Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering

THE NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

of SINGAPORE

Chemical Engineering Process Lab

Experiment F4

Centrifugal Pump Characteristics

Name :

Matric No. :

Group :

Date of Expt. :

GRADE :
Objectives:

• To determine the performance curves of the pump.

Apparatus:

TQ H47 Centrifugal Pump Test Unit.

Theory:

• Pump Performance Curve

The operation of a centrifugal pump can be studied by considering the angular momentum of
the fluid. With sufficient number of blades, it is reasonable to assume that the fluid flows in
and out of the impeller with a relative velocity tangential to the blades. The velocity triangles
for the fluid particles entering and leaving the impeller are shown in Fig. 1.

The angular momentum of the fluid entering and leaving the impeller are:
H i = r 1 m (u 1 cos θ 1 ) and
H o = r 2 m (u 2 cos θ 2 ) respectively

where
m : mass of fluid flowing through the impeller
u 1 : the fluid velocity at the impeller inlet
u 2 : the fluid velocity at the impeller outlet
θ 1 : the angle between u 1 and the tangential direction at the blade
θ 2 : the angle between u 2 and the tangential direction at the blade

The torque acting on the fluid, τ is equal to the time rate of change of angular momentum of
the fluid:
τ = Ho - Hi
= m (r 2 u 2 cos θ 2 - r 1 u 1 cos θ 1 )
The power required is:
P=τω
= m (r 2 u 2 cos θ 2 - r 1 u 1 cos θ 1 ) ω
where ω is the (angular speed) rotational speed of the impeller

The fluid output power:

Pf = m g h
where h is the theoretical head of the fluid.

Compare P with P f :
h = 1/g x (r 2 u 2 cos θ 2 - r 1 u 1 cos θ 1 ) ω (Euler Equation)
This head equation can be simplified further with the additional assumption that there is no
prerotation of the fluid at the impeller inlet, as r 1 = 0:
h = r 2 u 2 cos θ 2 ω / g (1)
From the velocity triangle at the outlet of the impeller
u 2 cos θ 2 = u t2 - u r2 / tan (β 2 )
and since u r2 is directly proportional to the flow rate Q,
u 2 cos θ 2 = u t2 - C Q (2)
where C is a constant for the pump
Combining (1) and (2):
h = r 2 ω (u t2 - C Q) / g (3)

A plot of equation (3) (Euler Line) as shown in Figure 2 shows a linear relationship between
H and Q. However the actual characteristic curve of the centrifugal pump shows a sharper
decline of the head H over the increase of flow rate Q due to the following factors:
1) Prerotation of fluid on entering the impeller
2) Interblade rotation of the fluid
3) Losses at entrance of the impeller and in the subsequent diffusing process
4) Leakage through the impeller

Experimental Procedure:

Make sure the reservoir is filled with clean water. Fully open the control valves at discharge
side and the suction side of the pump. Turn on the main power switch. Start the pump motor
and run it to maximum speed. Use the bleed line to bleed all pressure gauges. Adjust the
motor to 3000 rpm. Control the flow of the pump by gradually closing the control valve at
discharge side. Take readings of the measured values for at least five different flow rates.
Repeat above steps with two more pump speeds.

Tabulation and Calculation

Measured Values:
Pump Speed, (rev/min)
Power input W1
Pump inlet (suction) pressure P 2
Pump outlet (discharge) pressure P 3
Venturi pressure difference ∆P 1

Calculated Values:
Pump Head H
Flow rate Q
Hydraulic Power W2
Pump Efficiency ŋ = W2/W1

Results and Discussions

For each trial (i.e. each pump speed), plot total head against pump delivery for each test point.
Mark the efficiency of the pump at each test point. Connect the neighbouring points of equal
efficiency with smooth curves. (The final characteristic curves of the pump should be similar
to the graph as shown in Figure 3.)
References

1. McCabe, W.L, Smith J.C and Harriot .P.,” Unit Operations in Chemical Engineering”,
McGraw-Hill, Sixth Edition 2000

2. Morris, A.S. (2012). Flow Measurement. Measurement and Instrumentation, Second

Edition; Elsevier

3. Nourbakhsh, A. (2008). Turbopumps and pumping systems. Berlin: Springer.