Concentric vs eccentric reducer

Cavitation takes place when pressure drops below vapor pressure of fluid. That can only happen after
pipe size expansion. Reduction followed by expansion, exposes pipe for cavitation even more
because of increase in velocity that gives higher pressure drop after expansion. As illustrated in figure
1.

Figure 1

Following graph illustrates formation of bubbles as the pressure changes:

Figure 2

Since eccentric and concentric reducer leads to same pressure drop, it can be concluded that
eccentric reducer does not reduce the risk of cavitation. Actually, the concentric reducer should be
preferred because of lower turbulence formation.
Figure 3

Expansion on discharge side of a pump will lead to cavitation either way. Smaller reduction steps will
reduce the chance of cavitation, but choosing eccentric reducer over concentric will not make any
difference for formation of bubbles in the fluid. Here too, the best choice would be concentric
reducer, because of lower turbulence.

Figure 4

The only place where the eccentric reducer must be used is on suction side of a pump. That is
because suction effect may lead to vapor formation and accumulation at top portion of pipe reducer.
The gradual accumulation of air in a concentric reducer could result in a large bubble that could
eventually cause the pump to stall or cause cavitation when drawn into the pump ( last sentence is
quoted from Wikipedia).

Figure 5

Another reason to choose eccentric reducers is to avoids fluid buildup in gas line (as a result of
condense) or pockets: