HYDRAULICS ENGINEERING LABORATORY

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, SLIIT

B.SC ENGINEERING – YEAR 03 SEMESTER 01

CE 3711 – PUMPS AND OPEN CHANNEL FLOW – LABORATORY ASSIGNMENT

TEST ON A CENTRIFUGAL PUMP

OBJECTIVES
 To measure and plot the Head-Discharge and Efficiency-Discharge
characteristics for a centrifugal pump when operated at a constant speed
 To re-plot the characteristics in normalized form using the values of head,
discharge and efficiency corresponding to the peak efficiency to perform the
normalization
 To determine the specific speed of the pump Ns

APPARATUS
 The TecQuipment centrifugal pump test rig (This includes suction and
delivery pressure gauges, and a means of measuring the torque being applied
to the pump drive shaft)

 Tachometer (for measuring and setting r.p.m.)

INSTRUCTIONS FOR RUNNING THE EXPERIMENTAL

 The pump rig needs to be turned on and allowed to warm up thoroughly
before the test is started.
 To bring the pump on line, first, set the delivery pipe so that it will discharge
directly into the sump.
 Next, turn on the power and set the speed control to 1000 rev/min. The suction
gauge needle should read above zero, indicating that the pump has held its
prime.
 Half open the delivery valve, then open the suction valve and at the same time
increase the speed of the motor by moving the speed control to 2000 rev/min.
 Fully open the suction valve followed by the delivery valve. The pump should
now be discharging into the sump. If it is not then, the pump has probably lost
its prime. If this is the case, close both the suction and delivery valves then set
the speed control to zero as quickly as possible and call your lab supervisor.

EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE
 For this experiment the speed of the motor needs to be kept constant for each
set of readings of head, discharge and input torque. The speed is measured
using a Tachometer (A mechanical device which has an input shaft and a
meter to indicate the rate of rotation of the shaft in revolutions per minute,
rpm).
  To measure the shaft speed of the motor, the tachometer drive shaft is held in
contact with the flexible tube attached to the back of the drive shaft. This
provides sufficient torque to rotate the input shaft causing the meter to indicate
the motor speed.
 Next, carefully adjust the pump speed control until the dial on the tachometer
indicates the required pump speed. You will find that this requires very fine
adjustments of the speed control.
 Calculate the discharge and verify with the digital output. Also note the
readings on the suction and delivery pressure gauges.
 Next, alter the flow rate by partially closing the discharge valve.
 Note that when this adjustment is made the pump speed will probably alter.
 Re-adjust the motor speed if necessary to recover the chosen "constant" speed
and repeat the readings.
 This procedure is repeated until the discharge valve is completely closed.
 Aim to take about eight reading between the fully open and the closed
positions.
 The experiment can be conducted at different "constant" speeds by different
groups (use speeds in the range 3000 to maximum rpm). This will enable the
effect of different pump speeds to be studied.

OBSERVATIONS
Chosen Operating Speed r.p.m
rad/s

EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
 From the computed results plot on a single sheet the combined Head -
discharge and efficiency - discharge performance curves for each operating
speed.
 Read off the design point head H0 and the design discharge Q0. Use these
values to
a) Calculate the Specific Speed of the pump.
b) Plot the normalized head –discharge and efficiency- discharge
performance curves.
.
 Pump Pressure Flow Rate Pressures Pumping Pumping Torque Input Hydraulic Efficiency

 (Nm)
Speed Drop Head Head Power Power
Q (m3/s)
Suction Delivery %
N(Rev.min )-1
∆p(N.m )
-2
Psuc (N.m-2) Pdel (N.m-2)
H (N.m-2) H (m) PIn (W) POut (W)
 CALCULATIONS

Pump Discharge
2p
Q C A
d 1 A2 
 1 
  1
A 2 
 2 
where :
A1 = Venturi Inlet Area (m2)
A2 = Venturi Throat Area (m2)
Cd = Coefficient of Discharge
ρ = Water Density (kg/m3)
∆p =Pressure Drop across the venturi (N/m2)

Input Power
Pin  τ

where  is the torque transmitted by the drive shaft and  is the rate of
rotation of the shaft in radians per second.

Output Power
Pout  HQ

where H is the pumping head in N.m-2 and Q is the pump discharge

Efficiency

 
Pout
Pin
 100%

Pump Specific Speed

1
nQ 2
Ns  3
(gH ) 4
where values are taken at the machines design point (peak efficiency point) n
is the pump speed in revolutions per minute.

Remember to mark your measures specific speed on the graph of typical specific
speeds for single stage pumps.

REFERENCES
 Fluid Mechanics for Civil Engineers by N.B. Webber
 Fluid Mechanics 4th Edition by John F. Douglas, Janusz M. Gasiorek and John
A. Swaffield