Nitte Meenakshi Institute of Technology

Bangalore-560064
Affiliated to Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belagavi

IDC LA component
on
“Electric Drive For The Control Of Centrifugal Pump System”

Submitted by
Nilesh Kumar
USN: 1NT19EE066
SEM: 8
SEC: B

Department of Electrical and Electronics

Engineering

Nitte Meenakshi Institute of Technology

An Autonomous Institution under VTU Belgaum, A+ Grade by NAAC UGC
Approved by UGC/ AICTE/Govt.of Karnataka
Govindapura, Gollahalli, P B No. 6429, Yelahanka, Bangalore - 560064
Karnataka, India, Ph: 080, 22167800, Fax:22167805, Website: www.nmit.ac.in

ACADEMIC YEAR 2022-2023

Introduction

Centrifugal pumping plants are an integral part of water distribution systems, irrigation
networks, oil and chemical industries. An electric drive system for throttle control of a
centrifugal pumping plant is proposed. The drive system consists of a stepper motor, pump,
pipeline, pressure regulation valve, fluid reservoir, and control equipment. The system is
developed to provide the possibility for smooth and reliable positioning of a ball type valve
for a centrifugal pump.
A centrifugal pump system is an electro-mechanical equipment that is designed mainly for
industrial purposes to impart the kinetic energy to a fluid, running from suction to discharge
side. To increase the kinetic energy of a liquid, the centrifugal pump transfers the rotational
energy of an impeller into the pressure energy of the liquid that is running through the pump.
One of the most important parts of a centrifugal pumping system is the impeller that imparts
the energy to a liquid flow.
Centrifugal pumping systems are generally used in the processes that operate with variable
loads. During these industrial operations, the demanded level of pressure and liquid flow can
change drastically in a wide range. Centrifugal pumps are using various control methods to
achieve proper accuracy and the reduction of electrical energy consumption . Thus, these
industrial processes generally require both pressure and flow control to get the maximum
efficiency and accuracy . The main goal of the pressure control is to achieve the required level
of the pressure in a pipeline and to attenuate pressure ripples within a defined range. There are
two main control possibilities that can be implemented to the centrifugal pumping systems for
pressure regulation .
The first conventional pressure regulation possibility of a centrifugal pump system includes
throttling, and the second one speed control .
The main advantage of the developed electric drive system is that it contains a standard
unipolar stepper motor that is available on the market. The system is easy to tune for various
throttle valves by application of standard functional blocks, including the motor driver. This
way it becomes possible to achieve high performance and accuracy of operation. The control
unit of a system helps to control the valve position precisely. Thus allowing to achieve the
desired pressure level in the pipeline system respectively. It also helps to get accurate and at
the same time rapid feedback response
 THROTTLING OF A CENTRIFUGAL PUMP SYSTEM

Fig. Functional diagram of the pumping system with pressure control

In general, the centrifugal pump is directly connected with a shaft of an induction motor.
The frequency converter feeds the motor. A frequency converter, induction motor (IM) and
the programmable logic controller (PLC) are the major components of the variable speed
drive (VSD). The fluid passes the centrifugal pump from the inlet perpendicularly to its
rotating impeller. The inlet is called the suction of the centrifugal pump and is directly
connected to a fluid source. After being accelerated by the impeller, the liquid moves towards
the outlet that is called diffuser.
Nowadays, the throttling method is still widely used in the industry . Even despite the fact,
that throttling has some disadvantages in comparison with speed control due to the energy
waste and reduced efficiency of the pump . Unfortunately, throttling valves are usually not
supplied with the electric drives. This makes the automation of the throttling process very
complicated and involves additional human resources. To increase the reliability and
simplify the throttling process, it is reasonable to supply valves with the electric drives.
ELECTRIC DRIVE

The developed electric drive for the throttle valve is based on the stepper motor and the
control system . To develop this drive, an unipolar stepper motor was used. Additionally, the
electric drive contains the position sensors, a liquid crystal display (LCD), a regulation angle
potentiometer, a DC-DC power supply converter, and a light emitting diode (LED) indicator.
The control unit is designed to help adjusting the valve angle according to the reference signal
The control unit is shown in Fig.

Fig. Control unit, (a) – Arduino module, (b) – DC to DC converter, (c) – stepper motor driver.

Conclusion

The electric drive system can be used for pressure control in pumping applications. Despite
the fact that there are different throttling valves, there is still a need for a more flexible,
accurate and reliable control methods for them. The proposed stepper motor based system of
an electric drive and related control approaches have some advantages for pressure
maintenance. The electric drive system can be suitable for small-scale applications due to
low cost and control simplicity.
The electric drive system is capable of maintaining the desired level of pressure in a broad
range. It can help to control the reference pressure level and to avoid emergencies in the
pipeline during the operation of the water distribution system when the pressure varies
unpredictably or exceeds the limits.
REFERENCES

1) Gopal k.Dubey. (2001 ). Fundamentals of electrical drives Narosa

Publishing House Pvt ltd, Inc. pp. 79–189. ISBN 3.

2) I. J. Karassik and T. McGuire, Centrifugal Pumps, Springer Science &

Business Media, 2012,.

3) L. Nelik, Centrifugal & Rotary Pumps: Fundamentals With Applications,

CRC Press, 1999.