7/1/2017 Estimation of Pump Moment of Inertia Neutrium

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ESTIMATION OF PUMP MOMENT OF INERTIA

SUMMARY
The moment of inertia of a pump is its resistance to changes in angular
velocity as it rotates about its shaft. Knowledge of the moment of inertia
of a pump, motor and associated components is typically required for
transient analysis of a pumped system. This article presents methods by
which pump and motor moment of inertia may be estimated.

1. DEFINITIONS

g : Acceleration due to gravity g = 9.81ms2

h : Differential head of the pump (m)
: Moment of Inertia kg.m
2
I
N : Pump speed (rpm)

P : Pump power at the best efficiency point (kW)

Q : Volumetric flow rate m3 .s1
tstart : Pump start up time (s)

: Pump efficiency
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: Pump efficiency

2. INTRODUCTION
The moment of inertia of a pump is its resistance to changes in angular
velocity as it rotates about its shaft. The inertia is the product of the
rotating weight and the square of its radius (or diameter) of gyration.

Pumps with large rotating mass will have higher inertia and therefore
take longer to spin down on loss of power and longer to reach full speed
during start-up. This is often beneficial for controlling transient pressures
as the pump will slowly decelerate after a pump trip, continuing to move
the fluid. This fluid movement acts to minimise column separation in
downstream piping, which is more likely to occur if the fluid flow
abruptly stops at the pump. It is for this reason that flywheels are often
installed to increase the overall pump moment of inertia.

The total moment on inertia for a pump is the sum of the moment of
inertia for each component. When analyzing a pump trip or shut down,
the pump moment of inertia must account for all rotating components:

Motor inertia: This is typically the largest component of the pump

moment of inertia. Accurate values of the motor moment of inertia are
typically available from the motor manufacturer or pump vendor and
should be used where possible.
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should be used where possible.

Pump impeller inertia: This accounts for the rotational mass of

the impeller and is typically 10-15% of the motor inertia. Accurate
values of the pump impeller inertia are usually available from the
vendor and should be used where possible.

Shaft inertia: This accounts for the inertia of the rotating shaft. It
is occasionally included as part of the pump impeller inertia by
vendors, however due to its small contribution to pump inertia
(typically less than 5% of motor inertia) it is often ignored.

Flywheel inertia: This accounts for the inertia of any flywheels

that may be installed on the pump shaft. As stated previously
flywheels are designed to increase inertia and therefore as a key
design parameter this value is usually available from the vendor.

Transmission inertia: This accounts for the inertia of the pump

transmission (if equipped). Depending on the transmission design this
could significantly increase the pump inertia. Due to the variability of
transmission design this value is difficult to estimate and best obtained
from the vendor.

During transient analysis it is often most conservative to underestimate

the pump moment of inertia, particularly for fluids with high vapor
pressures. Pumps with a lower moment of inertia will spin down faster,
more abruptly slowing the fluid at the pump outlet while fluid further
down the pipe line continues to flow due to momentum. This causes

column separation, where a vacuum is formed between the stagnate fluid

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column separation, where a vacuum is formed between the stagnate fluid

at the pump outlet and the fluid flowing downstream due to momentum
which results in vaporisation of the fluid and subsequent transient
pressures as the vacuum collapses.

While it is advisable to always obtain inertia data from vendors, it is not

always readily available. In these circumstances the pump moment of
inertia may be estimated.

3. ESTIMATION OF PUMP MOMENT OF INERTIA

3.1 Pump Impeller Moment of Inertia

The moment inertia of a pump impeller may be estimated using the
method relationship proposed by Wylie et al. as shown below.

0.9556
Ip = 1.5 107 ( 3 )
P
N

Here the shaft power of the pump may be calculated as shown below
with a more comprehensive discussion of pump power available here .

Qhg
P=
3.6 106
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In addition to the inertia of the pump impeller, inertia of the motor may
not be available from the vendor and therefore requires estimation.

3.2 Motor Moment of Inertia

The inertia of the pump motor is typically the largest contributor to the
pump moment of inertia. Similarly to the pump impeller it may be
estimated using a relationship presented by Wylie et al. as shown below.

P 1.48
Im = 118 ( )
N

The motor inertia is typically the most accessible inertia value when
considering pump inertia as it is used during motor design. To ensure
maximum accuracy, vendor values for motor inertia should be utilized
when possible.

3.3 Flywheel Moment of Inertia

The moment of inertia for a flywheel may be calculated using the
general equation for rotational inertia of a rigid body as shown below.

Itotal = k m r 2

Where m is the mass of the flywheel (kg), r is the radius of gyration (m)
and k is an inertial constant to account for the shape of the flywheel. The

inertial constant for some common flywheel shapes are listed below.
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inertial constant for some common flywheel shapes are listed below.

Flywheel type k Notes

Spoked wheel loaded at the

r is the inner diameter of
rim (thin walled, hollow 1
the cylinder
cylinder)

r is the radius of the

Solid cylinder 0.5
cylinder

r is the outer radius of the

cylinder,
Thick walled cylinder
1 2
1 tn + 2 tn
t is the wall thickness,
tn = t/r
Flat solid disc 0.5 r is the radius of the disc

radius is between the axis

Thin walled, hollow sphere 2/3 of rotation and inside of
the sphere

r is the inner radius of the

Solid sphere 2/5
sphere

Rod with rotational axis at

1/12 r is the length of the rod
rod center

Rod with rotational axis at

1/3 r is the length of the rod
rod end

Square plane 1/6 r is the length of the square

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Square plane 1/6 r is the length of the square

side

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4. ESTIMATION OF TOTAL MOMENT OF INERTIA FROM PUMP START UP TIME

The total moment and inertia of the pump, coupling and motor may also
be estimated from time it takes the pump to start up (i.e. go from 0 to
100% speed) as shown in the equation below.

91412.5 P tstart
Itotal =
N2

This is useful where pump start up time can be accurately measured as it

will more accurately account for the inertia of all rotating components.

5. AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN CONVENTIONS

The American convention is to use the radius when calculating moment

of inertia as adopted in this article i.e. WK2 where K is the radius of

gyration. However the European convention is to calculate the moment

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of inertia on a diameter basis i.e. PD2 . This results in a moment of

inertia calculated using the European convention to be 4 times that
calculated using American convention.

Care should be taken to ensure that the moment of inertia for each pump
component is calculated using the same convention. Furthermore to
avoid modelling errors, the moment of inertia must use the same
conventions as any software adopted for numerical modelling.

Article Created: September 10, 2013

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Inertia Moment of inertia Pump Surge Transient Analysis

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