Chapter-5 selection & specification of fluid machines

 There are different procedures to select the required fluid

machines for required processes such as:

1. preparing the system requirements,

2. selection of the fluid machine and drive,

3. specification,

4. preparing the bidding document and evaluation of the bids.

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1. Preparing the system requirements

Some of the essential requirements for fluid machines are flow

rate, head, compression ratio (for compressors), brake power,
NPSHA (for pumps).

 These requirements depend on material and energy balance of

the system, properties of the flow medium, the flow network and
the unit operations involved.

1.1 Pumping System Requirements

• To determine the pumping system requirements the engineer has

to first get the properties of the liquid to be pumped, the pipe lay
out and sizes and the equipment involved.
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For Example, If the liquid to be pumped contains solid the
concentration and abrasiveness of the solid must.

The pipe layout, the diameter of the piping system,

roughness and number and size of fittings should be
determined.

To calculate the pressure drop across any equipment the

engineer has to get relevant information of any equipment
through which the liquid passes.

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A. General requirement: i. Flow rate

Design flow rate for a particular system is determined from

material and energy balance of system.

For purchasing single pump for specific task in existing plant

flow rate is easily determined.

For instance if a pump is required to move 800,000 lt of

ethanol from one tank to another in 2 hours then capacity is
400,000 lt/hr.

But design of new plant flow rate is determined by detailed

material and energy balance.
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ii. System Head:

 it is, specific energy requirement of system divided by

gravitational acceleration, i.e. H= Y/g

 head requirement of system is calculated from static and

dynamic energy.

 static energy includes geodetic & static pressure heads.

 and dynamic energy includes velocity energy & energy

loss.

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geodetic energy = elevation difference b/n suction & delivery.

pressure energy head = difference of static pressure above

liquid surface at discharge and suction.

The velocity head = suction and discharge velocities.

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 friction head in simple pipe systems not including, but for

newtonian liquids it can be calculated:

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iii. NPSHA

 to avoid cavitation NPSHA > NPSHR of the pump.

 To calculate the NPSHA the location of the pump and the detail

of the pumping system should be defined.

? System characteristics

 It is relationship between the flow rate and head.

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 It helps evaluate the effect of variation of working flow rate on

performance & select appropriate capacity regulation method.

 It can be determined by calculating head at various flow rates

and plotting the curve.

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B. Special Requirements

 There are Some special requirements that used to select a

particular type of pump.

 Viscous liquid handling,

 Solid content,

 Flow variation with head,

 Pulsation,

 Margins,

 Future system changes.

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2. Selection of the fluid machine and the drive

 In addition to the system requirement the engineer has to

know the relative importance of such factors as: operating
cost, maintenance cost, safety, interval between
maintenances, etc.

There two major steps in the process of selection:

1. Selecting the type (class) of the pump:- This is the step at

which the engineer determines whether centrifugal, axial,
piston, gear, screw ,etc., pump is appropriate for the
system.
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2. Specific Model from the Catalogue of Potential Suppliers: -
Once the type of pump is selected,

 The bidders should be supplied with the type of pump and

specification.

 This process is carried out in cooperation with the potential

suppliers.

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2.1 Special Requirement Pumps

 One of the most important special requirements is viscosity:

- Centrifugal pumps perform very badly in pumping very
viscous liquids.

 Therefore they are not used in such cases.

 On the other hand rotary pumps are very good and their
efficiency increase as the viscosity increases.

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 If the required capacity is expected to be constant over a wide

range of system head variation constant speed reciprocating

pumps are recommended.

 If pulsation cannot be tolerated, rotary pumps may be used

depending on the viscosity and capacity.

 Centrifugal pumps are often used in variable head, variable

capacity applications.

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 Reciprocating pumps cannot be used for liquids with high solid
content.

 However, if the solid is not abrasive reciprocating pumps with

ball valves can be used.

 Centrifugal pumps can be used for both clean, clear fluids and
fluids with high solid content.

 To simplify cleaning, commonly, semi-open impellers are used

for liquids with high solid content.

 If the solid is abrasive centrifugal pumps with internal lining are

used.
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 The impeller width is normally made larger for liquids with high

solid content.

 The maintenance cost of centrifugal machines is relatively low

and the interval between maintenances is also low.

 The maintenance cost of reciprocating pumps is higher than

centrifugal pumps and the interval between maintenances is

shorter.

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 In general centrifugal pumps require less floor space than

reciprocating pumps.

 Rotary and reciprocating pumps are self priming, while

centrifugal pumps are, generally, not self priming.

 When the NPSHA is limited submersible pumps may be

required.

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Pump Drive Selection

 Electric motors are used in constant speed service.

 Internal combustion engines are used in places where

electric power is not available, or as a backup in case of

power losses.

 They can operate as either constant speed or variable

speed.

 Steam turbines, diesel engines are used where variable

speed operation is required.

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3. specification of the fluid machine

 The specification of fluid machines can be expressed in two

ways: Abbreviated specification and formal specification.

 Abbreviated specification is used for relatively simple, or

inexpensive fluid machines, or for replacement machines

where duplication is desired.

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 Formal specification is used for expensive, heavy-duty pumps.

 There are two types of formal specification: Performance

specification and construction specification.

 Performance specification establishes the performance which

the fluid machine must achieve and it does not order the design

and construction methods.

 construction specification establishes in some detail the type of

design and construction used in manufacturing the pump.

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 If a construction specification is used, the purchaser has

established certain design features of the pump.

 Here, the manufacturer cannot be responsible for the

performance but concerns only for construction.

 it is far more appropriate to specify the pump on the basis of

performance required rather than construction.

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 The specification can be clearly prepared in form of data
sheets.

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 Chapter -6 Water hammer & cavitation

• Water hammer in pipe lines takes place when flowing fluid is

suddenly brought to rest by closing a valve.

• When the water flowing in a long pipe is suddenly brought to

rest by closing the value or by any similar cause, there will

be sudden rise in pressure due to the momentum or the

moving water being destroyed.

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• This causes a wave of high pressure to be transmitted along

the pipe which creates noise known as knocking.

• This phenomenon of sudden rise in pressure in the pipe is

known as water hammer or hammer blow.

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