Proceedings of the SICE Annual Conference 2017

September 19-22, 2017, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Japan

LabVIEW-Based System for Testing Centrifugal Pump Efficiency

Somkit Aiamsamang, Teerawat Thepmanee, Prasit Julsereewong, Amphawan Julsereewong
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Ladkrabang, Bangkok, Thailand, 10520
(Tel : +66-2-329-8348; E-mail: amphawan.ju@kmitl.ac.th)

Abstract: This paper presents a test system for testing efficiency of single-suction centrifugal electric pumps for quality
control in 
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production line. The proposed system based on testing an individual pump for an expected
total head provides automatic test procedures to be conducted in accordance with the requirements specified in the Thai
Industrial Standard (TIS) 2618-2557. The hardware implementation consists of instruments for measuring process data
and pump input parameters, controllers for maintaining test conditions and test procedures, and engineering/operator
workstation. Pump testing, real-time monitoring, data gathering, and test reporting of the implemented system are based
on LabVIEW. Centrifugal pump manufacturers in Thailand can use the proposed test system for determining the
efficiency of their products on assembly line before official product testing and certification or customer shipment.

Keywords: Test system, centrifugal pump, energy efficiency, performance testing, LabVIEW, TIS 2618-2557
1. INTRODUCTION
Testing samples of the finished product, selected at a
predetermined frequency, is one of competent quality
control programs of manufacturing processes for
compliance with the specific requirements, contracts, or
regulations. In addition, performance testing is an
essential and necessary part of evaluation for
certification marks, which are required to ensure market
entry for many products. Recently, automatic systems
for testing product performances have been developed
[1-4], since they offer several substantial benefits when
compared to manual test systems such as cheaper
operation cost, faster operation time, and greater
operation reliability.
The aim of this paper is to present the
LabVIEW-based system for testing an efficiency of
single-suction centrifugal electric pumps. Hardware
implementation and testing method of the proposed test
system are based on Thai Industrial Standard (TIS)
2618-2557 requirements [5]. The proposed system is
designed for use as a part of quality control of pump
assembly line production for verifying the efficiency
compliance before release of pumps for assessment in
respect of the Thai Industrial Standard Institute (TISI)
certification marks or for delivery to customers.
2. REQUIREMENTS OF CENTRIFUGAL
PUMP EFFICIENCY TEST
Centrifugal pumps are mainly employed for pumping
water through piping systems in residential and
industrial properties. From requirements of minimum
energy efficiency for single-suction centrifugal electric
pumps specified in the TIS 2618-2557 [5], the test stand
configuration, testing method, and efficiency calculation
can be briefly explained as follows.
2.1 Pump Test Stand Configuration
A closed-loop test stand configuration as shown in
Fig. 1 requires various types of equipment and
instruments. The pump test loop should be constructed
of the following types of equipment.
1Prasit Julsereewong is the presenter of this paper.
978-4-907764-56-2 PR0001/17 ¥400 © 2017 SICE
- Storage tank with capacity of 1,000 liters for test
liquid.
- Piping system equipped with a flow control valve
and flow meter.
- Test stand for supporting the pump.
- Power supply for pump driver.
In addition, the following types of measuring devices
should be used:
- Instrument with accuracy specification less than
2.0% for measuring flow rate in discharge pipe.
- Instruments with accuracy specification less than
1.0% for measuring suction pressure and discharge
pressure.
- Instruments with accuracy specification less than
1K for measuring the test liquid temperature and
ambient temperature.
- Instruments with accuracy specification less than
0.5% for measuring electrical parameters (i.e. voltage,
current, frequency, and power) of power supply for
driving pump.
2.2 Testing Method
The centrifugal electric pump should be tested under
conditions as given in Table 1. There are three major
steps for test stand setup; connecting the pump to the
test stand mounting base and piping loop, filling the test
liquid into the tank, and venting the accumulated air in
the piping. The following four major procedures are
performed to test the pump energy efficiency.
Fig.1 Pump test stand configuration [5].
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 Table 1 Conditions for testing pump efficiency. Table 2 Minimum required pump efficiency.
Item Condition Flow Rate (Q) Total Head (H) at Test Point
Test liquid Water supply (or water from 12 m 14 m 17 m 19 m
other sources with quality  20 l/min 14.0 % 14.0 % - -
equivalent) with temperature 20-55 l/min - 15.5 % 15.5 % -
less than 35ºC > 55 l/min - - 18.5 % 18.5 %
Ambient temperature 10-40ºC
Ambient pressure Equivalent to atmospheric Table 2 summarizes the minimum required efficiency
pressure at less than 1km values of the testing pump, which are specified in the
above sea level TIS 2618-2557 for four different test points of the
Voltage of power 220V±2% for 1-phase pump expected total head (i.e. 12 m, 14 m, 17 m, and 19 m)
supply for pump driver 380V±2% for 3-phase pump for three different given flow rates (including less than
Frequency of power 50 Hz±1% 20 l/min, between 20 and 55 l/min, and greater than 55
supply voltage l/min). For example, the minimum required efficiency
of the testing pump at the test point of H = 14 m for Q =
(1) Apply the power supply for the pump driver. 20-55 l/min is
(min) = 15.5 %. In addition, the actual
(2) Adjust the total head to be equal to the expected efficiency value of the testing pump must be equal or
value on the pump name plate. greater than 95% of the rated efficiency value defined
(3) Wait for all conditions (i.e. suction pressure, on the pump name plate.
discharge pressure, fluid velocity, and test fluid
temperature) to be stabilized for each test, and then 3. PROPOSED TEST SYSTEM
record the measurement data (including pump power
input, flow rate, suction pressure, discharge pressure, Based on the requirements specified in the TIS
suction and discharge pipe sizes, test fluid temperature, 2618-2557 as discussed in Section 2, details of overall
and ambient temperature), and repeat twice by waiting structure, hardware system architecture, and LabVIEW-
at least 5 minutes between each record procedure. based software for controlling the testing procedures
(4) The deviation of recorded measurement values and creating the test reports of the proposed test system
from mean should be less than 6%. can be described as follows.

2.3 Pump Efficiency Calculation 3.1 Overall Structure

The total head H (m) of the testing pump can be Fig. 2 shows an overall structure of the proposed
stated as system based on LabVIEW for testing efficiency of
single-phase centrifugal electric pumps, where the unit
p2  p1 U 22  U12 under test (UUT) is the testing pump. The proposed
H

Z 2  Z1 (1) system provides the automatic test procedures to be
g 2g
conducted for each test point of the expected total head.
where Measurement data and test results are monitored in real
p1 is the suction pressure (Pa). time and stored in historian data for test report creation
p2 is the discharge pressure (Pa). at the engineering/operator workstation at the test shop.
U1 is the velocity of the fluid in suction pipe (m/s). Additionally, specifications and test results of testing
U2 is the velocity of the fluid in discharge pipe (m/s). pumps are also transmitted to be monitored at the
Z1 is the height above ground level of instrument for production line for quality control management.
measuring suction pressure (m), see Fig. 1.
Z2 is the height above ground level of instrument for 3.2 Hardware System Architecture
measuring discharge pressure (m), see Fig. 1. Fig. 3 shows a piping and instrumentation (P&I)
 is the density of the test fluid (kg/m3). diagram of the proposed system. Major details of the
g is the acceleration due to gravity (m/s2). workstation, controllers, and field devices used are
The volumetric flow rate Q (m3/s) can be given by given in Table 3. In order to maintain the test conditions
in parts of storage tank level and test liquid temperature,
Q  U1 A1  U 2 A2 (2) two on-off control loops are required. The former is the
level control loop (including the LT-001 transmitter,
where LIC-001 digital on-off controller, LIC-001 PLC, and
A1 is the cross-sectional area of suction pipe (m2). LV-001 regulator), which is built to maintain the level
A2 is the cross-sectional area of discharge pipe (m2). of the test-liquid storage tank to be greater than 0.8 m.
From (1) and (2), the energy efficiency
(%) of the The LT-001 transmitter is used to measure the actual
testing pump can be written as tank level and to send the measured level value to the
 QgH LIC-001 on-off controller. The output of the LIC-001
  100 (3) on-off controller is applied to the LIC-001 PLC before
Pin
commanding the LV-001 solenoid valve to be open or
where closed. The cooperation between the LIC-001 on-off
Pin is the power input for pump driver (W). controller and the LIC-001 PLC is required to create the

1379
 Water Inlet Valve Graphic
User
Tank Level Level Interface
Controller for
Storage PLC Monitoring
Tank of Liquid Temp for
Temperature and
Test Liquid Operation
Controller Control
Sequence
Control
Cooler, Heater,
Heat Exchanger, Pump

Power Supply NI Data

Contactor LabVIEW Record
(220 V, 50 Hz) Multifunction
Virtual and
Unit Data
Voltage (V) Instrument Historian
Under Power Acquisition
Software
Test Current (A) Meter (DAQ)
Platform
(UUT) (Digital Hardware
Power (W) Multimeter)
Test
Flow rate Report
Flowmeter Creation
Pump
Test Suction Pressure
Stand
Discharge Pressure
Test Result
Test Liquid Temperature Display at
Graphic Production
Recorder Line
Ambient Temp
Test Shop Humidity
Engineering/Operator Workstation

Fig.2 Overall structure of the proposed system for testing pump efficiency.
TI
002
LI
001
LIC LIC TIR
001 001 002

TE
002
Water Inlet
LV Globe
001
Valve
PIC
TI 001
001
TIC TIC
001 001
Storage Tank of PI PIC PI FI
Test Liquid 001 001 002 001

M FT
PIR PIR 001
001 002
LT
TY 001
001 PT PT
TE
001 002
001
UUT

EE IE
001 001

Cooler UT UJI
Heat 001 001
Exchanger Pump Heater

Fig.3 P& I diagram of the proposed test system.

interlock conditions. The latter is the temperature
control loop (including the TE-001 sensor, TIC-001
digital on-off controller, TIC-001 PLC, and TY-001
regulator), which is created to maintain the test liquid
temperature to be less than 35ºC. The temperature of the
test liquid in the storage tank is measured by the TE-001
sensor, and then the measured temperature value is sent
to the TIC-001 on-off controller. The TIC-001 on-off
controller output is applied to the TIC-001 PLC for
building the interlock conditions to control the
operations of the cooler, circulating pump, and heater.
In the pump test-stand configuration of the proposed
system, a globe valve is installed in the discharge piping
for setting the test point of the expected total head
before testing the pump efficiency. The graphic recorder
(PIR-001, PIR-002, and TIR-002) is utilized to collect
the measurement data from the PT-001 and PT-002
pressure transmitters and the TE-002 temperature sensor

1380
 Table 3 Major details of the computer, controllers, and field devices used in the proposed system.
Tag Device Function Device Model Vendor
(%Accuracy)
LI-001 Engineering/operator workstation (or computer) used not only for ThinkCentre E73 Lenovo
TI-001 real-time monitoring of key process parameters (i.e. storage tank
TI-002 level, controlled test-liquid temperature, actual test-liquid
FI-001 temperature, test liquid flow rate, suction pressure, and discharge
PI-001 pressure) and pump input electrical parameters (i.e. voltage, current,
PI-002 and power), but also for real-time control of the UUT operation
UIJ-001 during the test.
PIC-001
LIC-001 Programmable logic controller (PLC) for storage tank level control, DL-06DR Koyo
TIC-001 test liquid temperature control, and pressure control (the UUT power
PIC-001 supply control), as well as main operation sequence control.
LIC-001 Digital indicating controller for cooperation with the PLC to control LT830 CHINO
the storage tank level. (±0.3% of range)
TIC-001 Digital indicating controller for cooperation with the PLC to control LT830 CHINO
test liquid temperature. (±0.3% of range)
TIR-002 Graphic recorder to collect the measured data of actual-test liquid KR2000 CHINO
PIR-001 temperature, suction pressure, and discharge pressure for sending to (±0.1% of full scale)
PIR-002 the computer for real-time monitoring.
LT-001 Level transmitter by using pressure transmitter with measurement MBS 3000 Danfoss
range of 0-1bar for storage tank level measurement. (±0.1% of full scale)
LY-001 Solenoid valve to manipulate the storage tank level. VXZ2350-06-5DZ1 SMC
TE-001 Pt100 temperature sensor for controlled test-liquid temperature NR Series CHINO
measurement.
TE-002 Pt100 temperature sensor for actual test-liquid temperature NR Series CHINO
measurement.
TY-001 Solid state relay (power regulator) for heater control to manipulate RZ3A CARLO
the test-liquid temperature. GAVAZZI
PT-001 Pressure transmitter with measurement range of 0-1 bar for suction MBS 3000 Danfoss
pressure measurement. (±0.5% of full scale)
PT-002 Pressure transmitter with measurement range of 0-10 bar for MBS 3000 Danfoss
discharge pressure measurement. (±0.5% of full scale)
FT-001 Magnetic flow meter with sensor range of 0-70 l/min for test-liquid Flow 38 COMAC
flow rate measurement. (0.5%) CAL
EE-001 Power meter (digital multi-meter) with voltage and current sensing PW-3335 HIOKI
IE-001 elements for pump-driver voltage, current, and power measurement. (±0.1% of reading)
UT-001

for monitoring of the suction pressure, the discharge
pressure, and the actual test-liquid temperature,
respectively, at the operator workstation in real time.
The FT-001 flow transmitter is used to measure the flow
rate of the test liquid in the discharge piping. The power
Fig.4 Network architecture of the proposed system.
supply of the pump motor driver is controlled by the
cooperation between the PIC-001 PLC and the operator
workstation. In addition, the UT-001 combined with the
EE-001 and IE-001 is installed to measure the voltage,
current, and power of the power supply for pump driver.
Fig. 4 displays a network architecture of the proposed
system to connect the controllers and flow transmitter to
the engineering/operator workstation using Modbus
RTU protocol as well as to connect the graphic recorder
and power meter to the engineering/operator
workstation using Modbus TCP protocol and HIOKI
proprietary commands, respectively.
3.3 Test Program Developed in LabVIEW
Pump testing, monitoring, data gathering, and test
reporting of the implemented test system are developed
in LabVIEW software. Fig. 5 depicts a program
flowchart, which describes the data and the sequence of
operations to be performed in the proposed test system.

1381
 Start

Setting the required parameters

- Pump specification
- Instrument installation heights Z1, Z2
- Acceptable tolerance of discharge pressure
- Waiting time of the timer for system stabilization

Sending the command to PLC for running the

UUT (testing pump)

Reading and recording the measurement data from Fig.6 Diagram of data collection and processing for
instruments (two recorded samples per second)
the KR002 graphic recorder.
Adjusting the globe valve for setting the test point
of the expected total head (if required)

Starting the timer for waiting system stabilization

and recording the index number of the array ofYesthe
recorded measurement data

Waiting for a while

Discharge pressure
in tolerance? No
No
Yes Discharge pressure
in tolerance?
Counting up the timer for Yes Fig.7 Diagram of data collection and processing for
waiting system stabilization
the PW-3335 power meter.
Resetting the index number
Timer end its count? of the array of the recorded
No measurement data
Yes

Recording the index number of the array of the

recorded measurement data

Calculating the average values of measurement

data in according with the recorded index numbers
Fig.8 Diagram of data communications and processing
Repeating between the workstation and the DL-06DR PLC.
Yes the pump test?

No The PLC is used in combination with the workstation to

Sending the command to PLC to stop the UUT
command the LY-001 water-inlet valve in the level
control loop, the TY-001 solid-state relay in the
Creating the test report in the MS Excel format temperature control loop, and the contractor of the
pump driver during testing procedures.
End
4. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
Fig.5 Program flowchart based on LabVIEW.
The proposed system is implemented and installed at
From Figs.2 and 4, three data acquisition while loops a centrifugal pump manufacturer in Thailand for testing
with sampling rate of 1 s/sample were created for data the efficiency of finished product samples from its
communications with the KR2000 graphic recorder via assembly production line as shown in Fig. 9. The testing
Modbus TCP protocol, the PW-3335 power meter via pumps are single-phase water pumps. Figs. 10 and 11
HIOKI command set, and the multidropped devices illustrate the LabVIEW-based screens displayed on the
(including the LIC-001 and TIC-001 on-off controllers,
the FT-001 flow meter, and the DL-06DR PLC) via
Modbus RTU protocol.
For example, Fig. 6 shows the block diagram to
gather and analyze five measurement signals (including
test liquid temperature, suction pressure, discharge
pressure, ambient temperature, and humidity) from the
KR2000 graphic recorder by using the Modbus function
code 04, whereas Fig. 7 shows the diagram to collect
and process three electrical parameters (i.e. voltage,
current, power) from the PW-3335 power meter by
using manufacturer specific commands. Fig. 8 shows
the diagram for data transfers and processing between
the workstation and the DL-06DR PLC input/output
cards by using the Modbus function codes 04 and 06 for
read input register and write single register, respectively. Fig.9 Proposed system implementation.

1382

Fig.10 Screen for setting the pump specifications.
Fig.11 Screen for real-time monitoring the test data.
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Fig.12 Test report example from the proposed system.
12 shows an example of the test report generated in the
Excel spreadsheet file from the proposed system. The
specifications (such as model and serial number) as well
as testing data and results are transmitted to record in
the production database and to real-time display at the
production line for determining and improving the
quality of production. Fig. 13 shows an example of test
result display using two colors (green-pass and red-fail)
at the assembly production line.
Experimental results
confirm that the proposed test system designed
according to the TIS 2618-2557 requirements for testing
the efficiency of centrifugal electrical pumps can
perform its functions correctly.
5. CONCLUSION
In this paper, the LabVIEW-based test system for
efficiency evaluation of single-suction centrifugal
electrical pumps has been presented. The design and
implementation of the proposed system are based on the
TIS 2618-2557 (2014) requirements. Test procedures for
a test point of expected total head as well as test
conditions are automatic controlled by the use of on-off
controllers in combination with the sequence controller
like PLC. Test data and results can be monitored not
only at the engineering/operator workstation in the test
shop but also at the assembly production line in real
time. Using the proposed system for testing the electric
pump efficiency, the following advantages can be
obtained.
- Reduction of man-hour and testing cost.
- Reduction of time spent for test reporting.
- Improvement of testing accuracy and reliability.
- Improvement of data availability and accessibility.
- Improvement of paperless quality control in real time.
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Fig.13 Example of test result display at the production
line for quality control management.
engineering/operator workstation at the test shop for
setting the specifications of the testing pump (UUT) and
monitoring the test data in real time, respectively. Fig.
1383
[4] 

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Automatic Performance Test System Based on
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