Technological Institute of the Philippines

Aurora Blvd, Quezon City

College of Engineering & Architecture

Mechanical Engineering Department

ME LAB 2 – Mechanical Engineering Laboratory 2

Laboratory Activity
Flow of Water Pumped from a Tank and through a Pipe System

Name:__________________________________________ Course & Section: ______________

Objectives of 1. To use a pump and pipe system as shown schematically in Figure. to investigate the
the activity rate at which the water is pumped from the tank.
are: 2. Plot the water depth, h, in the tank as ordinates and time, t, as abscissas.
3. Calculate the experimentally determined flow rate, from the tank as where the time
rate of change of water depth, is obtained from the slope of the h versus t graph.
4. Calculate the pump head using Energy Equations for pump and piping system
including minors and major losses.
5. Introduce and plotting the System Curve and Pump Curve, where the pump head as
ordinates and flow rates as abscissas.
6. Determine the theoretical flow rate that the pump should provide for the pipe system
used.
7. Determine the Net Positive Suction Head
8. Present the data and results in table format generated from excel.
Intended The students shall be able to:
Learning 1. Perform pump selections using the pump characteristic curve.
Outcome(s): 2. Determine the specification Pump manufacturer based on Pump Head and Flow Rate
3. Consider the NPSH in selection of Centrifugal Pump
Materials & Water tank; centrifugal pump; various lengths of galvanized iron pipe; various threaded
Equip’t needed: pipe fittings (valves, elbows, unions, etc.); pipe wrenches; stop watch; thermometer.
Instructional Use the pipe segments and pipe fittings to construct a suitable pipeline through which the
Procedure: tank water may be pumped into a sink. Measure the pipe diameter, D, and the various pipe
lengths and note the various valves and fittings used. Measure the elevation difference, H,
between the bottom of the tank and the outlet of the pipe. Also determine the cross-
sectional area of the tank, Fill the tank with water and record the water temperature, T.
With the pipeline valves wide open, measure the water depth, h, in the tank as a function of
time, t, as water is pumped from the tank.

Figure: Schematic Diagram of Pump and Piping System

 Technological Institute of the Philippines
Aurora Blvd, Quezon City

College of Engineering & Architecture

Mechanical Engineering Department

ME LAB 2 – Mechanical Engineering Laboratory 2

Laboratory Activity
Flow of Water Pumped from a Tank and through a Pipe System

Name:__________________________________________ Course & Section: ______________

Note: The rate of flow of water pumped from a tank is a function of the pump properties and of the pipe
system used.

Direction: For the pipe system used in this activity, use the energy equation to calculate the
pump head, needed to in order to produce a given flowrate, Q. For these
calculations include all major and minor losses in the pipe system. Plot the
system curve (i.e., pump head as ordinates and flowrate as abscissas) based on
the results of these calculations.

On the same graph, plot the pump curve (i.e., as a function of Q) as supplied by the pump
manufacturer. For the pump used this curve is given by

where Q is in ft3/s and hp is in ft. From the intersection of the system curve and the pump curve,
determine the theoretical flowrate that the pump should provide for the pipe
system used.

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