This is the first of a three-part series that reviews the basic theory of pump hydraulics, and gives practical tips from the authors’ collective experience over a wide range of industries on how to design, operate, control, and troubleshoot pumping systems in the more complex applications that process engineers may encounter on the job.
Particular emphasis is given to four critically important issues:
• construction of the system curve from plant data
• construction of composite curves for pump networks
• proper operation and control of pumps in parallel to avoid surging and cavitation
• use of variable frequency drives (VFDs) and load management techniques to save energy.
The key pump curves necessary for design and performance analysis of centrifugal pumps and pump networks are described, and the causes of the four most common problems encountered with operation of parallel pump operation have been identified, and solutions described. In Parts 2 and 3 of this series, efficiency improvement measures using VFDs and load management techniques will be presented, including detailed procedures for estimating the energy savings, using real case studies for illustration.