ADVANCED CIVIL ENGINEERING HYDRAULICS

(CEME 3005 AND CEME 7305)

LECTURE 3B
PUMPS, PUMP CURVES AND OPERATING POINT

Dr Jessica Bohorquez
Outline for today
Introduction to pumps

Types of impeller pumps

Pump specific speed

Hydraulic modelling of pumps

Pump operating point

References
Chapter 18 from Prof. Simpson’s notes

The University of Adelaide Slide 2

Introduction to pumps In what other situations do we
need pumps?
Why do we need pumps?

https://youtu.be/l7yLu1W4FGM?t=46

The University of Adelaide Slide 3

Introduction to pumps
What is a pump?
“Device that expends energy in order to raise, transport, or compress fluids”

http://www.made-in-china.com/showroom/haoyunaquarium/product-
detailgoSJtPLvguck/China-Aquarium-Water-Pump-001-.html
http://www.thomasnet.com/articles/pumps-valves-accessories/centrifugal-
principles

Pump for aquarium Centrifugal pump for Water

Distribution Systems
In water systems pumps have two main purposes:

Move water against gravity Increase flow

The University of Adelaide Slide 4

Introduction to pumps
Types of pumps
Most commonly used in water transport applications

Rotodynamic or Reciprocating positive Rotary positive

impeller pumps displacement pumps displacement pumps

• Continuous flow • Piston type pump with • Gear, vane and screw pumps
pulsating flow

The University of Adelaide Slide 5

Introduction to pumps
What is inside an impeller pump? Impeller

Casing

Shaft

http://www.pumpfundamentals.com/pump_db.htm

The University of Adelaide Slide 6

 Can you point the names of each
Introduction to pumps part of the pump?
Some examples Pump experiment in Robin Hydraulics Laboratory

Electrical controls
VFD = Variable
Speed Drive

Pressure gauges

Discharge line

Gate valves

Suction line

Impeller
and casing

Pump experiment in Robin Hydraulics Laboratory

The University of Adelaide Slide 7
 Introduction to pumps
Some examples Pump experiment in Robin Hydraulics Laboratory

Pressure gauges

Discharge
line
Electrical
Gate controls
valves

Impeller
VFD = Variable
Suction line and
Speed Drive
casing

The University of Adelaide Slide 8

Introduction to pumps
Some examples Pump in Mannum-Adelaide Pipeline PS No. 2 at Palmer
Discharge Fixed
side of pump speed Pump size specification
(smaller dia.) motor
Impeller 250/200 mm pump
inside casing

The smaller 200 mm dimension refers to

the diameter of the delivery or discharge
flange and
Expansion

Suction side the larger 250 mm dimension refers to the

of pump diameter of the suction flange (usually
(bigger dia.) larger to reduce risk of cavitation)

The University of Adelaide Slide 9

Introduction to pumps
Types of impeller pumps
Centrifugal pumps Axial flow pump Mixed flow pumps
• Also known as radial pump • Also called propeller pump • Water flow path is between
radial and parallel to the axis of
• Water enters through eye of • Propels water parallel to the rotation
impeller and discharges at right axis of rotation
angles to the axis of rotation

Low Q High rotational speed

High Q Low rotational speed Moderate Q Medium rotational speed
High HP (3000 or 1500 rpm) Low HP (1000 or 750 rpm) Moderate HP (1500 or 1000 rpm)

The University of Adelaide Slide 10

Introduction to pumps
Types of centrifugal impellers
Closed impeller
Semi-open impeller Fully open impeller
(fully shrouded)
• Most common type of impeller • Vanes have support on one side • Vanes do not have support on
either side

Images from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6M5zkyheFI

The University of Adelaide Slide 11

Pump specific speed
Definition
Rotational speed for a unit flow and an a unit pumping head. Useful quantity to
compare different pumps.

1¤ 2
NQ
Ns = ---------------- 1 ¤2 1¤2
3¤ 4
3
[]N []Q []rpm []m /s
HP -------------------------- = --------------------------------------
3 ¤4 3 ¤4
[]H P []m
SI units:
• N = rotational speed in rpm NS ()in US Customary units
NS ()in SI units = -----------------------------------------------------------------------
• Q = discharge in m3/s 51.7
• HP = pump head in metres

The University of Adelaide Slide 12

 1¤ 2
Pump specific speed Ns = NQ
----------------
3¤ 4
For impeller pumps HP

Centrifugal pumps Axial flow pump Mixed flow pumps

Q = small Q = large Q = moderate

HP = large HP = small HP = moderate
Partly M.F.P
NS =50-90
NS [US units]= 1500-4500
NS = 10 – 60 NS > 155
Fully M.F.P
NS [US units]= 500 – 3000 NS [US units]= 8000 NS =90-155
NS [US units]= 4500-8000

The University of Adelaide Slide 13

Pump specific speed
For impeller pumps

Maximum efficiencies for different

specific speeds

The University of Adelaide Slide 14

Hydraulic modelling of pumps
Important hydraulic characteristics Why is power and
efficiency important?

Head (HP) • Metres (or feet) of water [m]

Discharge (Q) • Litres per second [L/s] (or gpm or cfs)

Efficiency (η) • Decimal fraction between 0 and 1

Shaft power input (P) • Kilowatts [kW] (or HP)

The University of Adelaide Slide 15

Hydraulic modelling of pumps
Important hydraulic characteristics
Typical values for water distribution systems *
Head (HP) • HP = 25 m (for filtered water pumps at a reservoir)

• Q = 1.2 m3/s or 1200 L/s (a typical large pump

Discharge (Q)
in a filtered water pumping station at a water filtration plant)

Efficiency (η) • η = 0.82 or 82% (HIGH)

Shaft power input (P) • P = 359 kW

* Case dependant
The University of Adelaide Slide 16
Hydraulic modelling of pumps
Important hydraulic characteristics
Water power

Energy that needs to be transferred to a certain fluid to transport certain flow to

certain head elevation

3
N m
Water power = gQH
------ ------- []m
3 s
---------------------------------- = N-m
m ----------- = []watts or W
P []1 s

The usual units of power for a pump are kilowatts or kW

The University of Adelaide Slide 17

Hydraulic modelling of pumps
Important hydraulic characteristics
Efficiency
Not all energy from the shaft is transmitted to fluid.
Due to:
• Viscous losses
• Drag of blades through fluid

• Eddy losses
• Kinetic energy transfer to turbulence

water power gQHP

h = ------------------------------------------------------------------------ = --------------
shaft power from pump motor P

The University of Adelaide Slide 18

 Hydraulic modelling of pumps
Important hydraulic characteristics
Power
Shaft and pump energy losses 𝑊𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 = 𝛾𝑄𝐻𝑃
Motor losses
For a flow (Q)
and head (H)
Motor power 𝛾𝑄𝐻𝑃
𝑃𝑢𝑚𝑝 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 =
𝜂𝑝𝑢𝑚𝑝
Water Power
Pump power

𝛾𝑄𝐻𝑃
𝑀𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑟 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 =
𝜂𝑝𝑢𝑚𝑝 𝜂𝑚𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑟

The University of Adelaide Slide 19

Hydraulic modelling of pumps
Important hydraulic characteristics
Additional concepts
Power-Torque relation:

P = Tw ω = angular velocity
Angular velocity-rotational speed relation:

2p N
w = ---------- N = speed (rpm)
60
Power-rotational speed relation:

T ()2pN æö2p
P = -------------------- = èø------ TN
60 60
The University of Adelaide Slide 20
Hydraulic modelling of pumps
Important curves

Pump Efficiency Power

curve curve curve
HP vs Q 𝜂 vs Q P vs Q

The University of Adelaide Slide 21

Hydraulic modelling of pumps IncludePump curves
all information to
Important curves characterise a pump.

8 Provided by the manufacturers.

4
1 Size of suction and discharge pipelines
3 2 X-axis: Flow in L/s
3 Main Y-axis: Head in m
5 4 Impeller sizes (diameter in mm)
6
4 7 5 H vs Q curve
6 Efficiency vs Q curve
7 Power vs Q curve (second Y-axis)
2 1 8 NPSH vs Q curve

The University of Adelaide Slide 22

Hydraulic modelling of pumps
Important curves
What does these values
represent?

Shut-off head
Head (m) the pump provides for a
zero flow condition (the valve is
closed).

Independent of where is the pump

installed.

The University of Adelaide Slide 23

Hydraulic modelling of pumps
Important curves

Efficiency curve

For a given impeller diameter

Different pump efficiency values

for different combinations of flow
and head

The University of Adelaide Slide 24

Hydraulic modelling of pumps
Important curves
What would be the best possible
combination of flow and head?

BEP: η=0.765

Best Efficiency Point (BEP)

BEP: η=0.76

BEP: η=0.75 Combination of head and flow that

allows the pump to have the
maximum efficiency.

The University of Adelaide Slide 25

Hydraulic modelling of pumps
All good to go…right?
1. Characteristics of the pump
2. Pump curves (efficiency, head,
power curve)

How do we know at what

combination of head and flow
the pump is going to operate?

The answer comes from the

system curve.

The University of Adelaide Slide 26

Pump operating point 2 2
p1 V1 p 2 V2
Energy equation for a pump z 1 + ----- + --------- + HP = z2 + ----- + --------- + å hf + å h L
g 2g g 2g
HGL
ℎ𝑓𝐷hf1 D 2
𝑧1 + 𝐻𝑃 = 𝑧2 + ෍ ℎ𝑓 + ෍ ℎ𝐿
HP Hs
𝐻𝑆 Discharge Downstream
𝐻𝑃 = 𝐻𝑆 + ෍ ℎ𝑓 + ෍ ℎ𝐿
line reservoir
hf2
1 D
ℎ𝑓𝑆
In this example:
HP= pump head
Hs= 𝐻 𝑆 =head
static (𝑧2 −𝑧1 ) 𝐻𝑃 = 𝐻𝑆 + ℎ𝑓 + ℎ𝑓
𝑆 𝐷
hf = friction loss = h f + h f
Pump ෍ ℎ𝑓 = ℎ𝑓 + ℎ1𝑓 2
Upstream 𝑆 𝐷
reservoir Suction line
෍ ℎ𝐿 = 0
Figure 6.1A HGL for a Pumping System.

The University of Adelaide Slide 27

Pump operating point
System curve
The system curve represents the pump head (HP) for different possible flows (Q)

The system curve is a property of your pipeline system, not of the pump selected.

𝐻
𝐻𝑃 = 𝐻𝑆 + ෍ ℎ𝑓 + ෍ ℎ𝐿
System curve
𝐿 𝑉2 𝑓𝐿𝑄2
෍ ℎ𝑓 = ෍ 𝑓 =෍
𝐷 2𝑔 𝐷2𝑔𝐴2
𝑉2 𝑄2 ℎ𝑓 + ℎ𝑚 Pump curve
෍ ℎ𝐿 = ෍ 𝐾 + ෍𝐾
2𝑔 2𝑔𝐴2

𝐻𝑃
𝑓𝐿𝑄2 𝑄2 𝐻𝑆
𝐻𝑃 = 𝐻𝑆 + ෍ + ෍𝐾
𝐷2𝑔𝐴2 2𝑔𝐴2
𝑄
The University of Adelaide Slide 28
Pump operating point
Finding the operating point in pump curves

Operating point
Pump Curve

𝐻𝑃 = 𝑓(𝑄)
Given by the manufacturer

Pump Curve System Curve

System Curve 𝑓𝐿𝑄2 𝑄2

𝐻𝑃 = 𝐻𝑆 + ෍ + ෍𝐾
𝐷2𝑔𝐴2 2𝑔𝐴2
𝐻𝑆
Computed for each analysed pumping
system (case dependent)
Suction dia.
X Disch. Dia.
The University of Adelaide Slide 29
 Pump operating point
Finding the operating point in pump curves
Operating point
Operating point
𝑁𝑃𝑆𝐻 = 2.4 𝑚
𝑄 = 20 𝐿/𝑠
𝐻 = 40.6 𝑚
𝐻 = 40.6 𝑚 𝜂 = 0.74
Pump Curve 𝑃 = 12.5 𝑘𝑊
𝑁𝑃𝑆𝐻 = 2.4 𝑚
System Curve
𝑃 = 12.5 kW
𝐻𝑆
𝑄 = 20 𝐿/𝑠

Suction dia.
X Disch. Dia.
The University of Adelaide Slide 30
Pump operating point
Changes in system curve
What has changed in the system
for 2 and 3?
3 1 2
𝑓𝐿𝑄2 𝑄2
𝐻𝑃 = 𝐻𝑆 + ෍ + ෍𝐾
𝐷2𝑔𝐴2 2𝑔𝐴2

Hs is not changing

For transporting 10 L/s:

Curve 2 has smaller friction and minor losses than 1
Curve 2 represents a pipe with
𝐻𝑆 larger diameter than 1
Curve 3 has larger friction and minor losses than 1
Curve 2 represents a pipe with
Suction dia.
smaller diameter than 1
X Disch. Dia.
The University of Adelaide Slide 31
Pump operating point Z2=45 m
Examples – A very easy one
Z1=10m
Pump Curve 𝐻𝑃 = −100𝑄 2 + 0.055𝑄 + 70 1

System Curve 𝐻 = 𝐻𝑠 + ℎ𝑓 + ℎ𝐿
𝐿 𝑄2 𝑄2
𝐻 = (𝑧2 − 𝑧1 ) + ෍ 𝑓 +෍ 𝑘 2 Equations
𝐷 2𝑔𝐴2 2𝑔𝐴2
2 Unknowns (Q, H)
1 solution
For example: 𝐻 = 90𝑄2 + 35 2

1 = 2
-0.4291 m3/s
−100𝑄2 + 0.055𝑄 + 70 = 90𝑄2 + 35 −𝑏 ± 𝑏 2 − 4𝑎𝑐
−190𝑄2 + 0.055𝑄 + 35 = 0 𝑄= 0.4293 m3/s
2𝑎
a b c
The University of Adelaide Slide 32
Pump operating point Pump curve:

Examples – Another one Flow Q Pump

(L/s) Head (m)
Consider the following system:
0 50.0
Z2=55 m 10 49.9
L=1000 m 20 49.6
D=300 mm 30 49.0
Z1=20 m ε=0.25 mm
ν=1.144×10-6 m2/s 40 48.0
50 46.5
60 44.4
70 41.8
1 Determine the system curve
80 38.6
2 Find the operating point for the pump 90 34.6
100 30.0

The University of Adelaide Slide 33

 Pump operating point
Examples – Another one 𝐴=
𝜋𝐷2 𝜋(0.3)2
= = 0.07069 𝑚2 Flow Q
Head (m)
4 4 (L/s)
Consider the following system: 0.25
𝑓= 2 0 35
𝜀 2.74
log10 + 0.9
3.7𝐷 𝑅𝑒 10 35.08
1 Determine the system curve
0.25
𝑓= 2 = 0.0248 20
0.25 2.74
log10 + 30
𝑓𝐿𝑄2 𝑄2 3.7(300) (36810)0.9
𝐻𝑃 = 𝐻𝑆 + ෍ + ෍𝐾
𝐷2𝑔𝐴2 2𝑔𝐴2 𝑉𝐷 0.14 0.3 40
𝑅𝑒 = = = 36810
𝜐 1.141 × 10−6
For Q=0 L/s? 50
10
𝐻𝑃 = 𝐻𝑆 = 35 𝑚 𝑄
= 1000 = 0.14 𝑚/𝑠
60
𝑉=
𝐴 0.07069
70
For Q=10 L/s? 0.0248 1000 0.010 2
𝐻𝑃 = 35 + 80
𝑓𝐿𝑄2 𝑄2 0.33 (2) 9.81 0.07069 2
𝐻𝑃 = 35 + ෍ + ෍𝐾 90
𝐷2𝑔𝐴2 2𝑔𝐴2 𝐻𝑃 = 35 + 0.08
𝑓𝐿𝑄2 100
𝐻𝑃 = 35 + 𝐻𝑃 = 35.08 𝑚
𝐷2𝑔𝐴2

The University of Adelaide Slide 34

 Pump operating point
Examples – Another one 2 Find the operating point for the pump
1 Determine Flow Q
Head (m)
the system (L/s)
curve 0 35 55
50
10 35.1 45

20 35.3 𝐻 ≈ 39 𝑚 40
35

30 35.6

Hp (m)
30 System Curve
25 Pump A
40 36.2 20

50 36.8 15
10
60 37.5 5
0
70 38.4 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

80 39.3 Q (L/s) 𝑄 ≈ 80 𝐿/𝑠

90 40.5
100 41.7
The University of Adelaide Slide 35
END OF LECTURE 3B

Dr Jessica Bohorquez