Abstract

This experiment will show how the centrifugal pump work. Basic property such as total

dynamic head, efficiency, power input, and output capacity will be studied in detail under the

condition that speed remains constant throughout the test. The centrifugal pump can be

found in daily life because it is the pump that is used in household. A procedure that we used

in this experiment is we will create controls and variables. Data will then be recorded, so that

a relationship between the result and the variables can be identified and shown on the graph.

There are many theory involved in the experiment such as Bernoulli, Continuity Flow,

Efficiency of the Pump. The result allowed the experimenters to know the basic property of

this centrifugal pump under constant speed and hopefully this will be useful for people who

want to study about the centrifugal pump. A pump is equipment that changes a form of

energy from electrical energy to kinetic energy by a motor. The turbine then transfers the

kinetic energy to the fluid that flow through it. This process increases potential energy

causing the rise of pressure in the fluid and allowing fluid to be sent to higher elevation. A

turbine is equipment that is connected to the propeller shaft and used to increase momentum

of fluid that flows through the turbine. It can be categorized by purpose of its use into a

Centrifugal Pump, Mixed Flow Pump, and Axial Flow Pump.

Introduction

Impeller or rotodynamic of turbo pumps are pumps whose moving element is a bladed

rotor mounted on a rotating shaft, which increases the moment of momentum of the liquid
flowing through the impeller. Depending on the shape of the impeller and the delivery space,

impeller pumps are divided into:

1.Centrifugal pumps (high head, low pump)

2.Mixed flow pumps(medium head, medium flow)

3.Axial flow or propeller pumps(low head, high flow)

A centrifugal pump is a rotodynamic pump that uses a rotating impeller to increase

the velocity of a fluid. Centrifugal pump are commonly used to move liquids through a piping

system. The fluid enters the pump impeller along or near to the rotating axis and is

accelerated by the impeller, flowing radially outward into a diffuser or volute chamber, from

where it exists into the downstream piping system.

A centrifugal pump works by the conversion of the rotational kinetic energy, typically

from an electric motor, to an increased static fluid pressure. This action is described by

Bernoulli’s principle. The rotation of the pump impeller imparts kinetic energy to the fluid as

it is drawn in from the impeller eye and is forced outward through the impeller vanes to the

periphery. As the fluid exits the impeller, the fluid kinetic energy is then converted to

pressure due to the change in area the fluid experiences in the volute section as shown in Fig.

1. Typically the volute shape of the pump casing or the diffuser vanes are responsible for the

energy conversion. The energy conversion results in an increased pressure on the downstream

side of the pump, causing flow.

 Figure 1 : the centrifugal pump schematic

Literature review

Characteristics of Performance

Probably the most familiar characteristics of the centrifugal pump are those indicating the

manner in which the developed head, power absorbed and the efficiency vary with the output

(flow or capacity) at constant speed

Pumping head (H) or total dynamic head (TDH) represents the useful energy added to fluid

by the pump per unit weight of flow. According to Bernoulli’s equation the useful or

mechanical energies are pressure energy, kinetic energy and potential energy. Hence the total

dynamic head is:

2 2
Pd V d Ps V s
H=( + +Z d )−( + + Z s )
γ 2g γ 2g

Where H = Total Dynamic Head (m.WG)

P = Static pressure (ft.WG)

Z = Elevation above zero potential energy datum (m)

3
γ = Specific Weight of the Liquid Flow = 9 .81×10 N/m3
Subscript d = pump discharge

s = pump suction

Volumetric flow rate - The volumetric flow rate in fluid dynamics and hydrometric is the

volume of fluid which passes through a given surface per unit time. Hence the volumetric

flow rate is:

¿
V
Q=
t

¿
Q = Volume flow rate (litres /s)
Where

V = Volume (litres)

t = Average time duration (sec)

¿ ¿
Q Q
V d= V s=
And Ad As

Where V = Average velocity (m/s)

2
A = Inner cross-section area of pipe ( m )

Subscript d = pump discharge

s = pump suction
 Pump efficiency is the ratio of the useful power to the power to the useful power

requirement of the pump. Since H = useful energy added to the fluid per unit weight,

therefore, the useful power is the product of the head and the weight flow rate. Hence

Pump Efficiency,

¿
γQH
η= ×100
Pi

Where η = Pump Efficiency (%)

¿
Q = Volume flow rate (m3/s)

H = Total Dynamic Head (m.WG)

Pi = Power input to the pump shaft(W)

3
γ = Specific Weight of the Liquid Flow = 9 .81×10 N/m3

Equipment

Equipments that were used in the experiment include

1. Centrifugal Pump

2. Dynamometer

3. Revolution counter
4. Discharge valve

5. Torque reading device

6. Discharge and Suction pressure gauge

7. Volume flow measurement

8. Water tank

9. Time watch (digital)

10. Computer

Method

This paragraph briefly describes how the experiment was conducted. First, prime and

start the pump. Next, set the discharge valve fully open. Then, wait until the pressure gauge

reading are stable and set the dynamometer torque arm horizontally and read the spring

balance. After that, run the revolution counter for 1 minute twice of three times to obtain the

pump speed. Later, close the discharge valve and read the discharge pressure gauge. In the

next step, open the discharge valve to allow some flow and read the pressure gauge. Finally,

repeat the procedure until you finally run the pump at zero flow.
 Result

Table below shows the results of this experiment

Table data obtained from experiments

Run Discharge Suction Counter reading Spee Volume Time Torque

no. Pressure Pressure for 1 minute d arm

load
Pd Ps N Meas. t1 t2 t3 t́ W
ft.WG In.VAG N1 N2 N3 RPM m3
second lb f
1 3 0.915 140 1423 141 1412 0.0169 18.4 17.7 17.4 17.9 0.8438

0 2 8 8 5 0
2 5 1.525 142 1407 140 1411 0.0169 18.4 18.6 18.5 18.5 0.8125

4 3 5 8 4
3 7 2.135 141 1419 141 1417 0.0169 22.4 22.4 22.4 22.4 0.7500

9 2 6 9 1 5
4 9 2.745 141 1432 142 1426 0.0169 26.8 26.5 26.9 26.7 0.6875

7 8 3 2 9 8
5 11 3.355 144 1440 144 1442 0.0085 19.5 19.5 19.9 19.7 0.5938

2 4 6 8 5 0
6 12 3.66 145 1450 143 1444 0.0085 30.0 29.9 30.2 30.0 0.5313

0 2 6 2 7 8
7 13 3.965 145 1451 145 1455 0.0000 - - - - 0.4375

7 8
Table 1 Data obtained from experiments
The table below shows the calculation results

Run no. Capacity TDH Power Input Pump

Q̇ H Pi Efficiency

m 3 /sec mWG W

%
1 0.000944 1.440 98.752 13.506
2 0.000911 2.025 95.027 19.056
3 0.000753 2.610 88.090 21.880
4 0.000631 3.195 81.262 24.340
5 0.000429 3.780 70.968 22.412
6 0.000281 4.060 63.586 17.596
7 0 4.354 52.764 0.000
Table 2 the calculation results

Discussion
 The graph shows the relationship between Capacity, Total Head, Power Input,
an Efficiency
120

100

80
H (mWG)
60 Power (Watt)
Efficiency (%)
40

20

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Capacity, Q (m3/sec)

Graph 1 the relationship between Capacity, Total Head, Power Input, and Efficiency

From the graph above, it shows the relationship between Capacity¿, Total Dynamic Head( H )

, Power Input( Pi ), and Efficiency( ). There are several inferences can be made.

1. Considering the relationship between Total Dynamic Head( H )and Capacity¿

a. The graph shows that when Capacity¿ increases, Total Dynamic Head( H )

will decrease. This indicates that Total Dynamic Head( H ) varies inversely to

Capacity¿.

b. When considering the various positions, it can be seen the relationship

between Total Dynamic Head( H ) and Capacity¿ line is not a straight due to losses

from friction of the blade, friction between the water pipes in the pump, and the

leakage of water.

2. Considering the relationship between Power Input( Pi )and Capacity¿

a. The graph shows that when Capacity¿ increases, Power Input( Pi ) will
 increase. This shows that Power Input( Pi ) varies directly to Capacity¿.

b. Power Input( Pi ) increases as Capacity¿ increases because adding power to

pump in order to provide energy to pump increases Flow rates¿ of liquid.

3. Considering the relationship between Efficiency( ) and Capacity¿

a. The graph shows that when Capacity¿increases, Efficiency( ) will increase

simultaneously until it reaches a certain point, which is the highest point, after that

Efficiency( ) will decrease.

b. From the experimental result, the increase of Capacity¿ will yield friction heat

which is considered to be the lost, which tends to increase as Capacity¿ increases.

With this reason, the Power Output will be reduced, so there must be

c. Considering the formula below

γ Q̇ H
¿
Pi

It shows that Q̇ will have greater effect on when than other variables the pump starts, but Pi

will have greater effect on thanQ̇ as the process goes on.

The results of the failure in many cases may be caused by

1. The tools that were used to test lack quality because it has been used for a long time, so it

tends to result in greater error than brand new equipment

2. The measure person requires the skills to use the tools and needs to be expertise at it or else

there will be measurement error because the tools are analog. The lack of skill will result in

error.
Conclusion

From the result, we found a relationship between Capacity, Total Dynamic Head

(TDH) and Efficiency which allows the experimenters to know the characteristic and

efficiency of the pump at each different capacity. The benefit of the experiment is it helps

choosing the pump, so that the pump will be matched to the environment that it will be used.

For example, pumping water to very high altitude requires a high performance pump because

it is a work that requires high Total Dynamic Head (TDH) and power input.

However, this experiment shows that there was an experimental error because of

friction, the weariness of the equipments, and human errors, so relationship graph does not

correspond to Characteristics of Performance Curve. The efficiency of the pump used in the

experiment is less than 30%, so it is not appropriate to use in reality.

Reference

“Centrifugal pump.” [Online]. Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centrifugal_pump

[n.d.]

Retrieved January 31, 2011.

“A Introduction to Centrifugal pump” [Online]. Available:

http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/

centrifugal-pumps-d_54.html [n.d.]. Retrieved January 31, 2011.

Appendix
1. Specific information includes

a. Pipe size

i. Suction = 0.036 m

ii. Discharge = 0.036 m

b. Measuring tank level gauge 1 cm = 1.69 liters = 0.00169 m3

c. zd-zs = 0.24-(-0.11) = 0.35 m

2. Example

Run no. 1

a. Capacity (Volume Flow Rate)

Volume measured
Q̇=
Time duration

0.0169 m3
¿
17.90 sec

Q̇=0 .000944 m3 / sec

b. Average Velocities

Q̇ Q̇ 0 .000944
v d= = = =0.927622 m/s
Ad π 2 π 2
D ×0.036
4 d 4

Q̇ Q̇ 0 .000944
v s= = = =0.927622 m/s
As π 2 π 2
D ×0.036
4 s 4
v d=v s

a. Total Dynamic Head

P d v 2d Ps v 2s
H= (
+ +z −
γ 2g d
+ +z
γ 2g s )( )
Given

Pd m
=3 ft . WG ×0.305 =0.915mWG
γ ft

Ps m
=−7∈. WG ×0.025 =−0.175mWG
γ ft

and

v d=v s

Therefore,

Pd P
H= ( γ )(
++ z d − s + z s
γ )
H= ( 0.915+ 0.24 ) −(0.175+ (−0.11 ) )

H=1 . 440 mWG

b. Power Input

WN
Pi=
9000

0.84375 ×1412
Pi= =0.132375 hp
9000
 W
Pi=0 . 132375 hp ×746 =98 . 752W
hp

c. Pump Efficiency

γ Q̇ H
¿
Pi

Then,

( 9.81× 103 ) ×0.000944 × 1.440

¿ ×100
98.752

¿ 13 .506 %