American University of Madaba

AUM

Faculty of Engineering.
Department of Civil Engineering.
Fall Semester 2016-2017.

Fluid mechanics & Hydraulics Lab

Report # 5
(Centrifugal Pump Characteristics; Single
pump )

Names
Tamara al-Tawal

1 | www.aum.edu.jo

URN: (University Registration

Number)
1310360

American University of Madaba

AUM

Faculty of Engineering.
Department of Civil Engineering.
Fall Semester 2016-2017.

Submitted on: Day.Month.Year (14th of Nov 2016)

Contents
Introduction....................................................................................................................................2
Objectives.......................................................................................................................................2
Materials and Apparatus.................................................................................................................2
Procedure........................................................................................................................................2
Results and Calculations.................................................................................................................2
Figures and Graphs.........................................................................................................................2
Discussion.......................................................................................................................................2
Conclusion......................................................................................................................................2
References......................................................................................................................................2

2 | www.aum.edu.jo

American University of Madaba

AUM

Faculty of Engineering.
Department of Civil Engineering.
Fall Semester 2016-2017.

Introduction
This week's test was conducted upon Centrifugal pumps and studying the characteristics with
different flows and revolutions. To begin with one should understand that a pump is device used
to move liquids or even gases from the place of low pressure to higher pressures, also it
overcomes this pressure difference by adding energy to the system. The centrifugal pump differs
from a regular pump in its parts and inner structure, making it more flexible, easy to construct
and has higher efficiency that regular ones.
However, due to complexity and variations in the way fluids flow through a pump, it is
generally very difficult to predict its behaviors and out comes using theory only, thus a curve
called the performance curve or the characteristics is usually constructed and used to draw final
estimations and anticipations of the pump's working capabilities.
Note that the final results of the same pump will vary depending on the style of installation. If
more than one pump of the same kind were installed in parallel or serious the results yield will
be different.

Objectives
In this we aim to study the behavior of a centrifugal single pump, with changing number of
revolutions per minute, also for each of the revolutions changing the water flow. Moreover, we
are to plot the characteristic curve of the pump and discuss the final results.

Materials and Apparatus

As for the tools used they are as follows:
1. A stainless steel centrifugal pump having the following characteristics: a power of
0.6KW, a maximum flow rate of 80 L/h and a maximum head of 2m. Also the maximum
revolutions per minute are 2800.
2. Pressure gage. To measure the first pressure called P13.
3. Pressure gage. To measure the second pressure called P14.

Procedure
Here are the steps that we followed to conduct the test:
1. Using the diale gage, we decided on the first frequency to be used. We tested four
different value which are 50, 40, 30 and 20rpm.
2. Then we set the value of the flow that we wanted to test the pump at. also we used four
different values of Q for each of the revolutions. Which were 4,3,2 and 1 m3/h.
3. We opened the valve and let the water flow, then read the following vlaues from the
gage. Which are P13 being P1, P14 being P2, also Y being the voltage V and C being the
Current I.
3 | www.aum.edu.jo

American University of Madaba

AUM

Faculty of Engineering.
Department of Civil Engineering.
Fall Semester 2016-2017.

4. After which proper calculations were made to evaluate the pump and provide the
characteristic curve.

Results and Calculations

The following tables shows the values that were noted during the lab as well as the values that
were calculated using the proper equations:
Note that the frequency and the flow were defined by us and used in the Rota-meter, the values
of I,V and the pressures were read from the device and the rest were calculated.
Freq

50
N=280
0 rpm

Q
m3 /
h
4
3
2
1
4

40
N=2240
rpm

3
2
1

Q m3/s

P13

P1
4

Hm

Wh

We

nt

0.001
11
0.000
83
0.000
55
0.000
28
0.001
11
0.000
83
0.000
56
0.000
28

16800
0
18000
0
19000
0
20000
0

17.12

186.67

35.15%

18.35

150

19.37

105.56

20.39

55.56

9.99

108.89

11.11

90.83

12.03

65.56

12.64

34.44

620.9
4
495.0
4
471.2
4
466.0
5
456.4
9
446.9
3
439.7
6

24.16%

23
6
23
7
23
8
23
8
23
9
23
9
23
9
23
9

531

2.2
5
2.6
2
2.0
8
1.9
8
1.9
5
1.9
1
1.8
7
1.8
4

4.89

48

11.29%

4.38

35.83

427.2

8.39%

6.22

33.89

422.4

8.02%

6.93

18.89

24
0
24
0
24
0
24
0

424.8

1.7
7
1.7
8
1.7
6
1.7
5

420

4.49%

2.34

11.82

2.55

10.42

24
1
24
2

431.3
9
425.9
2

2.74%

1.7
9
1.7
6

3.6

0.001

0.000
83
0.000
56
0.000
28

30
N=1680
rpm

N=1120

118000
12400
0
48000

2
1

20

98000
10900
0

1.8
5
1.5

0.000
51
0.000
42

4 | www.aum.edu.jo

43000
61000
68000
23000
25000

21.32%
11.79%
23.36%
19.90%
14.67%
7.83%

2.455

American University of Madaba

rpm

AUM

Faculty of Engineering.
Department of Civil Engineering.

0.5

0.000
28
0.000
14

Fall Semester 2016-2017.

2.85

7.78

1.7
6

24
2

425.9
2

1.83%

3.06

4.17

1.7
6

24
2

425.9
2

0.98%

28000
30000

Equations used :
P 2P 1
Hm =
pg
H is the mono-metric head in m. P2 which is P14 is the discharge pressure and P1 that is P13 is
suction pressure. Both are in Pascal. However the device reads them in bar. Note 1Bar= 10E5 pa
Wh = pgHmQ
W is the hydraulic power. in basic metric units.
We =V*I
We electrical power, V is voltage and I is the electrical current.
nt=

Wh100
We

nt is the total efficiency of the pump.

Sample calculation, to figure out the efficiency for each of the trials this is how we calculated it:
Consider the first flow rate of the 50 frequency:
1. Convert the flow rate from m3/h to m3/s. by dividing the value by 3600. Thus the 4 m3/h
becomes 0.00111 m3/s.
2. Then convert the pressures from Bar to Pascal. Knowing that 1 Bar = 105 Pascal then
P 2P 1
3. Calculate the Head using this equation Hm =
, where P2 is P13 and P1=0,
pg
also the density of water is 1000 and g=9.8m/s2. Which we substituted P2 as 168000,
giving us a final value of Hm of 17.13m
4. After that find Wh using Wh = pgHmQ , using the values shown in the table it
would be 1000*9.81*17.13*0.00111, Wh is 186.67.
5. Now finding We =V*I which is 236*2.25 thus We is 531.
6. Finally the efficiency is the ratio of Wh to We *100. So 186.67*100/531= 35.15%.

5 | www.aum.edu.jo

American University of Madaba

Faculty of Engineering.
Department of Civil Engineering.

AUM

Fall Semester 2016-2017.

Figures and Graphs

Here are the figures that describe the behavior of the um we have tested:
25

These are the

characteristic
curves for the
pump processing
at different
frequencies.
This curve is the
flow on the x-axes
Vs the Head.
From top to
bottom are from
50 to 20rm.

20
charc curve 50rpm

charc curve 40rpm

charc curve 30rpm

15
10

charc curve 20rpm

5
0

0
40
35
30
25

Eff of 50rpm
Eff of 4orpm

20

Eff of 30rm

15

Eff of 20rpm

These are the

values of the
efficiency on the yaxes with the flow
on the x for each of
the frequencies.
From to bottom are
from 50 to 20rpm

10
5
0
0

Discussion
As we have conducted this test upon the same pump but with different operating conditions few
observations have been made:
We notice that as the flow rate of the fluid increases the pressure at the outlet increases
as well. Moreover, as the flow increases the head also increases, but we should notice
that one value did diverge which is the head at a flow rate of 3m3/h for the 30rm. This
could be due to the fact the previous flow read for this frequency was 3.6m3/h, which is

6 | www.aum.edu.jo

American University of Madaba

AUM

Faculty of Engineering.
Department of Civil Engineering.
Fall Semester 2016-2017.

close to the 3 value. And maybe it was due to a parallax error, as we are supposed to read
this value of a manual gage not an electronic one.

The main reason for using head instead of pressure to measure a centrifugal pump's
energy is that the pressure from a pump will change if the specific gravity (weight) of
the liquid changes, but the head will not.

Looking at the characteristic curves for the ump operating at different rmps, that the
highest heads were produced at a frequency of 50 which is the highest between the ones
we used. Also the lowest head are at 20 frequency that being the lowest that we used.

We can note as well that as the flow decreases for each of the conditions the efficiency
decreased as well. Not only this but also, the highest efficiency was produced at the
highest frequency and at its highest flow rate, as we have a 35% eff, for a flow rate of
4m3/h at 50 freq. Furthermore, the lowest efficiency of 0.98% was at the lowest
frequency that being 20, and at its lowest flow rate which is 0.5m3/h.

Conclusion
To sum up, we have achieved the goals we decided on for this test. We have also studied the
behavior of a single ump under different conditions and saw how its efficiency changes with
these differences. This test very important as it helps engineers draw the characteristic and
performance curves of pumps to be able to better evaluate them. Since using only their shape or
size can be sometimes not helpful as they are affected by various other factors.

References
Fluid and Hydraulics lab manual
https://www.scribd.com/doc/22278098/Lab-Report-Performance-Characteristics-of-CentrifugalPump

7 | www.aum.edu.jo

American University of Madaba

AUM

Faculty of Engineering.
Department of Civil Engineering.

8 | www.aum.edu.jo

Fall Semester 2016-2017.