Prof. Dr.

Ali Hassan Hammoud

Professor in Fluid Mechanics
& Hydraulic Machines
Parallel & Series Pumps

Prof. Dr. Ali Hammoud 2

Parallel operation of two
identical centrifugal
pumps

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PARALLEL OPERATION ( IDENTICAL PUMPS )

Head

Flow
500 500x2 = 1000

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Pump curve for parallel operation
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Will the Flow be Double?!

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IT DEPENDS ON PIPE SYSTEM!

… long pipe,
100 m (static head) elbows, valves –
a lot of
friction…

Case A Case B
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 Case A Low pipe resistance & mostly
Head, ft
static head .

h0 = 100 m

Flow, gpm
500 500x2 = 1000

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 Case B – mostly friction

Case B Too much resistance . more

Head, ft pumps will not add any more flow! No use
for two pumps in Parallel

Case B’
acceptable

Flow, gpm
800 1000
500 550 !?

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 Summary

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 For very flat pipe system curve, two identical pumps
in parallel deliver nearly twice the flow of one pump
operating in solely in the line.
Pumps with unstable characteristic curves operating in
parallel may give trouble unless operating only on the steep
portion of the characteristic curve.
It should be paid attention to the fact that, when
pumps are in parallel, non- return valves must be fitted in
the delivery line of each pump so that when one is running,
it does not drive the other as a turbine.

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Suppose you have two identical pumps operate in parallel pumps ,
that they were manufactured and assembled together. But it is
possible that one pump of the pair is (stronger ) the dominant pump
and the other is the runt pump. If you start the dominant pump first
in the parallel system, and then decide to add the second pump of
the pair, the weaker pump may not be able to open the check valve.

This is because the second pump might be ‘dead heading’ against a

closed check valve, maintained that way by the dominant pump. If this
situation exists, it may result in premature failure of bearings and
seals, leading maintenance and operations personnel thinking that
parallel pumps are problematic.

It is recommended to start the weak pump first and then add the
dominant pump in parallel with the weaker. The dominant pump coming
on stream will push open the check valve.

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Pumps total shaft power ?!

 H Q
shaft Power 
Mech .
ηMech. = From Pump Catalogue

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Prof. Dr. Ali Hammoud 15
Series operation of two
identical centrifugal
pumps

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Series operation of two identical centrifugal pumps

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Prof. Dr. Ali Hammoud 19
Combined parallel and series pump operation

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Parallel operation of two
non-identical centrifugal
pumps

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 Hm

Ht =HA=HB=.. Pump A + pump B in Parallel

Qt =QA+QB+…
Piping System Curve
Q H Q H
Psht  A A  B B  .....
A B
C
Ht C1 C2
 b 
a
A B
Q
QA QB Qt

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Series operation of two
non-identical centrifugal
pumps

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• The technique of two combined pumps in parallel with different rating
(Not Identical) is not recommended, since the operating range is
restricted to very limited zone and its efficiency is low, there is a risk that
one motor may be overloaded. For that reason it is preferable to use
identical pumps from the same manufacturer.
• Referring to the figure above, pump (1) is useless if the operating
point is above its shut off-head.
• If, for some reasons, one of the two identical pumps located in parallel
is running poor the result is the parallel combination is the same as two
different pumps with different rating.

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Example
The H-Q characteristics of centrifugal pump are shown below:
Qv (m3/hr) 0 15 30 45 60 75
H (m) 75 72 65 53 38 19
 (%) 0 43 69 73 65 49

This pump is used in a 4 inches pipeline against a static head Hst=42 m. the suction pipe is 25 m
long with 2 bends, the equivalent length of each is assumed to be 3 m. the delivery pipe, 200 m
long, contains a gate valve fully open and 2 long radius elbows. The equivalent length of long
radius elbows is Le/D=20, and that of gate valve is Le/D=30.
The pipe friction factor for both suction & delivery sides is taken as f=0.032. Other losses are
neglected.

Calculate the following:

a) Pump operating discharge and shaft power.
b) If two identical pumps are used in series for the same pipeline, calculate the operating discharge
and the shaft power required.

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Solution:

The total effective length Le is:

Since both the suction and delivery pipes are having the same diameters and friction
factors we could say:
The actual pipe length (suction and delivery) + Equivalent length (due to fitting and
valves)
Leff = L + Le = (25 + 100)+(2x3 + 2x20x0.101 + 1x30x0.101) = 138 m
The pipe system is:

hA = Z2 – Z1 + f

Where the velocity head, is too small which can be neglected.

hA = 42– Z1 + 0.032 = 42+3.5x104 Q2

Convert the discharge Q to m3/hr, the above equation becomes:

hA = 42 + 2.7x10-3 Q2
From this expression and the data given in the problem, the following table is obtained:

Qv (m3/hr) 0 15 30 45 60 75
hA (m) 42 42.6 44.4 47.4 51.7 57
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 Pump Characteristic Curve
80

70

60

50
Head (m)

40 H1 (m)
Eff (%)
30
R (m)
20

10

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Discharge Q (m3/hr)

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 Pumps In Series
160

140

120

100
Head (m)

H1 (m)
80
Eff (%)
60 R (m)
H2 (m)
40

20

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Discharge Q (m3/hr)

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 How to choose the type of connection for a given Q & H

Limit of Q for series

Hm 5
4

operation
3

Limit of H for parallel

operation

5
2 3 4
Q
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Region-1 If the operating point in region 1
is outside the performance of one pump
Hm
Series or parallel pumps can do the job we 2 3
choose the connection which gives less

number of pumps  S + P
Region-2 If the operating point in region 2 S
Combined
is outside the performance of one pump
Series pumps is required

Region-3 If the operating point in region 3 S or P
(outside the performance of one) Series + 1 4
parallel pumps are required  One

Region-4 If the operating point in region 4 pump P
(outside the performance of one) parallel 
One pump
pumps are required + d.v.

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Example

The performance of a centrifugal pump is given by:

Qv (m3/hr) 0 100 150 200 250 300

H (m) 40 37.5 32 27.5 20 12
 (%) 0 73 82 81 71 48

What is the number of pumps needed and their shaft power that should be used, and how they
should arrange to obtain:
400 lit/s against a Manometric head 20 m.

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 90

80

70

60
Head (m)

50

40
P region 4
30

20

10

0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500
Discharge Q(L/s)

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Point of discharge 400 lit/s and of head 20m lies in region 4
Use the pumps in parallel

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 Minimum Number of Identical pumps
Hm

p

Ht
p hlv
Suppose you need a Hreq
flow of 200 gpm P’
whereas the available
pump flow @BEP or
nearly so is 90 gpm.

Qp Qp’ Qreq 230 270 Q

90
200
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 d.v. used for regulation

Isolating valves
(not for regulation)

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 Hm

p

30 Ht
hlv
25 Hreq

15 Suppose you need a head of

p 25 m whereas the available
pump head of a single pump
@ BEP or nearly so is 15 m.

Qreq=Qp=Qt Q

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 Series or parallel connection ( region One )

Hm

2 3

16 Hreq
Pp

1
10 4
Ps

Qreq Q
100 180
Choose the connection that gives min. number of pumps
Choose the connection that gives min. shaft power
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 Hm
In this particular 3
2
case we
calculate the
shaft power and
then we select
the connection 16 Hreq
Pp
which gives less 1
absorb power
10 4
Ps

Qreq Q
100 180

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 Series or parallel connection ( region One )
Sharp or Flat

Series connection is selected

2 pumps in
series

Region 2

Region 4

2 pumps in parallel
Parallel connection is selected

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Hm
A+B in Series

Piping System Curve

Qt=QA=QB=…
Ht C
Ht =HA+HB+…
HB b
QA H A QB H B
a Pt    .....
 A B
HA
A B
Qt=QA=QB Q

From H-Q curve Qt, QA, QB, HA,A, B are obtained from -Q curves

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 H
 Find np to give certain Q in
known piping system ;
 Hm=Hst+kQ2 @ Q required System Curve
 Calculate np>=Hs/Hp at Qr
 For np =3.1 ,take np=4 and
partially close the delivery hlv
Hs
Valve, then; S

 Hlv=np.Hp-Hs &
Psh lv =wQr.Hlv/ηps
Hp

 ηps= Pump station
Hst
Efficiency= ηp at Qr
Qreq Q

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Parallel Series

Point “C” can be attained by

parallel or series connection:
i- Take arrangement of less np x C
ii- For the same np in both
arrangements, select arrangement
of less y

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End of the Lecture