CENTRIFUGAL PUMP Casing

By
Er. Laxman Singh Sankhla
B.E.Mech., Chartered Engineer
Jodhpur, India
Mail ID: laxman9992001@yahoo.co.in

Centrifugal Pump Components

2.4.1 External Components

The external parts of a centrifugal pump are those parts which can be seen when
the casing is intact. These include the casing, stuffing box, bearing housing, and
coupling.
A. Casing
As mentioned in 2.2.1, the casing is the largest and most visible part of the
centrifugal pump. In the petroleum industry, casings on low pressure pumps
(up to 150 psig) are usually made of cast iron while steel is used for higher
pressure pumps. The casing serves three purpose:
1. It houses the internal parts, holding them in proper position and
protecting them
2. It confines the fluid being pumped and directs its flow.
3. It forms the volute and connection points for suction and discharge
piping.
Pump casings can be solid or split design. Solid construction casings have a
removable cover or face plate, which provides easy access to the impeller,
but are referred to as solid construction because the discharge casing is one
piece.

Pump casings of split construction are described as:

Axial split if the split is along the center line of the shaft and allows the
upper half of the casing to be removed, giving access to the pump
shaft, impeller and bearings.
Radial split if the split is perpendicular to the center line of the shaft. The
advantage of radial split casing is that the casing can be made up in
segments and bolted together to form one pump. This reduces costly
construction that would otherwise be required to manufacture multistage centrifugal pumps.
Some larger centrifugal pumps have a gland sealing line which supplies
sealing fluid to the packing gland. Usually the sealing line delivers fluid to
the stuffing box from the upper casing. However, in some pumps, the
sealing fluid may come from an external source, especially if the pump is
pumping a corrosive or abrasive substance.
Also, on larger centrifugal pumps, the external section of the lower casing
half may form a small open well for catching fluid leakage. At the bottom of
this well is a pipe, commonly referred to as the slop drain, through which
the leakage can be drained.