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Centrifugal Pumps

Introduction
Centrifugal pumps are machines which converts mechanical energy into fluid energy (Pressure energy) using a rotating impeller, propeller or rotor. The centrifugal pump is the most common pump used for moving large volumes of liquids, slurries or high viscosity liquids. The centrifugal pump is simple in construction as it has no valves or tight clearances where materials might get jammed and build up to block the pump or reduce the flow. A centrifugal pump consists of: 1. One or more impellers mounted on a shaft. 2. A casing consisting of a suction eye, volute, and discharge.

Figure 1: Centrifugal Pump Volute type

Body of the Report


As the pump head is function of the number of rounds per minutes the shaft makes, an experiment is made in the Fluids laboratory to demonstrate the relation between the pump head and the RPM the shaft makes. *The pump head is measured using a pressure gage just after the pump exit (P2) *The flow is changed using a valve placed after the pump and the pressure gage (P2), and measured using a V-notch meter using the following relation: where hv = hv - hvo in cm. Test rig:

Experiment Procedure:
1. Fill the reservoir with water 2. Measure hvo 3. Start the pump and wait till the flow becomes steady (the frequency is adjusted using VFD to control the shaft speed through the relation 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Measure hv, P2, P3 Change the valve position to change the flow amount Repeat step 4 Repeat steps 5&6 for different amount of flows Repeat the procedures for different amount of shaft speeds , Hpump could be calculated )

9. Using the relation 10. Plot a Curve between HPump and Q

Conclusions and Results:


Freq.=40 Hz N=2400 rpm Hv (cm) 6.85 8.8 8.05 6.35 Hv (cm) 5.7 6.7 7.3 7.95 Hv (cm) Freq.=20 Hz N=1200 rpm 5.3 5.5 5.9 6.35 7.2 Hv (cm) Freq.=50 Hz N=3000 rpm 7.5 8.3 8.9 9.4 9.9 Hv (cm) 6.4 6.9 7.9 7.4 Hv-hvo (cm) 4.75 6.7 5.95 4.25 Hv-hvo (cm) 3.4 4.4 5 5.65 Hv-hvo (cm) 3 3.2 3.6 4.05 4.9 Hv-hvo (cm) 5.6 6.4 7 7.5 8 Hv-hvo (cm) 4.3 4.8 5.8 5.3 Q (l/sec) 0.6896 1.6294 1.2110 0.5222 Q (l/sec) 0.2989 0.5695 0.7839 1.06405 Q (l/sec) 0.2186 0.2569 0.3448 0.4629 0.7453 Q (l/sec) 1.0407 1.4531 1.818 2.1602 2.5384 Q (l/sec) 0.5377 0.7079 1.1360 0.9068 V2 (m/s) (x10-3) 340.236 803.916 597.485 257.644 V2 (m/s) (x10-3) 147.472 280.981 386.762 524.982 V2 (m/s) (x10-3) 107.853 126.750 170.118 228.387 367.717 V2 (m/s) (x10-3) 513.462 716.932 896.967 1065.802 1252.399 V2 (m/s) (x10-3) 265.291 349.265 560.481 447.398 P2(KPa) 130 110 100 125 P2(KPa) 80 70 65 55 P2(KPa) 30 33 35 30 25 P2(KPa) 190 180 175 165 150 P2(KPa) 285 290 275 280 Hpump (m) 12.858 10.84 9.812 12.345 Hpump (m) 7.906 6.8896 6.384 5.37 Hpump (m) 2.809 3.115 3.319 2.811 2.305 Hpump (m) 19.021 18.015 17.52 16.518 15.01 Hpump (m) 28.556 29.068 27.549 28.052 P3(KPa) 20 60 80 10 P3(KPa) 10 15 25 35 P3(KPa) 5 8.5 10 20 22 P3(KPa) 25 50 65 90 115 P3(KPa) 50 70 150 160

Freq.=30 Hz N=1800 rpm

Freq.=60 Hz N=3600 rpm

35 30 25 20 Hpump(m) 15 10 5 0 0

Characteristic curve
N=1200rpm N=1800rpm N=2400rpm N=3000rpm N=3600rpm

1 Q (l/sec.)

Figure 2: Characteristic curve

Comparing the curve with the Ideal performance curve of a centrifugal pump we can notice the differences which is due to sources of errors, which is; 1. The pressure gauge is fitted on the pipe in a turbulence region which makes it impossible to know the exact pressure reading 2. Leakages in the system 3. The hook was inclined, so the readings werent accurate

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