Pumps

2000BC, this was the year Egyptians invented the shadoof which became the first invention
of pumps by mankind (Tsujimoto and Oshashi, 2014). Little did they know, the shadoof
would be an inspiration to future scientists and engineers. Though the invention was not a
pump when compared to technology nowadays, the shadoof was a wooden lever with a
bucket at the first end and the opposite end being a heavy weight which worked by tying the
bucked to the rod and lifting the water from deep wells. Years later this became proof that
mankind has always been looking for a gadget to make the transportation of water easy. In
nowadays life, pumps are devices used to move fluids by mechanical action.
Types of pumps
There are three types of pumps, namely: positive displacement pump, axial-flow pumps and
centrifugal pumps.
Positive-displacement pump
Positive displacement pumps are usually used for pumping fluids with high viscosity such as
oil, paints, et cetera. According to Hooton, 2019, these pumps are designed to ensure that any
pumping action is positive. These pumps move a fluid by enclosing the volume at a fixed
pace repeatedly with the aid of seals and valves the moving the fluid in the system
mechanically. These pumps are preferred in many operations as they excel in the handling of
shear sensitive fluids, and they can handle fluids with solid contents as high as 40% by
weight thus they are also capable of handling a high percentage of air or gas entrainment. It
also offers flow control where it can be made constant even if there is a change in pressure
which is mostly a desirable condition in many systems. In terms of efficiency, positive
displacement pumps can often be 10 to 40 points more efficient than centrifugal pumps.
Axial flow pumps
Axial flow pumps are somehow partly centrifugal pumps which can also be called propeller
pumps. These pumps operate by moving the fluid axially through the impeller to the outlet
providing a high flow rate and low head. They are also referred to as velocity pumps which
increases flow rate at the to impart energy to the pumped fluid. The pumps can be adjusted
for best efficiency at varying conditions; however, they are not suitable for suction lift due to
their inability to provide high pressure at discharge. They are widely used for clearing water
from flooded areas and for lifting large amounts of flow within a treatment plant or water
system.
Centrifugal pumps
Centrifugal pumps are by far the most widely used pumps in fluid industries. Due to their
steady and consistent output, they can pump a wide range of fluids from fluids with high
solid content to flow resistant fluids. Centrifugal pumps use rotational energy from one or
more motors called impellers. They usually operate at high speeds giving a high flow rate for
fluids. These pumps are of importance as the impeller used increased the fluid`s velocity and
pressure and directs it towards the outlet then thrown outwards by centrifugal action.
Impellor
An impellor is a rotation component in a centrifugal pump which accelerates the fluid in flow
from the centre of the rotation while transferring energy from the motor driving the pump to
the pumped fluid. The impeller consists of a series of curved vanes which ensures that the
flow within the pump is as smooth as possible. The more the number of vanes, the more it’s
easier to control the direction of the liquid motion and the smaller the losses due to turbulence
and circulations in the vanes.
Advantages of centrifugal pump
The advantage of the centrifugal pump is that it is easy to construct and therefore it can be
made in a wide range of materials. It can operate at high speeds and coupled to an electric
motor. Due to its smaller size, it can be made into a sealed unit with the driving motor and
immersed in suction tank.
Energy and pumps
The energy required by the pump will depend on the diameter of the pipe, the flow rate of the
fluid, viscosity and density of the fluid and its other physical properties. The pump provides
energy to compensate for the increase in potential energy. If the fluid is pumped from a lower
elevation than it enters, the potential energy decreases and it is possible to convert this energy
to useful work (Dincer and Rosen, 2003). Below is the formula to calculate the power gained
by the fluid.
P= ρ gHQ
Where:
P = power gained
P = density of the fluid kg/m3)
H = head (in m)
Q = volume flow rate (m3/s)
Pumps and pressure
When pressure in the pump causes more load on the motor, it slows down. When the motor
slows down, the flow rate drops at the same percentage. A motor that operates at about 2000
RPM at low pressures will typically slow down to about 1750 RPM when the pump is
pressurized to the maximum rating. High pressure pumps boost water pressure improving the
flowrate of the fluid (Womber, 2005).

Categories in pumps
All the pumps mentioned above can be classified as pump in series, pumps in parallel or
single pumps.
Pumps in series
When two pumps are arranged in series, a resulting pump performance curve is obtained by
adding both their heads at the same flow rate. If two identical pumps are in series, their head
will be twice the head of the single pump with the same flow rate.
Advantages of pumps in series are that they usually require less horsepower than one large
pump meeting the same condition point. This then makes them more efficient over pumps in
parallel. They can operate at a low energy consumption and has less wear increasing the
reliability and longer life which is beneficial to low budget operations. Due to their simple
design, they are very easy to maintain making them stand out against centrifugal pumps.
Dispute having a large range of good qualities, pumps in series have their own disadvantages
as well. More equipment’s such as pumps, circuit brakers, drives and motors are required to
get the pumps going. Thus, it must be put in mind to not exceed the maximum pressure of the
pumps as this may cause damage and financial loss due to having to repair them. More space
is required to store the equipment, this is very fatal for operations with a restricted area.
Pumps in parallel
When pumps are running in parallel, they tend to operate against the same head discharge,
therefore, by adding the respective flow rates of each pump, the combination pump head-
capacity curve is obtained.
The selection of installing pumps in parallel minimizes the energy cost, however, many
parallel pump systems aren’t operated in the most energy efficient manner. For pumps in
parallel, the energy effectiveness of each pump needs to be calculated then compared to each
other and then select the single pump or pump combination that yields the highest Energy
Effectiveness. In this way the optimum parallel pump selection can be achieved. According
to Intang and Dwapayana, 2019, the pump efficiency range of the parallel circuit is high to
get a larger flow rate than the series circuit pump.
Advantages of pumps in parallel

In a parallel system, the system allows the use of pumps with different hydraulic
characteristics together, provided they have the same head characteristics. The flow rate int
pumps in parallel can be easily controlled while the head is kept constant. When comparing it
to a single pump, it has a much higher degree of capacity thus it can help save money and
energy in an operation.

Factors affecting pumps

Pump performance can be affected by many factors such as surface roughness, impeller
design, improper shaft alignment and fluid viscosity
Surface roughness
Surface roughness is indirectly proportional to the head and efficiency of the pump meaning
that as the surface roughness increases, the head and efficiency of the pump decreases
continuously. This also means that the efficiency of a pump is highly dependent on the
surface roughness. The total efficiency of the pump mainly goes down gradually by
decreasing the hydraulic efficiency and the mechanical efficiency, due to the negative effect
caused by surface roughness. In centrifugal pumps, the of the impeller`s surface roughness
and mostly affects the hydraulic efficiency and the volume efficiency can also be affected by
surface roughness of the inner wall of the pump, but the influence of surface roughness on the
pump performance is interconnected. This makes it very difficult to make the precision-
machine inside the impeller (Xiaoke et al., 2019).
Impellor design
As the impellor is designed to accelerate the flow of the fluid, a slight error can cause a huge
difference. When the curve of the impellor is not perfectly made, the flow will find it too hard
to turn to the next direction and the therefore it will hit the corner with high force inflicting
damage to the system. Changing the diameter of a pump impeller affects the flow, head and
input brake horsepower of the pump in different proportion. The centrifugal pump gives a
high flow rate as the diameter of the impeller increases (Miranda and Pereira, 2017).
.
Improper shaft alignment
This occurs when the centre lines of the motor and the driven equipment shafts are not in line
with each other. As a result, there will be noisy sounds and vibrations in the pump system.
Coupling and bearing temperatures often increase in case and at times there is premature and
coupling failure. Couplings are shafts used to connect the rotating pump shaft when the drive
is transferred to the pump with minimal losses. This can lead to excessive leakage in the
system.
Fluid viscosity
Some pumps are suitable for low fluids with low viscosity. As the viscosity of the fluid
increases, the resistance to shear of the pump needs to be adjusted. There will be a small
reduction in flow rate and a more significant reduction in head or pressure, and a substantial
increase in power draw.
Flows on pumps
Flows on pumps can either be laminar or turbulent flow.
Laminar flow
Laminar flow is characterised by the flow of fluid particles on a smooth surface in the form
of layers, where each layer moves smoothly past one another without mixing. The fluid tends
to flow without sideways movement mixing at low velocities. The direction of flow is
consistent and there are no cross movements, meaning that if the fluid is moving forward, it
will continue moving forward without crosscurrents to the direction of the flow. According to
Kane and Whitesides, (2011), when a fluid flows between a pipe or a closed channel of two
plates, the laminar flow will depend on the velocity of the of the fluid, viscosity of the fluid
and the size of the pipe. Flows which tend to be laminar often consists of lower velocities and
lower viscosity. In a straight pipe, laminar flow is considered as the relative motion of a set of
concentric cylinders of fluid whereas the outside one fixed at the pipe wall and the others
moving at increasing speeds as the centre of the pipe is approached.
Turbulent flow
Turbulent flow is characterised by dramatic changes in flow pressure and velocity. The fluid
tends to move counter to the original direction, this is called eddy currents. Eddy currents
tend to cause the fluid to move vigorously using energy in the process which then increases
the chances of forming empty spaces within the fluid, this is called cavitation. The velocity of
the fluid tends to continuously undergo changes in both magnitude and direction. In turbulent
flow, the flow velocity is flat across the centre section of the pipe in which it flows through
and rapidly drops close to the walls. According to Wells, (2012), the velocity of the pipe is
equal to the average flow velocity.
Pump efficiency
Pump efficiency is defined as the ratio of useful hydraulic power delivered to the fluid to the
power input at the drive shaft. It can be calculated by the formula below:
Pump hydraulic power (kW )
Efficiency ( % )= ×100
Pump input shaft power( kW )
Below is the table for calculating efficiency for centrifugal pump

For large centrifugal pumps, a good efficiency ranges between 75-93% while for smaller
once the efficiency ranges between 50-70% (Mark and Ramsey, 2002).