2.

5 PUMPS

They are devices which transfer mechanical energy from a prime mover into fluid energy.
If the fluid is a gas, the device is a fan, a blower or compressor. Pumps are broadly
classified as follows:

(i) Positive displacement e.g. Gear pumps, Vane pumps and Lobe pumps.
(ii) Dynamic pumps e.g. Centrifugal pumps
(iii) Reciprocating pumps

2.5.1 Positive displacement pumps

They eject a fixed volume of fluid per cycle or revolution. Hence the pump output flow
rate is constant and not dependent of system pressure. They are suitable for application in
fluid power systems. While in operation, care must always be taken to guard them against
over pressure.

2.5.2 Dynamic pumps

The essential part here is the rotating element called the impeller. It consists of straight
blades but more commonly the curved vanes built into its side walls. The vanes are
always curved backwards in relation to the direction of rotation of the impeller. The
liquid normally approaches the vanes radially. For this reason, pumps of this type are
designated radial. The housing (also called casing) is a stationary shell that encloses the
impeller and supports the rotating drive shaft via a bearing. Typical example is the
centrifugal pump whose name is derived from the mode of operation where the liquid is
lifted by the centrifugal action.

(a) Conversion of velocity head into pressure head

The liquid flows through the impeller outwardly. It enters it with a relatively low velocity
and pressure but leaves with both greatly increased due to centrifugal force acquired in
rotation. The suction produced at the inlet to the pump due to impeller rotation ensures
continuous lifting of the fluid from the reservoir to the pump. Since the object of the
pump is to raise only the fluid pressure, then the increased kinetic energy at impeller
outlet is not desirable (i.e. the high exit velocity would represent a waste of energy
imparted to the liquid by the impeller). Therefore measures are taken to convert this
energy into pressure energy before the fluid enters the delivery pipe. The principle
involved in the conversion is based simply on making the liquid pass through gradually
widening passages where part of its velocity undergoes conversion. In one approach, the
impeller is surrounded by a chamber of x-sectional area gradually increasing in the
direction of flow (i.e. volute casing) which smoothly reduces the high impeller outlet
velocity to the level required in the delivery pipe.

1 MPE 331 2019/2020 Prof. Eng. Makokha

 Fig1.Centrifugal pump with a volute

(b) Head delivered by the pump

If the pump is delivering fluid through a piping system with a static lift z, the head that
the pump must develop is equal to the static lift plus the total head loss. The pump
characteristic curve shows the relation between the head developed by the pump and its
rate of discharge when the pump is operating at a given rotational speed.

s
tic
e ris
H x- t
m
ste hL
sy

Pu
mp
x-te
r isti
cs

Fig2. Performance characteristic curve

In the test of a pump the head is determined by measuring the pressures on both the
suction and discharge sides of the pump, computing the velocities by dividing the
measured discharge by the respective x-sectional areas, and noting the difference in
elevation between the suction and discharge sides. The net head H delivered by the pump
to the fluid is:

2 MPE 331 2019/2020 Prof. Eng. Makokha

 p V2  p V2 
H = Hd - Hs =    2 g  zd      2 g  zs 
d d s s

   

The manometric head (Hm) or total head is measured by placing two manometers, one at
the base of the delivery pipe and one at the inlet to the impeller. Is the sum of the static
head (Hd + Hs) plus all losses.

E.G.L
v2d/2g

H.G.L

Pd/ g
H

d
S
Zd
Zs Ps/ g

Datum Sunction lift

v2s/2g

Fig3. Head developed by the pump

The pressure at inlet to the pump is normally negative (suction) and tied to a limit to
avoid cavitation. For this reason, the suction pipe is always designed with larger diameter
than the delivery pipe and with few or no bends to minimize losses. When the pump is
not working, the foot valve prevents the fluid from flowing back to the sump. The
strainer is incorporated to prevent impurities from reaching the impeller.

(c) Pumps in series and in parallel

The head developed by the pump is related to the pump speed and diameter. However,
increasing the pump size increases the manufacturing costs. Equally, increasing the
speed, results in centrifugal stresses. Therefore, it’s desirable to use two or more pumps
operating together instead of one large machine. Infact, it is easier to operate several
small machines at peak efficiency than one large machine which would likely operate at
low efficiency due to losses. Another option is staging the pump by using more than one
impeller connected together and driven by one motor.

When two identical pumps are operated in series ( P + P), it means that each pump has its
own motor but both are fitted to the same suction and delivery pipe so the same water

3 MPE 331 2019/2020 Prof. Eng. Makokha

passes through each of the pumps in turn. In this case, the discharge is same (as for a
single pump) but the head is doubled. When two identical pumps are operated in parallel
(P // P), then each pump has its own suction pipe but delivers into a common delivery
pipe. Hence the head delivered is the same as for a single pump but the discharge is
doubled.

(d) Velocity diagrams

If ui and uo are the respective peripheral velocities of the vane tips, the velocity vectors at
both ends of the vane will be found to form triangles. The velocity triangles are normally
presented with their peripheral velocity components drawn horizontally. For centrifugal
pumps, radial flow at inlet is always assumed.

u2
vw2 Outlet

vr2 vf2 v2

vane

d2
vr1
vf1 = v1

u1
vw1 = 0
d1
Radial inlet

Fig 4.Velocity triangle

(e) Theoretical work

The theoretical work done by the impeller on a liquid may be obtained from the gain in
energy in passing the liquid through the impeller as follows:

From Newton’s law of motion, Force x Time = Mass x Velocity = Momentum

The force (tangential) results from the rotation of the impeller. If m is the mass of liquid
leaving the impeller, then for a unit time: F = mv w. For radial flow at inlet, the
momentum at inlet, mvw1= 0; the momentum at outlet is mvw2

Torque on the impeller, T = QVw2R2

Work done per sec = torque x angular velocity = QVw2U2
Work done per unit weight = Vw2U2/g
4 MPE 331 2019/2020 Prof. Eng. Makokha
Work done per unit mass = Vw2U2

The head imposed on the fluid is the energy given to it (Vw2U2/g) less any losses. The
losses occur in the impeller, volute casing and the outlet pipe.

U w2Vw2 V2
 H  hi  hv  p
g 2g

Exercise

The impeller of a centrifugal pump has inner and outer diameters of 15cm and 30cm
respectively and its vanes are set at an angle of 300 to the outer periphery. If the radial
velocity of flow is 1.5m/s at both inlet and outlet sides of the impeller, what is the
theoretical head produced at 600 rpm and at what angle are the vane tips inclined to the
periphery of the impeller at its inlet side? If the pump discharges 0.03m 3 of water per
second, what power is required to drive the shaft?

2.5.3 Cavitation

An important factor in satisfactory operation of a pump is the avoidance of cavitation. It

is the formation and collapse of vapour bubbles that occurs when the pump inlet suction
pressure falls below the vapour pressure of the liquid. Cavitation results in piting pump
vibration, noise and reduction in pump flow rate. For centrifugal pumps, the lowest
pressure occurs near the center of the impeller where water enters.

The pressure or head of liquid required to prevent cavitation on entering the impeller is
called ‘Net Positive Suction Head’ (NPSH). It represents the pressure or head required to
force the liquid up the suction pipe to the impeller. Two values of NPSH are significant;
The required value (NPSH)R specified by he manufacturer that must be maintained or
exceeded for a given pump to avoid cavitation. The available value (NPSH)A that actually
exists for a particular pump operating in a given fluid system.

Pump

2
Static
Z -Z
suction 2 1
lift
1

Fig5. Pump lifting liquid from a reserviour at lower level

5 MPE 331 2019/2020 Prof. Eng. Makokha

P2 is the pressure at pump suction port (also designated as Ps)
Pv is the vapour pressure of liquid.

Applying energy equation to the fig. at points 1 and 2 yields:

 p1 V12   p V2 
   z1   hl   2  2  z2 
  2g    2g 

P1 = Patm and V1 = 0 (large reserviour)

By definition

 p2 V22 pv 
(NPSH)A =    2 g   
 

Combining the preceding equation with energy equation:

p p 
(NPSH)A =    ( z2  z1 )  hl    or H atm  H s  hl  Hv
atm v

 

To avoid cavitation, (NPSH)A  (NPSH)R

Hence (NPSH)A decreases as (z2 – z1) is increased, implying that if (z2 – z1) is too large,
then the pump will not be able to draw any liquid into the inlet suction port.

2.5.4 Performance equations and affinity laws for pumps

The most important r/ship for pumps is between the head of water and the input power.
Dimensional analysis provides the following equations:

(P/N3D5) =  (gH/N2D2)

(Q/ND3) =  (gH/N2D2)

gH/N2D2 is the head coefficient

Note: Power (P) represents the input power and not output power as with the turbine.
Head (H) represents the useful lift obtained and not the total head at inlet to the
turbine.

In order to predict the behaviour or performance of a turbo machine from the scale
model, the concept of similarity (geometric and dynamic) is introduced.

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eg. Pump flow rate similarity (Flow parameter)

(Q/ND3)m = (Q/ND3)p

Pump head similarity (Head parameter)

(gH/N2D2)m = (gH/N2D2)p

Pump shaft power similarity

Multiplying Head and flow parameters

 gH Q   QgH P
 2 2 .  
N D ND 3   N 3 D 5  N 3 D 5

(P/N3D5)m = (P/N3D5)p

Overall efficiency

m = p

Unit quantities:

Refers to quantities of speed, discharge, power, efficiency etc. when the head above the
machine is unit (1m).

o Specific speed
Specific speed (Ns) of the pump is the speed of a geometrically similar pump delivering a
unit quantity of fluid against a unit head.

Flow parameter Q N 1.5 D1.5 N Q

Ns   .  But g is constant.
3 Head parameter N 0.5 D1.5  gH 3/ 4  gH 
3/ 4
4

 
 NS  n Q 
Hence  3

 H4 

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EXERCISE

1. A centrifugal pump is installed above an open water tank and is to provide a flow-rate
of 0.02m3/s of water at room temperature with a vapour pressure of 2.1kN/m2. Under
this flow condition, the pump manufacturer specifies the required net positive suction
head of 6m. If atmospheric pressure is 102kN/m2, determine the maximum elevation
height that the pump can be installed above the water free surface without the risk of
pump cavitation. Assume no losses in the 10cm suction pipe. [Z2-Z1 = 4.18m]

2. The H-Q characteristics of a centrifugal pump running at 1500 rpm is as tabulated

below. The pump is then made to run at 1800 rpm.

H (m) 17.0 15.0 12.4 11.0 9.8 7.5 4.0 0

Q(m3/s) 0 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30 0.35

The pump is connected to the pipeline of diameter (D= 400mm) and a length of
150m. The minor losses and friction losses in the pipeline can be approximated as
70D and KlQ2/12D5 respectively with K = 0.05. If the static lift is 10m, determine the
following.

i. The total effective length of the pipeline at original pump characteristics [178m]
ii. Determine the head and discharge corresponding to new speed at design point
[H = 14.1 m, Q = 0.24m3/s]

8 MPE 331 2019/2020 Prof. Eng. Makokha