26 Feature

WORLD PUMPS April 2009

Energy efficiency

Two approaches to
capacity control
Pump capacity is mainly controlled by means of throttle valves
or by varying the rotational speed. In this fifth article in a
series on energy savings, Hans Vogelesang of PumpSupport
considers the advantages and disadvantages of both methods
and whether it is always useful to use speed regulation.

I
n the last article1 we saw that the
operational point is determined by the
intersection of the pump and piping
(system) characteristic curves. During the
process the operational conditions vary and
the piping characteristic also changes
accordingly. In practice the output of the
pump will change continuously during a
process without capacity control.
In many cases this is undesirable and with
many processes the capacity of the pump
has to be controlled very accurately. Think
for instance of heating or cooling systems
where the required heat transfer has to be
adjusted depending on the need. Besides
varying the temperature of the medium,
the amount of water passing through the
system is often increased or decreased.
254 mm. With this pump, the design
capacity at design speed lies exactly
at the optimal operational point with
the highest efficiency rate (BEP; best
efficiency point). In pump performance
(Q–H) graphs, such as those discussed in
later sections, the pump efficiency rate is
always represented by means of lines of
equal efficiency. In this way the optimal
efficiency rate within a given Q–H graph is
immediately recognizable.
It is important to note that when control-
ling the capacity of pumps the output of
the pump should never be less than the
minimal flow as indicated by the manu-
facturer. The rule of thumb is 25% of the
optimal capacity (= Q at ηmax).
Throttle control
With this method a control valve is placed in
the discharge line of the centrifugal pump,
which is opened to a greater or lesser degree
depending on the desired pump output.
Note that this is only applicable for centrif-
ugal pumps. Throttle control cannot be used
with a positive-displacement pump!
With a closed circuit, for instance a cooling
water system as shown in Figure 1, the
necessary differential head consists solely of
friction losses. Because there is no stationary
differential head, the piping characteristic
has its origin at 0 m3/h and 0 m and will
increase quadratically as capacity increases.
If the throttle valve is fully open then,

Expansion vessel
Capacity control
The capacity of centrifugal pumps is mainly
regulated in two different ways. Tradition-
ally, the best-known method is throttle
control, which is still often applied. With
this method a control valve is placed in the
discharge line. Circulation pump Throttle valve Cooler
The second method involves regulating
the pump speed, which is employed
increasingly since the introduction of
frequency converters. But this method
cannot be applied indiscriminately in
all cases. The examples discussed below
will illustrate this. In all cases the exam-
ples are based on a design capacity of
100%, and in all cases the same pump Return cooler
is used with an impeller diameter of Figure 1. Example of a closed circuit with only dynamic losses.

www.worldpumps.com 0262 1762/09 © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

 Feature 27
WORLD PUMPS April 2009

according to Figure 2, the output of the

Control valve throttled
Control valve fully open
pump is 100% at the intersection of the Increased throttling of control valve
22.5 254 mm
system and pump characteristics.
20
If the valve is throttled it will introduce more
resistance. This means that the system charac- 17.5

teristic will describe a steeper curve and that

15
the intersection with the pump characteristic

Head - m
will shift to the left, corresponding to a lower 12.5
flow rate. The amount of water circulating
10
through the system will decrease more and
more as the throttle valve is throttled more 7.5
and more. In this way the output of the Additional pressure drop
in control valve
centrifugal pump is always simply continu- 5

ously variable.
2.5

The flow can be regulated in the same

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140
manner with an open system, as shown in
m3/hr
Figure 3. But here the total differential head Q = 50% Q = 100%
always consists of the stationary differential Figure 2. Throttle control. The pump’s capacity decreases as friction in the system increases.
head plus the dynamic differential head;
therefore the system characteristic at 0 m3/h
will begin at the stationary differential head Discharge tank
and increase quadratically at increasing flow
rate. With a fully opened throttle valve, the
flow of the pump is as shown in Figure 4
at the intersection of the system and pump
characteristics for Q = 100%.

Because the total differential head consists

of the combination of the stationary and
dynamic differential heads, the system char-
Delivery pump Throttle valve
acteristic will, however, be much flatter at
the same total differential head than with a
closed circuit. Therefore less extra resistance
is needed via throttling to achieve a similar Suction tank
regulating range.

Figure 3. Example of an open system with both static differential head and dynamic losses.
Speed control
In the case of speed (frequency) regulation
22.5
254 mm 50 60
there is no throttle valve and the delivery 65
70 73
75
77 77.5
valves are always fully open. The pump’s 20
77 1450 rpm
speed is variable. Various speed-regulated 17.5
75
73
pump drives are available but in most cases
70
15
a frequency converter in the power supply
Head - m

of the electric motor is used. This offers 12.5 7.5 kW

65
the possibility to vary the frequency of the
10 5.5 kW
power supply and with this the speed of a
60 4 kW
normal three-phase motor. 7.5
152 mm
3 kW
When the speed of the pump changes the 5
2.2 kW
50
pump characteristic will also change. The 2.5 1.5 kW
changes always follow a fixed pattern. This
0
makes it easy to predict how the pump 20 40 60 80 100 120 140
m3/hr
curve will change when the speed is being Q = 50% Q = 100%
adjusted. A lower pump speed will result
Figure 4. With throttle control in an open system with mainly stationary differential head, only a slight amount of extra
in a lower differential head at a given resistance will reduce the pump’s capacity.
capacity. Therefore the pump characteristic
will decrease at lower speeds. For a given ously variable control, each intermediate When speed regulation is used instead
pump, the pump characteristic at a variable speed and, consequently, each intermediate of throttle control in the closed circuit
speed will consist of a set of pump curves, pump characteristic can be achieved as illustrated in Figure 1, an output of 50% is
as shown in Figure 5. In most cases this required. When lowering the speed the inter- reached at a speed of 720 rpm. The appli-
represents an outline of the maximum and section with the system characteristic moves cable system and pump characteristics are
minimum speeds of the pump. With continu- to a lower flow volume. shown in Figure 6.

www.worldpumps.com
28 Feature
WORLD PUMPS April 2009

Advantages and disadvantages

22.5
1450 rpm
The advantage of throttle control is that only
a controllable valve is needed. Of course it has
20
to be a suitable control valve, which has to be
17.5 selected carefully for the system in question
and, moreover, has to be adjustable to every
15 1200 rpm
desired intermediate position. Note that a
Head - m

12.5 normal isolation valve that is solely meant to

10
1000 rpm be used for isolation is not suitable!

7.5
With a control valve, satisfactory and easily
800 rpm
variable control of the output of a centrifugal
5
600 rpm
pump is obtained but a major disadvan-
2.5
tage of throttle control is the high energy
consumption. Because throttle control moves
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 the intersection and/or operational point to
m3/hr
Q = 50% Q = 100% the left along the pump characteristic when
Figure 5. Speed control: the capacity decreases as the rotational speed of the pump is reduced.
throttling, the efficiency of the pump at the
new operational point will always be lower
than at the optimal operational point (BEP).
This means that the internal losses increase at
the cost of extra energy loss; when throt-
6
tling the control valve, extra friction losses
254 mm 50 60 65
70 73 75 are deliberately generated within the system
5 77 77.5
77 720 rpm and extra friction loss also means extra loss
75
73 of energy.
4
70
Head - m

1 Of course, the amount of energy that is

3 65 lost in this way by means of the throttle
0.75 kW valve depends on the nature of the system.
2 60
0.55 kW Compare for instance the closed circuit
152 mm of Figure 1 (performance curve shown in
1
Figure 8) with the open system of Figure
50
3 (performance curve in Figure 4). In both
0
cases the control valve is fully open at the
10 20 30 40 50 60 70
m3/hr design capacity of 100% and does not result
Q = 50%
in extra friction. However, for a decreased
Figure 6. With speed regulation in a closed circuit with only dynamic losses, the operational point will always remain at the flow of 50% a much greater friction loss has
BEP even at low rotational speeds. to be added in the closed circuit than in the
open system.
In both open and closed systems the power
20
254 mm 50 60 65
consumption at a given pump capacity is
70 73
18
75
77 77.5 the same in all cases. In the examples this is
77 1360 rpm approximately 5.5 kW at a flow of 50%.
16
75
73 The disadvantage of speed control is the
14
70
higher investment it requires. Besides a some-
Head - m

7.5 kW
12 times slightly adapted three-phase motor it is
65 also necessary to buy a frequency converter.
10 5.5 kW
Fortunately, frequency converters have
8 4 kW become cheaper in the past few years.
60
3 kW
6 152 mm The great advantage of frequency control
4
2.2 kW
is generally the energy saving. This is at
50 1.5 kW its highest with closed systems, as shown
2 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 in Figure 1. In this system, 50% capacity is
m3/hr
Q = 50% Q = 100% reached at a rotational speed of 720 rpm
(Figure 6). The power consumption at that
Figure 7. Speed regulation in an open system with a mainly stationary differential head results in only a small energy saving
point is about 0.9 kW. Compared to the
and often carries the risk of pump problems and unstable control.
power consumption of approximately 5.5 kW
for the same closed circuit with throttle
In a similar way, the open system shown output is already reached at a speed control it is clear that there is a substantial
in Figure 3 can also be controlled by of 1360 rpm. The applicable system energy saving. The higher investment costs
decreasing the speed but, because the and pump characteristics are shown in are earned back quickly, especially with
system characteristic curve is flatter, 50% Figure 7. continuously operating systems.

www.worldpumps.com
 Feature 29
WORLD PUMPS April 2009

22.5
254 mm 50 60 65
70 73
75
20 77 77.5

77 1450 rpm
75
17.5
73
70
15
Head - m

12.5 7.5 kW
65

10 5.5 kW

60 4 kW
7.5
152 mm
3 kW
5
2.2 kW
50
2.5 1.5 kW

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140

m3/hr
Q = 50% Q = 100%

Figure 8. With throttle control the operational point of the pump shifts away from the BEP.

However, it is important to be very careful selected pump should never be too flat
when using speed control for an open because then undesired pump problems
system. Because the intersection and/or and/or unstable control will occur. ■
operational point with speed control in
an open system (Figure 3) shifts along the
References
system characteristic, this operational point
will shift continuously further left on the [1] H. Vogelesang, ‘Choosing the pump to
subject pump characteristic as rotational optimize energy use’, World Pumps, No. 507,
speed drops. Figure 7 shows this shift very pp. 20–24, (2008).
clearly. This will result in a decline in effi- [2] System Efficiency – A guide for energy
ciency with accompanying higher internal efficient rotodynamic pumping systems, Euro-
losses. In spite of this, the power consump- pump, (2006).
tion of ca. 4.5 kW at a flow rate of 50% will
[3] Pump Life Cycle Cost – A guide to LCC
always be lower than the 5.5 kW required
Analysis for Pumping Systems, Europump/
with throttle control, but clearly the saving is
Hydraulic Institute, (2001).
lower and because of this the payback will
be longer than with the closed circuit. [4] Europump/Hydraulic Institute, Variable
Speed Pumping – A guide to successful applica-
With the combination of a flat system
tions, Elsevier Science, (2004).
characteristic and a flat pump characteristic
(Figure 7) there is not only a loss of saving
but also a significant risk. Only a small
Contact
change in rotational speed will result in a
Hans Vogelesang
large capacity change, making it difficult PumpSupport (NL)
to maintain stable control. There is also the Charley Tooropstraat 38
3343 RE Hendrik Ido Ambacht
danger that the operational point will fall
The Netherlands
below the permitted minimal flow for the Tel: +31 78 682 0602
pump. This is very bad for the life span of Fax: +31 78 682 1833
the pump. In such circumstances you can E-mail: info@pumpsupport.nl
www.pumpsupport.nl
limit the risk by choosing a pump with a
steeper pump characteristic.

Conclusion About the author

Especially with a closed circuit that is opera-
Hans Vogelesang is director of
tional for a long time or permanently it is
PumpSupport in Hendrik Ido Ambacht,
worthwhile to make the extra investment
an independent consultancy for the
involved in speed control of the pump. This design of pump systems. He is also a
will result in significant energy saving. lecturer in pump engineering at several
It is also worthwhile to use speed control educational institutes.
with an open system. But with a system in
which the differential head mainly consists of
the stationary differential head, and dynamic This article was originally published in
losses to a lesser degree, the saving is only Dutch in Fluids Processing Benelux.
small. Moreover, the characteristic of the

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