Discussion:

Part(A): Pumps
The head-discharge characteristic performance of the two kinds of pumps showed that for both
types of pumps, the head increased with the increase in the flow rate which is not physically
correct since the head is here representative of the pressure. Higher pressure (or high) means less
flow and vice versa. Furthermore, it is not correct to have both curves overlapping since both
types of pumps does not have the same head-discharge relationship.
The typical head versus discharge characteristic for the two types of pumps should be as shown
below:

Fig. Typical H-Q, -Q and P-Q curves for radial and axial flow pumps
As shown from the figure, the head curve for the axial flow pump should have been much
steeper than that of the centrifugal pump since for axial flow pumps, there will be high change in
head for a low change in discharge and oppositely for the centrifugal pump, a relative flat curve
indicates small change in head with high changes in the flow rate.
The unusual behavior for the H-Q curves obtained from this experiment could be explained by
different types of errors:
-Experimental errors that are due to setting the experiment like adjusting the flow rate, the motor
speed and reaching quasi-steady conditions.
-Reading errors due to inaccuracy of measuring the head via the double ruler configuration and
readings on the pressure gauges.
-The state of the pumps themselves could be old which might have affected the readings.

Furthermore, observing the efficiency curves for both types of pumps, one could find that the
efficiency curve for the centrifugal pump is quite similar to the typical trend from the figure:
increase of the efficiency with the flow rate until maximum efficiency at the design point, and
then decrease of efficiency with further increase in the discharge. However, the efficiency for the
axial flow pump increases linearly with the discharge which is not similar to the typical behavior.
Moreover, it is important to note that maximum efficiencies are very small (2% for centrifugal
and 7% for axial). These small values could be related to state of the impeller where old age
pumps have low efficiencies. However, according to the typical curves from the figure, it is not
correct to have the efficiency of the axial flow pumps higher than that of the radial flow ones
except at the design point where they should have the same efficiency. Again, the deviations
from typical behavior could be explained by the reasons stated above

Finally, regarding power versus discharge curve, it appears that the power of both types of pumps
increases with the discharge which is correct for the centrifugal pump but not for the axial flow
one when referring back to the typical performance curves. However, it is important to note that
power required for the axial flow pump is generally higher than the radial flow one, which might
cause overload especially at the shutoff point.
It thus appear from the above discussion that the centrifugal pump tested is more close to
theoretical behavior than axial flow one and that could be explained by the fact that it has a better
state (i.e, it is newer than the axial one)

Part(B): Turbine

The head vs. discharge curve for the Francis turbine shows that the head decreases with the
increase in flow rate which is not a possible behavior for a turbine since the more flow of the
fluid, the more the head developed by the turbine. The Francis turbine is an example of reaction
turbine which is used in hydro electrical power plants for those such with dams.
This difference between typical behavior of turbine and experimental results could be explained
by the fact that experimental errors would have occurred when varying flow rate by varying
blade angles, or due to reading errors, or state of the turbine.
For the efficiency versus discharge curve, the efficiency increase with the flow rate and the
maximum efficiency obtained is 65% for a flow of 0.0225m^3/s. This is a typical behavior of the
Francis turbine which operates at low heads and high flow rates.
Finally, the output power increases with the input power to the turbine given by the fluid up to a
certain design optimum which is in accordance to the general trend for a Francis turbine since
from the formula, the input power is directly proportional to the flow rate and the Francis turbine
is best designed for high flow rates

To sum up, the purpose of this experiment was to understand the performance characteristics for
centrifugal and axial flow pumps and for Francis turbine which is a special type of reaction
turbine.
At first, axial and radial flow pumps where tested to measure their performance by measuring
head, power and efficiency of the pump as a function of the flow rate.
The results obtained showed an untypical behavior of increasing head with the flow for both
type of pumps which could be explained by inaccuracies in the readings or experimental errors.
The efficiency for the centrifugal pump showed that it increases with the flow and reaches
maximum value at lower flow rates than axial ones which is consistent with the fact that
centrifugal pumps operate at low flow rates and high heads and vice versa for the axial pumps.
The power of the centrifugal pump increased with the flow which is typical for a centrifugal
pump but not for an axial one. In fact, it appeared that the centrifugal pump follows more
accurately its theoretical behavior than the axial which might be explained by the difference in
ages
At second, the performance characteristics of the Francis turbine were determined using an
experimental setup that was described previously. The plots showed an unusual behavior of
decreasing head with the flow due to inaccuracies but obeyed the behavior of a Francis turbine
which is a type of reaction turbine that operates at high flow rate and low head and thus
presented its maximum efficiency and power input and output at high flow rates

The study of these performance behavior is essential to turbo machinery design where
determination of the operating point for a system depends on both the system characteristics and
the performance curve of the pump/turbine.