A Study on Centrifugal Pump Performance treating Different Fluids

Understanding centrifugal pump local flow characteristics under different piping systems flow conditions is important. Single and two-phase flows applications via centrifugal pump are widely used in many industries. In the present work, the behavior of emulsion (oil-in-water) and air-water mixture flows through a single stage radial flow type centrifugal pump at three different pump rotation speeds has been studied experimentally and analytically. Effects of oil type, oil concentrations and air injected into the pump suction side on the pump performance under different operating conditions were considered. For each operating condition, pump discharge, generated head, efficiency and the power required to drive the pump were mainly affected by the type of oil, oil concentrations, the amount of air bubbles flowing through the pump impeller and the air injection position in the suction pipe. The results obtained from this study are valuable for chemical and petroleum industries.