenic applications “The published performance curves of scalless pumps may not readily iden the portion ofthe power that enters the hydra System a6 heat energy. Most users are familiar with the performance curves provided on the mote standard shaft sealed pumps and may no have adequate information a properly acount forthe diference cause by the drive inefficiency 2, magnetic coupling losses). Such an oversight might cause the pumping system designer to underdesign a component inthe system such as a felrigeration evaporator), In fact, in the case history application, if it were not for asking extra questions about the ‘pumps, the efficiency issue would not have been uncovered, and the reltigeration evaporators might well have been mistakenly underdesigned. The ASME B73.3 Sealless Pump Standard wifl address this issue, The identification of the true overall pump efficiency is especially critical for closed loop systems, circulating systems, and systems with fluids with low specific heat and high vapor pressure. Heat Generation Effect on Gas Released the Pump In sealless pumps, & gas saturated liquid may release gas from solution as the liguid passes through the process lubricated bearings and rotor to stator gap as the temperature increases. A second problem that showed up in the magnetic drive pumps also hhad 10 do with heat generation. A temperature monitor that ‘measied the containment shell temperature was displaying much higher temperatures than expected, The liquid temperature at the ‘pump suction was ~65°F, whereas the reading on the containment Shell Was 46°F, giving a temperature rise of IF. The pump ‘manpfacturer hab estimated temperature rise of approximately 48°F, which meant thatthe shell temperature probe reading should have been about ~17°E The authors hypothesized that the explanation for the higher than predicted temperature rise could rest within at Jeast three possibilities, “The first hypothesis that gas came out of solution in the containment shell du tothe localized heating of the process liquid. Tn sealess pumps, a gas saturated liquid may release gas from solution as te lguid passes through the rotor to stator gap, andthe temperature increases. The released gas reduced the heat transfer ‘capability from the containment shell to the liguid-gas mixture fand, thus, the higher than expected temperature reading. was experienced The second hypothesis is similar to the fist in that gas came ovt ‘of solution in the containment shell. However, in this hypathesis, ‘enough g2s was released to completely slop the flow through the ppump cooling path to vapor lock the path. On one occasion, one ppump’s containment shell appeared to have expanded’ and ‘contacted the outer magnet, thus rupturing the shell. The expansion ofthe shell may have aceured due to complete lack of cooling, ‘which would support the theory of the cooling path being vapor bound. "The third hypothesis is that dhe pump supplier did not account for the Mud properties and their effect on temperature rise in the pump, (One of the properties of the Yiquid refrigerant was a low specific heat, which would cause a high temperature ise Figure 11), shel ‘temperature rise of liquid in pump continma viscosly, specific heat [==seecepectic heat te tlaroet Figure 11. Relative Effects of Specific Heat and Viscosity on Containment Shell Temperature Rise98 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 18TH INTERNATIONAL PUMP USERS SYMPOSIUM CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS «For single component gas-liquid systems (Le, where a single gas exists in a blanket system), Chen's ({993) method provided ‘excelent results for calcaleing the effective NPSH, in the case history appliction 4 {f test data are not available when using Chen's (1993) method for making effective NPSH, calculations, it is recommended t0 assume the liquid is fully saturated with blanket gas (a = 8 = 1) ‘© In a waterir system, Chen (1993) recommends that pumping ‘water from a tank that is higher than the pump, usualy offers no INPSH problem. However, if water is pumped from 2 level below the pump, the effect of dissolved air on pump lifting capability should be investigate. ‘© For # mulkicomponent system (ie. liquid saturated with @ gas mixture containing several major components), Chen (1993) notes that the effective NPSH, method is not reliable. Process simulation is the only tustworhy method for obtaining the effective vapor pressure for this type of system, ‘6 To the authors’ knowledge, none ofthe necwork flow analysis software packages on the market oday take into account dissolved ‘eases in the fluid, Make sure this is not overlooked when using these software packages. ‘© As 2 guideline, the NPSH, should exceed the NPSHg by @ ‘minimum of $ ft, or be equal 01.35 times the NPSHs, whichever is the greater value. For example, for an NPSHp of 10 f, the [NPSHq should be a minimum of 15 f. ‘© Avoid designs where the possibility of gas entrainment exists ue to liquid frefall or vortexing. The gas entrained in these situations can be jos as harmful tothe pump as dissolved gas ‘© For systems that have a high dissolved gas content, give careful consideration to the pump type to be used. In general, sealed pumps are much less susceptible to dissolved gas than are sealless pomps ‘For systems that have high dissolved gas content, use caution in evaluating readings from transducers such as femperature of pressure, Dissolved gas may come ut of solution in close ‘roximity to the wansducer, causing erroneous readings or other ‘Phenomena to occur * In chilled liquid applications, careful consideration should be given to the evaluation of sealed versus sealless pumps. The additional heat generated by sealless pumps due to their inefficiency as compared with Sealed pumps may require a much larger refrigeration design to be required, not t mention the increased energy requirements. NOMENCLATURE, (Coefficient in Equation (11) as defined in Equation (8) Saturation factor [(dissolved gas at unsaturated condition dissolved gas at saturated condition)| ‘= Covificient in Equation (11) as defined in Equation (9) Saturation coefficient as defined in Equation (6) Coefficient in Equation (11) as defined in Equation (10) ‘Volume fraction of vapor at pump eye [(volume ‘occupied by flashed gas and vaporized liuid)/total volume)] Suction static head, fof liquid Henry’s law constant Parameter defined in Equation (7) [Net postive suction head, fof liquid [Net positive suction head oveahle ft of liquid "Net positive suction head required, fof liquid Pressure, psia Partial pressure fete vapor one coepoting tan aowale psa P, ‘Operating pressure of pump suction vessel, psia PB ‘Vapor pressure of liquid (without dissolved gas), psia R Ratio of P, and Py s Solubility factor defined in Equation (4) Sy = Solubility Ty = Temperature of suction vesel,"F W, = Weight fraction of dissolved gas at total pressure of P W, = Weight action of dissolved gas at total pressure of Py y° = RaioofP, and, Bg = Density of gas at pump suction vestel pressure (P) and temperature, Ihe PL = Liquid densiy, 1b? REFERENCES Chen, C.C., October 1993, "Cope with Dissolved Gases in Pump Calculations" Chemical Processing. Karassik, I, et al. 1986, Pump Handbook, 2nd Edition, New York, "New York: MeGraw Hil. Penney, W. R.. July 1978, “Ine Gas in Liguid Mars Pump Performance,” Chemical Engineering. Stepanoff, A. J., 1993, Centrifugal and Axial Flow Pumps, 2nd Ealtion, Malabar, Florida: Knieget ‘Tai, M. J. July 1982, “Accounting for Dissolved Gases in Pump Design,” Chemical Engineering Yedidiah, S., 1996, Centrifugal Pump User's Guidebook: Problems and Soiuions, New York, New York: Chapman & Hal