Discussion

This section analyses the results of the experiment. The experiment went as expected with
no unusual events that would have introduced error. The objective of the experiment is to obtain
performance characteristics for a variable speed centrifugal pump operating at 3 different
impeller speeds. There are 4 characteristics of pump performance which are pressure (head)
jump, power requirement, flow rate influence and pump speed influence.
For this experiment, we have follow the procedure in order to obtain the performance
characteristic of the pump by using variable speed operating centrifugal pump at three impeller
speeds. We have conducted three tests which are at pump speed of 50%, 75% and 100%. The test
requires us to record the values for torque, water height, inlet pressure and discharge pressure.
For each test, we are required to plot graph efficiency versus flow rate, graph head pump versus
flow rate, and brake horse power versus flow rate. From the graph, we can see clearly the
relationship between flow rate and efficiency, head pump and brake horse power.
For the pump speed, N2 = 1439rpm, the efficiency is proportional to the flow rate and it
increases until the maximum value of 32.41% and at the flow rate of 0.0015 m3/s. The head of
pump slowly decrease from 6.226m to 0.714m as the water flow rate increases until maximum
flow rate of 0.0023 m3/s. The slope for the brake horsepower graph increases as the flow rate
increase to maximum value. The maximum bhp is 0.226kW, and the best bhp with the highest
effeciency for this operating speed of the pump is 0.196kW. For the Test 2, N1 = 2178rpm, the
efficiency increase as the flow rate increase until the maximum value of effeciency of 38.76%
and at the flow rate of 0.0023 m3/s. The head of pump decrease slowly from 13.605m to 4.359m
as the valve is opened. The brake horsepower (bhp) is increase proportionally to the flow rate
from 0.250kW to .707kW.
In Test 3, the pump speed used is N3 = 2945rpm. The effeciency is proportional to the flow
rate and it is increase until the maximum value of 47.61% and athe flow rate of 0.0031 m3/s. The
head of pump decrease from 25.202m to 11.533m. The brake horsepower is proportional to the
flow rate and it is increased from 0.555k W to 1.511kW. The effeciencies of the pump depends
on the size of the machine and, hence, the capacity handled. We can see that we may have some
error occurred in this experiment where our overall efficiency is low which is in 7-50% range.

We can say the bigger number of efficiency, the bigger effectiveness of the operated machine. To
get the better efficiency, the rate of power output and input must be bigger.
Next, other error that may occur during the experiment is parallax error when taking the
data reading of water height. Also it happens in pressure gauge for inlet pressure. And when the
adjusting the discharge water pressure, the machine cause other apparatus, such as the discharge
pipe is vibrating extremely hard. This may be due to the material of pipe which it cannot absorb
the vibration, and a steel pipe is recommended in this situation.

Conclusion
In conclusion, the objective of the experiment which is to obtain performance
characteristics for a variable speed centrifugal pump operating at 3 different impeller speeds has
been achieved. We have identified the characteristics of pump performance which are pressure
(head) jump, power requirement, flow rate influence and pump speed influence. Besides that, we
know that the principal dependent variables in the pump are the head ( h ), brake horsepower
(bhp) and the efficiency (). The efficiency depends upon the size of machine and hence, the
capacity handled. We also can conclude that the performance characteristics of a centrifugal
pump from the theory are a little bit similar with the result from the experimental value. The
different value from the theory is because of some errors and losses in the system and also a little
bit error in reading process.