How Impeller Trimming Works

Oversized and throttled pumps that produce excess pressure are excellent candidates for
impeller replacement or “trimming,” to save energy and reduce costs. Trimming involves machining the
impeller to reduce its diameter. Trimming should be limited to about 75% of a pump’s maximum impeller
diameter, because excessive trimming can result in a mismatched impeller and casing. As the impeller
diameter decreases, added clearance between the impeller and the fixed pump casing increases internal flow
recirculation, causes head loss, and lowers pumping efficiency.

In practice, impeller trimming is typically used to avoid throttling losses associated with
control valves, and the system flow rate will not be affected.

Trimming reduces the impeller’s tip speed, which in turn reduces the amount of energy
imparted to the pumped fluid; as a result, the pump’s flow rate and pressure both decrease. A smaller or
trimmed impeller can thus be used efficiently in applications in which the current impeller is producing
excessive head. Pump and system curves can provide the efficiency or shaft power for a trimmed impeller. If
these curves are not available, affinity laws can be used to predict the variations in pumping performance with
changes in the impeller diameter:

Q 2 / Q1 = ( D ¿ ¿ 2 ¿ ¿ D 1)¿ ¿  (1).

H 2 / H 1 = ( D ¿ ¿ 2 ¿ ¿ D1)2 ¿ ¿  (2).

In our case a single-suction centrifugal pump equipped with an impeller 220 mm diameter is

throttled to provide a process cooling water flow rate of 80

m3 . The pumping system operates with a head of
hr

6 m. Pump indicate that a trimmed impeller can supply the 80

m3 required flow rate at a head of 4.5 m which
hr
is sufficient. From the affinity laws (1) & (2), the diameter of the trimmed impeller is approximately as follows:

( H ¿ ¿ 2 Q 2)/( H 1 Q 1) ¿ = ( D ¿ ¿ 2 ¿ ¿ D 1)3 ¿ ¿

D1 - Diameter of existing Impeller.

D2 - Diameter of trimmed Impeller.

H1 – Head of the existing Impeller.

H2 – Head of the trimmed impeller.

Holding “Q” constant, assuming that the pump efficiency remains unchanged.

D2 = D1 x ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿

=220 x ¿ ¿ ¿

=199.83 mm.

Note: Exact predictions by the equations should not be expected. Diameter reduction is not greater
than 10% (with in limit). In this case the data is limited and characteristic curves are not given so we
can’t find much predictions after trimming.
 How Impeller Trimming Works
SHAPING VANE TIPS:

 Reducing the Impeller diameter frequently increases the tip thickness. If the discharge tips of
the Impeller vanes are thick, performance usually can be improved by filing over a significant
length of vane to produce a long, gradual taper. The angle B2 may changes as D is reduced,
but this usually can be corrected by filing the vane tips ( tapered vane tips will be thickened
by cutting and should be filed to restore the original shape). Chamfering, or rounding, the
discharge tips may increase the losses and should never be done.
 OVERFILING: Experience indicates that any change in the angle B2 due to over filing usually
produces a negligible change in performance.
 UNDERFILING: The head and consequently the power increases at the same capacity, and at
the same head capacity will increase.

 Wheel cutting should be done in two or more steps with a test after each cut to avoid too
large a reduction in diameter.