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Program:
Pumps
Pumps are basically turbines in reverse, where rotating
mechanical energy is transformed into hydraulic energy
Pumps are classified in three categories (when dealing with
rotating machinery); radial pumps, semiaxial pumps and axial
pumps. There is no distinct separation between the categories, the
variation is continuous from radial to axial pumps.
Radial pump
Two-stage radial
pump with diffuser
ring
Semiaxial pump
Axial pump
Theoretical basis for pumps
The Energy equation from point
1 to point 2 gives us
p1 c12
p2 c22
z1 H
z2
g 2g
g 2g
Rearranged, we get the lifting
height of the pump
p2 p1 c22 c12
H
z2 z1
g
2g
This is a convenient equation
when measuring the
performance of a pump, but is
does not say how a pump
produces the lifting height
However, there exists an Euler pump equation!
H t
u2cu 2 u1cu1
g
Ht means theoretical lifting height with an infinite
number of blades and infinitely thin blades,
implying that the outlet flow is in the same
direction as the outlet blade angle. The equation
is also used without the infinity signs, then we are
not using this assumption.
Notice that the lifting height of a pump is not dependent of the density
of the media that is pumped, but the pressure and power is (since
p=gH and P= pQ). Lets look further into the pump equation, and we
do this by looking at a general velocity diagram:
w2 u cu cm2
2
w2 u 2 2ucu cu2 cm2
w2 u 2 2ucu c 2
u 2 c 2 w2
ucu
2
Inserting this expression with subscripts for inlet and outlet into the
Euler pump equation gives us:
u22 u12 w12 w22 c22 c12
H t
2g
2g
2g
u22 u12
2g
w12 w22
2g
c22 c12
2g
The centrifugal effect, this is dominating in radial pumps and not
existing in purely axial pumps
The pressure increase due to retardation of the relative velocity
(because of diverging channels in the runner)
Representing the absolute increase of velocity energy (also
known as dynamic pressure) from inlet to outlet
For a pump, the numbers are indicating the opposite position in
the runner compared to the turbine, but inlet is still subscripted 1
and outlet is subscripted 2. This is because the flow has opposite
direction in the pump as what is the case for a turbine.
For a given pump operating at constant rotational speed, let try to find the
theoretical lifting height if the flow through the pump is changed:
First, lets assume that there is no rotation in the inlet of the pump, regardless
of what the flow is. The Euler pump equation then reduces to
H t
u2cu 2
g
By looking at geometrical relations at the outlet, we can get an
expression for the peripheral component of the absolute velocity:
cu 2 u2 wu 2
cu 2
cm 2
u2
tan 2
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The cm-component is linked to the flow via the relation
cm 2
Q
Q
A2 D2 B2
We get, when inserting back into the Euler equation
u2
Q
H t u2
g
D2 B2 tan 2
We are now able to find the theoretical lifting height for a specific
pump operating at a constant speed as a function of the flow
through the pump
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u2
Q
H t u2
g
D2 B2 tan 2
(2s in the upper figures is what we have called 2)
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Up til now we have considered infinitely many blades, implying that the flow will
be in the direction of the outlet blade angle. However, the flow in the channel
between to blades is not uniform, the velocity is distributed differently in the
channel. Since the velocities are different, the pressures are also different.
High pressure
Low pressure
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The phenomena that occurs is called slip
High pressure on one side of the blade and
a low pressure on the other side of the
blade pushes the flow in a slightly different
direction than the direction of the blade.
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If one uses the actual velocity
vectors correcting for slip (i.e.
without the infinity sign in the
subscripts) and the assumption of
no rotation at the inlet one get the
expression for the pressure line in
the direction of w2 in the previous
figure. The corresponding equation
is
H t , no inlet rotation
u2cu 2
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Now we are on the way to creating a
chart showing the pump characteristic.
At off-design conditions the no-rotation
assumption at the inlet will not be valid.
For flows smaller than design flow, a
rotation of the flow at the inlet will give
a negative contribution to the delivered
lifting height. For flows higher than
design flow, the rotation will be in the
opposite direction and give a positive
contribution to the delivered lifting
height.
The bold line is called Ht, where the t is short for theoretical. This line is given by
the Euler pump equation considering both outlet and inlet terms containing no
infinity signs in the subscripts
u2cu 2 u1cu1
Ht
g
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In practice when drawing a pump characteristic one finds Ht as the straight line
going between where the Ht crosses the flow abscissa and the point for design
conditions on the line for Ht corrected for slip.
To generalize the axes, two dimensionless numbers are created. These are the
dimensionless lifting height and dimensionless flow coefficients, representing the yand x-abscissa
H
u22 g
cm 2
u2
Now there are two more losses to correct for; friction and impulse losses. The
friction losses are proportional to the flow squared, and the impulse losses are
proportional to the squared deviation of flow from design conditions
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The pump characteristic is describing the pumps ability to produce
lifting height at a certain flow. However, the pressure in a system is
usually defined by other components, for instance the free water levels
present in a system and friction losses in a system. Consider this
simple system:
H(x)
x
The pump delivers a flow corresponding to the lifting height from the
pump characteristic. The lifting height will be determined by the
reservoir levels, and the head loss in the pipe at that particular flow.
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If conditions vary with time, the pump operating point
is also changed, because equilibrium between the
system and pump must be obtained
If the pump characteristic has an upward slope in
parts of the characteristic, there will exist two or
more flows which give the same lifting height. This
can cause the pump to become unstable, and the
pump can oscillate between these two points.
Undesirable operation might occur.
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If the pump characteristic has an upward slope in parts of the characteristic,
there will exist two or more flows which give the same lifting height. This can
cause the pump to become unstable, and the pump can oscillate between
these two points. Undesirable operation might occur.
Pressure oscillation, flow variation
H
Unstable pump characteristic
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Pumps in series: Vertical summation of head at same flow
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Pumps in parallel: Horizontal summation of flow at same head
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Many pumps can be operated with variable rotational speed. This
change in speed will change the behavior of the pump
The affinity equations-how the pump behaves at another operational point
cm2new
cm 2
cm 2 new
cm2
u2
2
Q D2 cm 2
4
D2
u2 r2
n
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u2
u2 new
u2new
so
Q cm 2
u2 n
Q
n
Qnew nnew
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In general:
Q A 2 gH
14 2 43
velocity
Q2 H
Hence
Hn
Power:
P gQH
P QQ Q
2
P n3
n
H
H new nnew
P n
Pnew nnew
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In many cases changes in rotational speed is impossible. Instead, one can adjust
the operation of the pump by changing the outlet diameter by milling down the outlet
or welding on the outlet. This also allows for mass production of pumps runners;
one can produce many identical runner and get the benefits from mass production,
and then make modifications to the outlet of these runners to match the desired
operation. The scale-up (or -down) is described by:
D
Q
Qnew Dnew
D
H
H new Dnew
P D
Pnew Dnew
In fact, both these cases are special cases of the general relations given by
Q
n D
Qnew nnew Dnew
n
H
D
H new nnew Dnew
P n
D
Pnew nnew Dnew
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The affinity equation is valid for operational point with the same hydraulic efficiency
i.e. along the parabolas (now considering a fixed runner)
2
:
Q
H H new
Q
new
Along these parabolas the
velocity profiles are similar
i.e.h is constant
Line for best efficiency point
However, the numeric value
of the best efficiency
decreases with decreasing
rotational speed
