Centrifugal Pump Seminar Series

Standards are to make sure that all centrifugal pumps are manufactured to the same dimension across all brands. Standards are provided by organizations such as:

When selecting a centrifugal pump, one should match the performance of the pump to that needed by the system. To do that, an engineer would refer to a pump's composite curve. A typical composite curve includes the pump performance curves, horsepower curves and NPSH required.

A pump performance curve indicates how a pump will perform in regards to pressure head and flow. A curve is defined for a specific operating speed (rpm) and a specific inlet/outlet diameter.

The efficiency of a centrifugal pump plays a crucial role in the production processes of practically all industries. No matter what industry you're in – be it food, pharmaceutical, cosmetic or chemical – the performance of your centrifugal pump can have a significant impact on the overall efficiency of your production.

NPSH stands for Net Positive Suction Head and is a measure of the pressure experienced by a fluid on the suction side of a centrifugal pump.

It is quoted as a head (in feet or metres) rather than as an actual pressure (lb/in², psi or Pa) because 'head' is a fluid-independent property: a pump will lift different fluids to the same height irrespective of their densities.

Impeller types in centrifugal pumps vary in design depending on the fluid being handled, whether the design is low or high pressure, and if the unit is designed to be self-priming or to handle entrained gas.

Care must be taken during selection to ensure a correct balance is achieved between the desired outcome for the process and maintenance periods, whilst ensuring maximum process efficiency is obtained.