Experimental assessment of efficiency degradation and corrosion behavior of centrifugal pumps under laboratory-controlled high-salinity conditions

Abstract This study provides a time-resolved analysis of corrosion-related performance degradation in centrifugal pump systems. This study makes a significant contribution by providing real-time pump efficiency and vibration monitoring coupled with material-dependent corrosion analysis. Three common pump materials were tested: 316 L stainless steel, Bronze (CuSn Alloy) and carbon steel, all in a simulated seawater environment (30 ppt). The hydraulic efficiency of the 316 L stainless steel pump was reduced from 70.6% to 58.0%, a 12.6% reduction after 200 h of operation in a high-salinity environment, showing a statistically significant correlation between cumulative mass loss and efficiency degradation for 316 L stainless steel ( R = 0.87, p < 0.05). Surface roughness increased progressively with exposure time and is interpreted as a contributing physical degradation mechanism. While limitations of this study include testing only one pump configuration and static coupons, which may not fully capture the effect of dynamic impeller characteristics, it does provide significant insights into the complex relationships between corrosion and surface roughness and vibration analysis, all of which are critical in determining predictive maintenance practices. Graphical Abstract A graphical abstract illustrating the closed-loop pump system and the coupling between corrosion mass loss, efficiency degradation, and vibration increase is provided as a separate submission file in accordance with journal requirements.