HYDRAULIC MACHINES III PUMP PERFORMANCE AND

CHARACTERISTIC CURVES
Solution by DF Sozinando, Mechanical Eng.
student at Vaal University of Technology
4- The characteristic of a pump in terms of dimensionless coeffci ents may approximated to K
H
240 2 K
Q
21 K
Q
2
= .
Such a pump having an impeller of 0.4m and running at 145 rev/min operates against a system characteristic represeted
by H
sys
5 300 Q
2
+ = . Use Q=0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, and 0.5m
3
/s to plot the original pump curve and system curce.
a) Obtem the volume flow rate delivered and the pump operating head for the original pump from your graph?
b) Obtem the volume flow rate delivered and the pump operating head for a similar pump with an impeller diameter of
0.39m in the dame system operating at 220rev/min from your graph?
Solution:
Q
pump_145
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
|

\
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|
|
|
|
|
.
m
3
s
:= d
1
0.4m := N
1
145rpm := d
2
0.39m := N
2
220rpm := z
145
5m :=
k
pump_145
300
s
2
m
5
:=
H
sys
z
145
k
pump_145
Q
pump_145
( )
2
+ := H
sys
5
8
17
32
53
80
|

\
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
.
m =
K
Q
Q
N d
3

= , K
H
g H
N
2
d
2

=
FROM AFFINITY
LAWS
K
H
240 2 K
Q
21 K
Q
2
=
g H
N
2
d
2

240 2
Q
N d
3

21
Q
N d
3

\
|
|
.
2
=
gH 240 N
2
d
2

( )

2 N
2
d
2

( )

N d
3

Q 21
N
2
d
2

N
2
d
6

\
|
|
|
.
Q
2
=
H 240
N
2
g 60 60
d 2
N
60 g d
Q
21
g d
4

Q
2
=
25
HYDRAULIC MACHINES III PUMP PERFORMANCE AND
CHARACTERISTIC CURVES
Solution by DF Sozinando, Mechanical Eng.
student at Vaal University of Technology
H
pump_145
22.861 1.232Q
pump_145
83.62 Q
pump_145
( )
2
=
H
pump_145
22.861m 1.232
s
m
2
Q
pump_145
83.62
s
2
m
5
Q
pump_145
( )
2
:= H
pump_145
22.861
21.902
19.27
14.966
8.989
1.34
|

\
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|
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|
|
.
m =
H
pump_220
50.028 1.917 Q
pump_220
92.532 Q
pump_220
( )
2
=
H
pump_220
50.028m 1.917
s
m
2
Q
pump_145
92.532
s
2
m
5
Q
pump_145
( )
2
:= H
pump_220
50.028
48.911
45.943
41.125
34.456
25.936
|

\
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.
m =
NB: Always use the operation flow rate to calcul ate any system head, pump
head and to plot the graph.
Q
pump_220
Q
pump_145
N
2
d
2
3

N
1
d
1
3

:= Q
pump_220
0
0.141
0.281
0.422
0.563
0.703
|

\
|
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|
|
|
|
|
.
m
3
s
=
Q
pump_145
N
1
d
1
3

Q
pump_220
N
2
d
2
3

=
FROM AFFINITY
LAWS
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
0
20
40
60
80
System Curve
Pump Curve at 145 rpm
Pump Curve at 220 rpm
Flow rate
H
e
a
d
Readings taken from the graph
Q
145
0.214
m
3
s
:= H
145
18.8m :=
Q
220
0.333
m
3
s
:= H
220
38.3m :=
26
HYDRAULIC MACHINES III PUMP PERFORMANCE AND
CHARACTERISTIC CURVES
Solution by DF Sozinando, Mechanical Eng.
student at Vaal University of Technology
5- For the system in Question4, water at 15 (=9.81kN/m
3
, P
vap
=1.7kPa flows from a closed thank through a 50cm
diameter suction pipe (f=0.02) whose length is 2km. The pressure above the water in the sealed tank is 10kPa below
atmospheric. The similar pump for the Question1 is placed 4m below the surface of the water in the thank, the pipe
connection to the thank is square edged and there are two 90 elbows (f
T
=0.017, Le/D=30). Take atmospheric pressure
as 100.5kPa. Sketch the system. Calculate the net positive suction head available to this similar pump.
NB: The pressure in the thank always must be absolute pressure and do not
consider the suction after the pump, consider only the suction before the pump.
9.81
kN
m
3
:= p
vap
1.7kPa := d 50cm := f 0.02 := L 2km := p
g
10 kPa :=
f
T
0.017 :=
L
e
d
e
30 = p
at
100.5kPa := Q 0.333
m
3
s
:= from Question4
h
s
4m :=
NPSH
A
p
2

v
2
2
2 g
+
|

\
|
|
|
.
h
vap
= h
sp
h
s
+ h
L
h
vap
=
TO AVOID CAVITATION
NPSH
A
NPSH
R
>
p
sp
p
g
p
at
+ := p
sp
90.5 kPa = abs ( )
NPSH
A
1.10NPSH
R
=
h
sp
p
sp

:= h
sp
9.225 m =
h
L
entre friction + 2elbows + =
NPSH
A
h
sp
h
s
+
8 f L Q
2

2
g d
5

2 f
T
30 ( )
8 Q
2

2
g d
4

(
(
(

p
vap

:= NPSH
A
1.171 m =
27
HYDRAULIC MACHINES III PUMP PERFORMANCE AND
CHARACTERISTIC CURVES
Solution by DF Sozinando, Mechanical Eng.
student at Vaal University of Technology
DISCUSSION:
Many pumps are too large to be tested in a laboratory therefore it is essential to be able to test small geometrically
similar ones and then scale the results up to the required size.
If a centrifugal pump operates in conjunction with a pipe system the two must handle the same volume and at the
same time, the head generated by the pump must be equal to the system energy requirement at that flow rate.
The point at which the system curve and the pump rating curve intercepts is the true operating point of the pump
in the system. At operating point, the pump head and system head the are equal ( H
pump
H
system
= ).
An important characteristic of the head flow curve is the best efficiency point, at this point, the pump operates
most cost-effectively in term of both energy, effi ciency and mai ntenance.
The performance of the centrifugal pumps is typically described by graph plotting the pressure head generated by
the pump over a range of flow rates.
Vapour bubbles are formed in the fluid in a manner similar to boling. If the suction pressure of pump inlet is too low.
The propety that determines the conditions under which vapour bubbles from is h
s
vapour pressure ( p
vap
). It is very
important to compute the net positive suction head available( NPSH
A
) to the pump in order to avoid cavitations.
The value of NPSH
A
depends on the vapour pressure of the flowing fluid, energy losses in the suction pipe, the
location of the fluid reservoir and the pressure applied to the fluid in reservoir.
28