Contents

OBJECTIVE.............................................................................................................. 1

THEORY................................................................................................................... 1

APPARATUS/EQUIPMENT ................................................................................... 5

PROCEDURE ........................................................................................................... 6

RESULTS & DISCUSSIONS: ................................................................................. 7

CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................... 12

REFERENCE .......................................................................................................... 13

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FM11: Centrifugal Pump

OBJECTIVE
To obtain and create head, power and efficiency graphs and characteristics curve for a
centrifugal pump.

THEORY
In a centrifugal pump, fluid entering the center of a rotating impeller is spun outwards.
The fluid is guided by the outlet by the impeller casing or volute, converting the kinetic
energy it has gained into pressure energy.

Figure 1: Operating Principle of Centrifugal Pump

Pump Characteristics

By varying the outlet flowrate for a series of constant pump speeds, a set of operating
curves can be obtained. Lines of constant efficiency and power can be plotted on the se
curves to produce a pump characteristic chart.

These characteristic charts allow engineers to see the maximum efficiency for a range
of operating speeds. This can help with the selection of a pump for a particular pressure-
flow conditions.

1
Scaling

From measurements of the pump characteristics at one operating point, it is possible to

predict them at another operating point. Using dimensional analysis to reduce the
number of variables involved, solutions can be found which describe how the pressure,
power or discharge of the pump will change when the speed is altered.

Operating Curves

The operating curves of a centrifugal pump can be shown by plotting the pressure head,
power and efficiency against the flowrate to illustrate and describe the operating
characteristics of the pump. The optimum conditions are wen the required flowrate and
pressure conditions correspond with the maximum efficiency. Engineers can use these
curves to select an appropriate pump based on the required duty. The three most
commonly used graphical representations of pump performance are:

i. Change in total head produced by the pump, Ht

ii. Power input to the pump, Pm
iii. Pump efficiency, E

Total Head

The change in total head produced as a result of the work done by pump can be
calculated as:

= , + ,
(1)
+ ,

where

( )
= = (2)

[Pin is the fluid pressure at inlet in Pa and Pout is the fluid pressure at outlet in Pa.]

Where

2 2
= = (3)
2

2
[Vin is the fluid velocity at inlet in m/s and Vout is the fluid velocity at outlet in m/s.]

Where

= = 0.075

Power Output

The mechanical power input to the pump may be calculated as:

2
= = (4)
60

Where n is the rotational speed of pump in revolutions per minute and T is the shaft
torque in Nm.

Pump Efficiency

The efficiency of the pump can be calculated as

(5)
= 100%

where

= =

= = 2

[Q is the volume flowrate in m3/s]

Each of these parameters is measured at constant pump speed, and is plotted against
the volume flowrate, Q, through the pump. An example of this type of graphical
representation of pump performance is given in Figure 2 below.

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Figure 2: The general performance of centrifugal pump
The Ht-Q curve shows the relationship between head and flow rate. The head decreases
as flow rate increases. This type of curve is referred to as a rising characteristic curve.
A stable head-capacity characteristic curve is one in which there is only one possible
flow rate for a given head, as in the example here.

The Pm-Q curve shows the relationship between the power input to the pump and the
change in flow rate through the pump. Outside the optimum operating range of the
pump this curve flattens, so that a large change in pump power produces only a small
change in flow velocity.

The E-Q curve shows the pump capacity at which the pump operates most efficiently.
In the example here, the optimum operating capacity is 0.7dm/s, which would give a
head of 1.2m. When selecting a pump for an application where the typical operating
capacity is known, a pump should be selected so that its optimum efficiency is at or
very near that capacity.

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APPARATUS/EQUIPMENT
The apparatus consists of:

1. Centrifugal pump apparatus

2. Armfield interface device (IFD7)

3. Compatible PC with Armfield FM50 software installed

Gate
valve
Sensor
Inlet
valve

Pump
Motor

Figure 3 Set-up of F1-21 Flow Meter Apparatus

Figure 4: Armfield FM50 Software on PC

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PROCEDURE
1. The IFD7 was switched on followed by the FM50 pump within the software using
the Power On/Standby button.
2. The speed of motor was set to 40% using the software. The pump speed was
increased by the interface until it reached the required setting. The water was
allowed to circulate until all air had ben flushed from the system. The inlet and gate
valves were opened and closed slightly a few times to help in priming the system
and eliminating any bubbles caught within the valve mechanism. The inlet valve
was left to open fully.
3. In the results table, the spreadsheet was renamed (Selects Format > Rename Sheet)
to 40%.
4. The gate valve was closed to give a flow rate Q of 0. The gate valve was not closed
fully because the pump would not run well with the gate valve fully closed or nearly
closed as the back pressure produced was outside normal operating parameters. The
pump should begin to run more smoothly as the experiment progresses
5. The GO icon was selected to record the sensor readings and pump settings on the
results table of the software.
6. The gate valve was opened a little to give a very low flow. Sufficient time was
allowed for the sensor readings to stabilise and the icon was selected to record the
next set of data.
7. The flow was increased in small increments and the sensor readings were allowed
to stabilise before recording the sensor and pump data each time.
8. The pump speed was reduced to 0% using the arrow buttons on the software display.
Save or Save As was selected from the File menu and the results were saved
with a suitable file name (e.g. the data and the exercise).
9. Steps 2 to 8 were repeated to perform the experiment with pump setting to 80%.
10. The FM50 was switched off within the software using the Power On/Standby
button.

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RESULTS & DISCUSSIONS:
Inlet diameter, din = 0.0235m; Outlet diameter, dout = 0.0175m; Density of Water, = 996 /3

The results are tabulated under the following headings:

Table 1: Results of Centrifugal Pump Experiment (Pump Setting = 40%)

Pump Pump Inlet Outlet Motor Flow Inlet Outlet Static Velocity Elevation Total Hydraulic Motor Pump
Setting Speed Pressure Pressure torque Rate Velocity Velocity Head Head Head Head Power Power Efficiency
S n Pin Pout t Q Vin Vout Hs Hv He Ht Ph Pm E
(%) (rpm) (kPa) (kPa) (Nm) (dm3/s) (m/s) (m/s) (m) (m) (m) (m) (W) (W) (%)
0.8 4.5 0.02 0.69 1.594 2.875 0.377 0.292 0.075 0.74 5.0 1.3 384.62
0.9 4.7 0.02 0.68 1.563 2.818 0.385 0.280 0.075 0.74 4.9 1.4 360.5
1.0 4.8 0.02 0.66 1.531 2.761 0.390 0.269 0.075 0.73 4.8 1.1 445.9
1.2 5.3 0.02 0.65 1.500 2.704 0.421 0.258 0.075 0.75 4.8 1.0 493.5
1.2 5.6 0.02 0.64 1.468 2.647 0.455 0.247 0.075 0.78 4.8 1.2 414.8
1.3 5.8 0.02 0.60 1.378 2.485 0.468 0.218 0.075 0.76 4.4 1.0 457.3
1.6 6.7 0.02 0.54 1.256 2.266 0.522 0.181 0.075 0.78 4.1 1.0 426.5
40 600 1.8 7.3 0.02 0.52 1.193 2.152 0.566 0.163 0.075 0.80 4.1 1.1 380.7
1.8 7.5 0.01 0.46 1.072 1.933 0.586 0.132 0.075 0.79 3.6 0.9 412.2
2.0 8.0 0.02 0.69 1.594 1.819 0.620 0.117 0.075 0.81 3.5 0.2 1786.5
2.2 8.7 0.00 0.44 1.009 1.543 0.666 0.084 0.075 0.83 3.0 0.2 1541.0
2.3 9.2 0.00 0.37 0.856 1.218 0.705 0.052 0.075 0.83 2.4 0.8 306.8
2.4 9.4 0.01 0.29 0.675 1.104 0.710 0.043 0.075 0.83 2.2 0.2 1107.0
2.5 9.9 0.00 0.27 0.612 0.942 0.759 0.031 0.075 0.87 1.9 1.1 179.4
2.7 10.2 0.02 0.23 0.522 0.552 0.767 0.011 0.075 0.85 1.1 1.5 76.0

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Table 2: Resluts of Centrifugal Pump (Pump Setting = 80%)

Pump Pump Inlet Outlet Motor Flow Inlet Outlet Static Velocity Elevation Total Hydraulic Motor Pump
Setting Speed Pressure Pressure torque Rate Velocity Velocity Head Head Head Head Power Power Efficiency
S n Pin Pout T Q Vin Vout Hs Hv He Ht Ph Pm E
(%) (rpm) (kPa) (kPa) (Nm) (dm3/s) (m/s) (m/s) (m) (m) (m) (m) (W) (W) (%)
-5.7 13.8 0.42 1.45 3.337 6.017 1.992 1.278 0.075 3.34 47.3 52.3 90.5
-5.6 14.4 0.42 1.43 3.305 5.960 2.039 1.254 0.075 3.37 47.2 52.6 89.6
-4.6 16.4 0.40 1.37 3.152 5.684 2.152 1.140 0.075 3.37 45.0 50.7 88.7
-4.6 16.8 0.40 1.36 3.125 5.635 2.191 1.121 0.075 3.39 44.9 50.7 88.5
-3.9 19.0 0.40 1.31 3.031 5.465 2.346 1.054 0.075 3.48 44.6 49.7 89.7
-3.4 21.3 0.38 1.23 2.846 5.132 2.524 0.930 0.075 3.53 42.6 48.0 88.7
-2.6 23.9 0.36 1.17 2.693 4.856 2.708 0.832 0.075 3.62 41.3 44.7 92.3
80 1200 -1.3 27.6 0.36 1.04 2.387 4.304 2.958 0.654 0.075 3.69 37.3 45.3 82.4
-0.7 30.0 0.34 0.93 2.143 3.865 3.137 0.527 0.075 3.74 34.0 43.1 78.8
0.6 33.4 0.32 0.74 1.716 3.094 3.359 0.338 0.075 3.77 27.4 40.6 67.5
1.6 37.5 0.29 0.52 1.193 2.152 3.677 0.163 0.075 3.92 19.8 36.7 53.9
2.0 38.0 0.29 0.44 1.009 1.819 3.690 0.117 0.075 3.88 16.6 36.3 45.7
2.3 39.2 0.26 0.30 0.702 1.267 3.770 0.057 0.075 3.90 11.6 33.2 35.0
2.6 39.8 0.25 0.19 0.428 0.771 3.808 0.021 0.075 3.90 7.1 31.1 22.8
2.8 40.6 0.26 0.09 0.216 0.390 3.868 0.005 0.075 3.95 3.5 32.7 10.7

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Calculation:

( )
= =

2 2
= =
2

= 0.075

= , + ,
+ ,

2
= =
60

= =

= 100%

Taking last row of data from Table 2 as example,

(40.6 2.8) 103

= = 3.868
996 9.81

0.3902 0.2162
= = 0.005
2 9.81

= 3.868 + 0.005 + 0.075 = 3.95

2 2 1200 0.26
= = = 32.7
60 60

0.693
= = 0.09 103 3 /

= = 3.95 0.09 103 996 9.81 = 3.5

3.5
= 100% = 100% = 10.7%
32.7

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For Pump Setting = 40%,

Graph of Toatl Head, Power Input and Efficiency against Flow Rate
0.88

Efficiency (%)
0.86

0.84
Head, Ht (m)

0.82

0.8

Power Input, Pm (W)

0.78

0.76

0.74

0.72
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6
Volume Flow Rate (dm3/s)
Head Power Efficiency

For Pump Setting = 80%,

Graph of Toatl Head, Power Input and Efficiency against Flow Rate
4 100

Efficiency (%)
3.9
80
3.8
Head, Ht(m)

3.7 60
3.6
Power Input, Pm (W)

3.5 40

3.4
20
3.3

3.2 0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6
Volume Flow Rate (dm3/s)

Head Power Efficiency

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 From the graph for pump setting = 40%, we can see that the total head, Ht tends
to decrease as flow rate, Q increases. The curve is proven to be a rising characteristic
curve as mentioned in Theory section before. Therefore, we can deduce that in order to
achieve a stable head-capacity characteristic curve, the flow rate, Q must be kept
constant and stable. Similar to Ht-Q curve, the Pm-Q curve is also a rising characteristics
curve. This means that the power input to the pump fluctuates with the increase of Q.
In this context, we need to determine the optimum operating range of the pump in order
to achieve maximum efficiency. Otherwise, a large change in pump power will produce
only a small change in flow velocity. If the power falls outside the optimum range.
Besides, we can deduce the most efficient pump capacity from the E-Q curve. This
helps us in selecting a pump for an application where the typical operating capacity is
known, a pump should be selected so that its optimum efficiency is at or very near that
capacity.

From the graph for pump setting = 80%, the Ht-Q curve shows similar trend as
what we saw in previous graph for pump setting = 40%. They are rising characteristics
curves. The difference is that at the same flow rate, the total head produced is much
higher than the one in pump setting = 40%. However, Pm-Q line is not a curve but a
straight linear line, totally different from the previous graph. This means that the power
input to the pump is more consistent with pump setting = 80%. Meanwhile for E-Q
curve, its trend is similar to the previous graph which both are rising characteristics
curves. However, the values of efficiency obtained for pump setting = 80% are logical
because all of them fall within the range of 0-100%. On the other hand, the efficiency
obtained for pump setting = 40% are very irrational since most of them are much higher
than 100%. As we all know, there must be some energy losses in real practice.
Therefore, it is impossible for the efficiency to reach 100% in real case, not to say going
beyond 100%.

Thus, we deduce that the design of FM50 centrifugal pump apparatus is not
suitable for low operation at setting = 40%. This is most probably due to the error of
the sensor to read the data at low power because we did not observe any flow of water
and also bubbles during the experiment at pump setting = 40%.

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Experimental Errors:

1. Unsteady Flow inside the Piping System

The unstable flow inside the piping system is caused by the presence of air bubbles.
The formation of air bubbles is inevitable especially during the time while closing
the gate valve gradually. The more we closed the gate valve, the greater the
formation of air bubbles in the flow. Unsteady flow has caused the sensor of FM50
to read the head gain and flow rate inaccurately, which resulted in little deviation.

Way to overcome: The gate valve should be closed gradually to reduce the
formation of air bubbles. Meanwhile, more time should be allocated to allow all the
air bubbles to circulate out of the piping system.

2. Energy Loss in the System

As we all know, there is no so called perfect machine existing in real world with
100% efficiency. Similarly, the pumping motor is not with 100% efficiency, which
means some energy is lost as heat and sound during their operation. This has
reduced the pumping capacity as expected theoretically. Besides imperfect motor,
energy loss is also caused by friction in the pipes, especially when it flows through
the joints.

Way to overcome: Repeat the experiment more and get the more accurate mean to
increase the accuracy of experimental result, though minor deviation is inevitable.
Use motors with higher efficiency to pump the water as to reduce the energy loss.

CONCLUSION
From the experiment, head, power and efficiency graphs and characteristics
curve for a centrifugal pump have been determined successfully to know the
characteristics of the centrifugal pump. We can determine the optimum pump capacity
to achieve the highest efficiency of the pump. In this experiment, we have successfully
deduced that for pump setting = 80%, the highest efficiency is 90.5% under operation
of flow rate = 1.45dm3/s and input power of 52.3W.

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 Besides, we also found out that the pump is not suitable for low power operation.
From the result at pump setting = 40%, we have obtained very irrational efficiencies
which are mostly more than 100%. As the efficiency is affected by 2 parameters, P m
and Ph, we believe that there are some errors in calculating either one of these
2
parameters. Calculation of Pm is = . From the raw data in Table 1, we found
60

that the motor torque = 0 for certain flow rates which is really impossible as the motor
is operating. This is most probably due to the low sensitivity of the sensor to detect

minimal value of motor torque. As = 100%, E is calculated to be going beyond

100% as the value of Pm obtained is much smaller than Ph, which is calculated wrongly
due to the error in reading motor torque by the sensor. Therefore in order to perform
the experiment correctly, we suggest two ways:

1. Set the pump power to be high (> 70%) so that the sensor is able to read the motor
torque correctly.
2. Replace the sensor with a new one with higher sensitivity and range to detect
minimal change in motor torque

REFERENCE
J.Moran, M. (2011). Fundamentals of Engineering Thermodynamics. United States of
America: Don Fowley.

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