Peerless Pump Company

2005 Dr. M.L. King Jr. Street, P.O. Box 7026, Indianapolis, IN 46207-7026, USA
Telephone: (317) 925-9661 Fax: (317) 924-7338
www.peerlesspump.com www.epumpdoctor.com

TECHNICAL INFORMATION
Bulletin
NUMBER TWO

HORIZONTAL VS VERTICAL PUMPS

An engineering analysis of a controversial issue,
considering these key points:
-Space Requirements
-NPSH, Priming, Flexibility
-Corrosion, Maintenance

Melvin S. Mann, Peerless Pump Company

IN MANY PUMP applications the question Space Requirements – If available floor area is
“should a horizontal or vertical pump be used” limited, a vertical unit generally requires less area.
deserves careful study. Frequently the type of However, if available headroom is limited the
pump is dictated by the installation and there horizontal unit almost invariably requires less
simply is no choice between the two. headroom. Perhaps the best way to indicate space
requirements is by typical example. It should be
Perhaps the most frequent example of this is kept in mind that area and height requirements will
the deep well vertical turbine type of pump used differ somewhat between various manufacturers
extensively for pumping water from deep wells and with the type of configuration of the unit
with pump settings as much as 1000 feet below specified. Figures 1, 2, and 3, and Table 1
the surface. However, there are many marginal compare actual dimensions of horizontal with
cases where either a horizontal or vertical pump vertical pumps.
could be used. In such cases it is necessary to
appreciate and consider some of the inherent The comparison of both designs of horizontal
advantages of one type over the other so that a pumps with the vertical, expressed as ratios.
proper choice can be made. It is the purpose of
this paper to point out some of the factors which (A1/A3, H3/H1 etc.), clearly demonstrates the
should be considered if there is an opportunity to general order of magnitude of the area and height
choose between using a horizontal or vertical type differences of the three types of pumps. It should
of pump. Because of the widespread use of the be noted that the vertical turbine occupies even
vertical turbine unit, this specific type of vertical less floor area than the close coupled unit shown
pump will be used as a basis of comparison with in Figure 1. In general then, consider the vertical
horizontal centrifugal types. where available area is critical and the horizontal
where available headroom is critical.

1 Revised 06/06
Priming – Where the level of the liquid to be “cavitation-wise.” In contrast to this, a given a
pumped is below the floor level, no special priming given horizontal pump has no flexibility since the
equipment is required for the vertical turbine pump amount of suction lift or submergence is fixed by
since the impellers are always submerged. the plant layout. Consequently where extremely
However, where a horizontal pump is used, some low NPSH is available the vertical pump is usually
method must be used to raise the water to the far easier to adapt than a horizontal.
impeller before the pump is started.
A good example of this occurs frequently in the
This can be accomplished by using auxiliary application of condensate pumps. Hot wells are
vacuum pumps, air aspirators, or self priming often located close to the floor in order to reduce
pumps. Foot valves can also be used so that once the over-all height and thus the cost of the
filled, the suction pipe is kept full of liquid at all building. However, by so doing, the NPSH
times. However, the point to keep in mind is that available with respect to the floor is minimized.
the vertical turbine pump is always primed or Thus it is not uncommon on condensate pump
submerged and thus requires no special priming applications to have only 2 or 3 feet NPSH
equipment or special starting procedures. available with respect to the floor. It can be seen
from Figure 4 that by using a vertical pump
Net Positive. Suction Head – In order to avoid enough submergence can be added to the 2 or 3
cavitation, the net positive suction head (NPSH) feet to insure cavitation-free operation.
available must be greater than the NPSH required
by the pump. For a given set of conditions the In addition to the example just discussed,
NPSH available increases as the submergence other common applications occur where NPSH is
over the pump increases or if there is a suction hit, critical such as pumping highly volatile fluids
the NPSH available increases as the lift is (propane, ammonia, etc.). Also, there are
decreased. On vertical pumps, as noted in the installations where hydraulic losses in the suction
discussion above on priming, the suction lift is pipe leading to the pump are sufficiently high to
eliminated and, furthermore, it usually is a reduce the absolute pressure of the fluid to a point
comparatively simple matter to provide enough where it is one or two pounds over the vapor
submergence by properly selecting the length of pressure, thus normally requiring a vertical to
vertical column and thus provide enough NPSH increase the submergence of NPSH available.
available to simplify the pump selection

Figure 1. HORIZONTAL Figure 2. HORIZONTAL double Figure 3. VERTICAL

close coupled end suction. suction split case. turbine pump.

2 Revised 06/06
 Head, Motor Motor Fig. 1. HORIZONTAL END Fig. 2. HORIZONTAL Fig. 3. VERTICAL TURBINE Area Ratio Height Ratio
GPM Ft, Hp Speed SUCTION DOUBLE SUCTION

L W A1 H1 L W A2 H2 L W A3 H3 A/A3 A2/A3 H3/H H3/H2

100 130 5 3460 25.50 11.00 281 8.75 41.50 16.50 685 17.88 12.50 12.50 156 27.38 1.8 4.4 3.1 1.5
150 250 15 3460 31.38 15.88 497 8.69 46.12 20.00 922 19.00 19.00 19.00 361 36.19 1.4 2.6 4.2 1.9
300 200 20 3460 35.50 15.88 564 12.88 51.44 21.00 1080 21.00 19.00 19.00 361 42.44 1.6 3.0 3.3 2.0
500 160 25 3460 36.75 16.50 606 13.88 51.44 21.00 1080 21.00 21.00 21.00 441 42.44 1.4 2.5 3.1 2.0
1000 160 50 1760 67.12 29.00 1945 28.50 21.00 21.00 441 50.62 4.4 1.8
1500 160 75 1760 67.12 29.00 1945 31.00 23.00 23.00 529 57.75 3.7 1.9
2000 160 100 1760 81.25 35.25 2860 33.33 31.00 31.00 961 65.75 3.0 2.0
2500 190 150 1760 81.25 35.25 2860 34.88 31.00 31.00 961 72.50 3.0 2.1
3000 210 200 1760 98.50 43.50 4280 38.62 31.00 31.00 961 72.50 4.5 1.9
3500 225 250 1760 97.00 44.00 4275 43.00 38.00 38.00 1444 77.25 3.0 1.8
Note: L, W, & H are expressed in inches. H = Over-all Height A = Total Floor Area of Base
Expressed in square inches

Figure 4. Application of vertical

pump in condensate hot well.

Flexibility – Where changes in pumping heads expense compared with the initial cost of the unit.
are anticipated because of plant expansion, This usually means furnishing the pump initially
changes in a process, or transfer of the pump to a with sufficiently large shafting and motor base to
different service, it is relatively easy and accommodate the increased future horsepower.
inexpensive to add or remove stages from a Where the head is decreased, it is a simple matter
vertical turbine type pump in order to meet the to de-stage the bowl unit.
new conditions. Many users recognize the
limitation of the horizontal type of pump in this Corrosion and Abrasion – The high cost of repair
respect and partially compensate for this and down time on many pumps which are applied
shortcoming by specifying on new equipment that on corrosive and/or abrasive applications is well
full diameter and minimum diameter impellers are known to operating personnel. On vertical turbine
not acceptable. It should be recognized that this pumps the bearings are lubricated by the fluid
practice can sometimes mean that the being pumped. This is a distinct disadvantage
manufacturer, to avoid using a full diameter when compared with horizontal centrifugal units
impeller, is forced to select a pump larger than where the pump bearings are usually if not always
necessary to meet the initial conditions and in oil or grease lubricated and are completely
some cases less efficient pump. isolated from the fluid being pumped.

Thus, both initial and operating costs are It is true that vertical turbine process pumps
increased in some cases, in order to have a unit have been successfully applied for corrosive fluids
which is capable of an increase in head by by using special bearing materials such as TFE,
substituting a full or larger diameter impeller, if and graphitar, boron carbide, Babbitt and meehanite. It
when the need arises. Vertical turbine pumps, is also true that in severe abrasive service the
however, can be staged and de-staged relatively bearings can be flushed by a clean non-corrosive
easily. Where increased heads are anticipated, the fluid provided the process fluid will not be
vertical turbine can be built so that additional contaminated by the flushing fluid. Such a design
stages can be added in the future, often with little is shown in Figure 5. However, use of special
2 Revised 06/06
 Figure 6. Typical horizontal process pump.

Figure 5. Vertical Pump

bowl designed for use
of special flushing fluid.

bearing lubrication or materials means special exceptions to this, plus the fact that ease of
non-standard equipment with relatively high initial maintenance of various types of horizontals will
costs and longer delivery. Therefore, where other vary considerably. However, to inspect a turbine
considerations are equal, the horizontal pump pump bowl the motor, motor base and column all
“bearing-wise: has a distinct advantage over the must be removed before the bowl can be
vertical turbine where severe abrasion and/or disconnected from the column to which it is
corrosion is to be expected. attached. In contrast to this, for example, is the
double suction, horizontally split, horizontal pump.
Figure 6 pictures a horizontal-type process Figure 7 pictures such a pump. With the upper half
pump. Note the entire bearing bracket is of the case removed thus allowing the complete
isolated from the fluid being pumped by means rotating unit to be visually inspected and removed
of the backplate. if necessary. Neither the piping nor the motor need
be disturbed to remove the rotating element. There
This type of design means that only the shaft, are also vertically split horizontal pumps designed
volute, impeller and backplate need be made of so that it is unnecessary to disturb the motor
corrosion bracket usually made of inexpensive or piping in order to remove the rotating assembly.
material such as cast iron. In contrast to this, all
parts of the vertical turbine are exposed to the fluid Conclusions – Besides the characteristics of the
and consequently must be made of suitable material pump itself, there are certainly other factors which
throughout in order to resist corrosive attack. Thus, influence the choice of pumping equipment, not
in addition to the bearing problem, a vertical turbine the least of which is the design and configuration
process pump made out of high alloy materials is of the plant equipment and layout, with which the
considerably more expensive than a horizontal pump must be coordinated. Other factors such as
process pump made with the same high alloy and safety regulations will affect the choice of pumping
designed for the same service. equipment. For example, in order to avoid side
outlets in the storage tank it is normally good
Inspection and Repair – In general, the safety practice on above ground tanks to use
horizontal pump is far more accessible for vertical we pit pumps when pumping oleum.
inspection, maintenance and repair than the
vertical turbine pump. There are undoubtedly
4 Revised 06/06
 But even where well defined factors such as would be expedient to obtain quotations on both
these do not pre-determine the choice of pump horizontal and vertical types. Each application
types, it is a mistake to make any hard and fast must be judged on its won merits, keeping in mind
rules about the selection of a horizontal over a the basic advantages and disadvantages of each
vertical or vice versa. Often in marginal cases, type, as outlined above.
where new equipment is being considered, it

Figure 7

5 Revised 06/06