Pump Operation Procedure

•1. Setup
•2. Startup procedure
•3. Shutdown procedure
•4. On the meaning of gradually
•The starting and stopping of pumps produces transient flows in pumping systems, that
may damage or destroy both the pumps and the connected piping system. Careful
operation of the pump is necessary to minimize these effects.

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 1 Setup

The setup assumes:

•a water reservoir,
•a non-submersible pump
•a suction line connecting the pump to the water reservoir,
•a discharge line split into:

•A bypass line back to the reservoir, controlled by a valve, and

•A discharge line into the constant-head head tank, controlled by a valve.

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 2. Startup procedure

•Ensure that the bypass valve is fully open. This cannot be emphasized

enough. The bypass line is the main protection for the system, so care must be
taken to always ensure that it is not blocked and is always fully open.
•Ensure that the discharge valve is fully closed.
•Turn on the pump's power supply.
•As the pump reaches its rated speed, gradually open the discharge valve.

•If there is no discharge valve and the pump has a rotational speed governor,
then gradually increase the rotational speed of the pump motors until the
required rotational speed is achieved.

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 3 Shutdown procedure

•The shutdown procedure is the reverse of the startup

procedure:
•Gradually close the discharge valve.

•If there is no discharge valve and the pump has a rotational

speed governor, then gradually decrease the rotational speed
of the pump motors until the pump is no longer rotating.
•Turn off the pump's power supply.

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 4 On the meaning of gradually

•Generally speaking, the normal operation of pumps and valves

should be as gradual as possible. However, Without a full
analysis of the transient behavior of your particular system,
there is no way of fully determining how slowly the valves in
your system need to be operated to minimize the effects of
hydraulic transients. Despite of this, a reasonable minimum rule-
of-thumb is to open or close one second per inch of pipe
diameter. More conservative approaches would minimize risks
even more.
PUBLIC | ©Jabil Inc. 2017. All Rights Reserved.