EML331 ENGINEERING LABORATORY II

EXPERIMENT 7 PERFORMANCE
CHARACTERISTICS OF A CENTRIFUGAL PUMP



NAME:MUHAMMAD HISHAM BIN AMIRRUDDIN
GROUP: 15
MATRIC ID: 115751
SCHOOL: MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
LECTURER: DR. FEIZAL YUSOF
DEMONSTRATOR: EN. MAHMUD ISA
DATE OF EXPERIMENT: 30/9/2014
DATE OF SUBMISSION: 1/10/2014
PO ASSESSMENT : PO9w








Experiment 7: Performance Characteristics of a Centrifugal Pump

1.0 Objective:
To study the performance characteristics of single stage centrifugal pumps connected in series
and parallel
2.0 Introduction:
This experiment illustrates the basic operation and characteristics of centrifugal pumps.
The experiment will explore flow rates and pressure difference of a single pump and two
identical pumps that are run in series or in parallel.
In this experiment, there are two pumps connected through a pipe work that allows for
them to be operated individually, in series or in parallel.
When identical pumps are in series the pressure head is doubled but flow rate remains the same.
This is useful when a high pressure is needed but the same flow rate as of a single pump is
sufficient. In this case however the second pump in the series must have the ability to operate at
a higher section pressure, which is produced by the first pump. When pumps are run in parallel
the flow is increased and the pressure head produced is around the same as a single pump (these
are for identical pumps run in parallel like the ones used in this experiment).
Another concept illustrated in this lab is the efficiency of a pump. Energy can take
different forms and a part of engineering is transferring the most of one type of energy to
another and quantifying the efficiency. The energy in this experiment is actually put through two
transformation. First electrical energy, which is the energy put into the system, is transferred to
mechanical energy, which is the energy required to spin the shaft and impeller. Second, the
mechanical energy is transferred into energy of the fluid. This is accomplished through the
pumps rotation, which transfers the velocity energy of the water to pressure energy. The overall
efficiency is the product of the mechanical (shaft) efficiency and the thermodynamic efficiency.
The centrifugal pump is one of the most widely used pumps for transferring liquids. This
is for a number of reasons. Centrifugal pumps are very quiet in comparison to other pumps.
They have a relatively low operating and maintenance costs. Centrifugal pumps take up little
floor space and create a uniform, nonpulsating flow.
Pumps are used in almost all aspects of industry and engineering from feeds to reactors
or distillation columns. They are an integral part of engineering and an understanding of how
they work is important for any type of engineer.

3.0 Apparatus:
Series and parallel pump test set, hydraulic bench, and stop watch


4.0 Theory
4.1.0 Centrifugal pump:
With the delivery valve closed, the impeller with vanes is made to rotate in a helical housing. As
a result, a forced vortex is developed which imparts a centrifugal head to water. Simultaneously,
the angular momentum is changed resulting in an increase of the water pressure. When the
delivery valve is opened, water is forced to flow in an outward radial direction thereby leaving
the vanes of the impeller at the outer circumference with high velocity and pressure. The high
absolute velocity at the outlet of the vanes is converted to useful pressure energy by shaping the
casing such that water flows through expanding passage. The water is finally discharged through
the delivery pipe.
4.1.1 Pump characteristics curve: Single pump

The delivered volumetric flow rate is dependent on the pressure which the pump has to generate
within a pipe network. If the required pump pressure is high, the resulting volumetric rate will
be low. Adversely, at low pump pressure, the volumetric rate is high. These correlations are
represented in the pump characteristics curve, where the pressure difference between intake and
delivery side of the pump is plotted over the delivered volumetric flow rate V.



4.1.2 Pump Connected in Series:

In this case, the pump pressures are added together while the volumetric flow rate remains the
same. The pump characteristics curve becomes steeper. Thus, ptotal = pi , where pi is the
pressure difference on pump I.


4.1.3 Pump Connected in Parallel :

In this case, the volumetric flow rates of the pumps are added together while the pump pressure
remains the same (identical centrifugal pumps). Thus, Vtotal = Vi , where Vi is the volumetric
flow rate of pump I.

5.0 Methodoogy

5.1 Single Pump:

The stop cocks were connected, which are the handle parallel to the pipe-valve is closed while
the handle perpendicular to the pipe-valve is opened. The water reservoir was filled to a
maximum level. The pump 1 was switched on using the main switch on the switch box. The
pump 2 was ensured to remain off. The pump delivery 1, Pd 1 was set to 2.8 bar using drain
cock. Continuous water flow into the reservoir was ensured to maintain a fixed level of water.
Time taken for the volume of water to reach 10 L was recorded by using a stopwatch. The
experiment was repeated using different values of Pd 1 which were 2.4 bar, 2.0 bar, 1.6 bar, 1.2
bar, 0.8 bar, 0.4 bar and 0.0 bar.

Figure 2:Single pump

5.2 Pump Connected in Series :

The stop cocks were connected. The water reservoir was filled to a maximum level. Both pumps
were switched on using the main switch. By using the drain cock, the desired volumetric flow
rate was set starting with 2.8 bar. Continuous water flow into the reservoir was ensured to
maintain a fixed level of water. Psuction 1 , Pdelivery , Psuction 2 , Pdelivery 2 , Poutflow and
V were measured. Times taken for the volume of water to reach 10 L were recorded by using a
stopwatch. The experiment was repeated using different values of Pd 1 which were 2.4 bar, 2.0
bar, 1.6 bar, 1.2 bar, 0.8 bar, 0.4 bar and 0.0 bar


Figure 3 :Series pump

5.3 Pump Connected in Parallel :

The stop cocks were connected. The water reservoir was filled to a maximum level. Both pumps
were switched on using the main switch. By using the drain cock, the desired volumetric flow
rate was set starting with 2.8 bar. Continuous water flow into the reservoir was ensured to
maintain a fixed level of water. Psuction 1 , Pdelivery , Psuction 2 , Pdelivery 2 , Poutflow and
V were measured. Time taken for the volume of water to reach 10 L was recorded by using a
stopwatch. The experiment was repeated using different values ofPd 1 which were 2.4 bar,2.0
bar, 1.6 bar, 1.2 bar, 0.8 bar, 0.4 bar and 0.0 bar.



Figure 4:Parallel pump




6.0 Results




6.1 Calculation and graph (Single Pump)

According to the result tabulated above, the values of P and V for each of the experiment
are:

P = Pd 1 Ps 1
=2.8-0
=2.8 bar

V =

10


=
0.01
75


=0.133310
3
m/s


Number of experiment P (bar) V (m/s)
1
2.8
0.133310
3

2
2.4
0.188710
3

3
2.0
0.277810
3

4
1.6
0.303010
3

5
1.2
0.400010
3

6
0.8
0.454510
3

7
0.4
0.555610
3

8
0.0
0.588210
3


Table 1



Graph 1
6.2 Calculation and graph (Siries Pump)

According to the result tabulated above, the values of P and V for each of the experiment
are:

P1 = Pd 1 Ps 1
=2.8-0
=2.8bar
P2 = Pd 2 Ps 2
=5.2-2.8
=2.4 bar
P= P1 + P2
=2.8+2.4
=5.2 bar

V =

10

=
0.01
84.3

=0.1186

m/s







0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7
P
R
E
S
S
U
R
E

D
I
F
F
E
R
E
N
C
E

(

P
)
VOLUME FLOW RATE (m/s)
GRAPH OF PRESSURE DIFFERENCE AGAINST
VOLUME FLOW RATE FOR SINGLE PUMP

Number of experiment P (bar) V (m/s)

1 5.2 0.1186
2 4.4 0.1860
3 3.4 0.2418
4 2.8 0.3351
5 2.0 0.3956
6 1.4 0.4570
7 0.4 0.5074
8 0 0.7018

Table 2



Graph 2


6.3 Calculation and graph (Parallel Pump)

According to the result tabulated above, the values of P and V for each of the experiment
are:

P1 = Pd 1 Ps 1
=2.8-0
=2.8 bar
P2 = Pd 2 Ps 2
=2.4-0
=0 bar
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8
P
R
E
S
S
U
R
E

D
I
F
F
E
R
E
N
C
E

(

P
)
VOLUME FLOW RATE (m/s)
GRAPH OF PRESSURE DIFFERENCE AGAINST
VOLUME FLOW RATE IN SERIES
P =
1+2
2

=
2.4+2.8
2

=2.6 bar
V =

10

=
0.01
37.28

=0.2682

m/s


Number of experiment P (bar) V (m/s)

1 2.6 0.2682
2 2.2 0.3814
3 1.8 0.5316
4 1.4 0.6452
5 1.0 0.8058
6 0.5 0.9166
7 0.2 1.0320
8 0 1.0811


Table 3



Graph 3




0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2
P
R
E
S
S
U
R
E

D
I
F
F
E
R
E
N
C
E

(

P
)
VOLUME FLOW RATE (m/s)
GRAPH OF PRESSURE DIFFERENCE AGAINST
VOLUME FLOW RATE FOR PARALLEL
7.0 Discussions

1. Based on the table, we can see that the pump has high pressure and low volumetric
flow rate. This is due the relation between the pressure difference and flow rate.
Pressure difference is inversely proportional to the volume of flow rate.
2. Based on graphs we can see that the pump that connected in parallel is higher
compared than single pump. This is because two identical pumps in parallel with the
head is in constant, the flow rate of the water flow through the pipe will doubles when
its connected in parallel. For pump connected in series, we can see that the pump has
higher head compared to single pump. This is because we two identical pumps is in
series, the head will be twice of the head of a single pump at the same flow rate.
3. In this experiment we can see that the graph plotted are not smooth there are some
error that occur during the lab. To avoid we need to take a precaution. There are some
errors and precautions
a) cavitation problem caused by same width impeller or difference in capacities
connected in parallel or series if the first pump cannot supply enough liquid to the
second pump.
-Make sure supply enough water from first pump to second pump.
b) Graphs are not smooth
-Both pump must produce the same head because this is due to running at same
speed with same diameter impeller. Pumps that are run in parallel, the head shall
rise at lease 10% of the head at rated capacity.
c)Friction in pipe
-Control the pump delivertwo pumps in parallel will deliver less than twice flow
rate of a single pump in system.
d)the needle do not shows a correct reading
e)Impurites
-Ask technician to clean up impurities

8.0 Conclusions
As for the conclusion, the pump performance curve that connected in series had
shown the higher head than single pump, which it can be used to overcome larger system
head loss. Meanwhile the pump performance curve that connected in parallel had shown the
higher volumetric flow rate, which it can be used to transmit more volume of fluid in short
period.
9.0 Reference
1) Buku Manual EML 331/2 (2014/2015)
2) Fluid Mechanics Fundamental and Application by Yunus A. Cengel