Feature Report

Engineering Practice

Sizing, Specifying and Selecting

Centrifugal Pumps
Follow these tips to C-100 C-106

determine preliminary F-102 E-103

pump sizing, to support
cost-estimation efforts 12.5 ft
Control
valve H-105
Filter Heat Furnace
exchangers Distillation
Asif Raza P-101 column
2 ft Pump 3 ft 22 ft
Zeton Inc. Grade

etermining the proper prelimi- FIGURE 1. Refer to this pump-system sketch for the pump-design calculations

D nary size for centrifugal pumps

during the initial stages of any
pump-specification exercise
requires numerous calculations and
assumptions. This article reviews the
discussed here. Note, a distance of 2 ft between the pump-inlet piping and grade and
3-ft distance between pump-discharge piping and grade is assumed during initial siz-
ing. These values should be confirmed once pump selection is done

clude calculation of suction pressure

and rated differential pressure.
Horsepower and efficiency. In the
early stages of the project, you will
steps needed to size centrifugal pumps Net pressure suction head (NPSH) have to provide preliminary horse-
during the early stages of a project, to calculations. During the early stages power to the electrical engineer for
support initial cost-estimation efforts. of the project, the plant layout is not load calculations. From the rated dif-
Such early pump-sizing efforts are im- yet firm. Hence, NPSH available for ferential pressure, calculate the rated
portant steps toward final pump selec- the pump(s) cannot yet be calculated horsepower. Since the pump has not
tion and detailed engineering. with confidence. However, it is okay yet been selected, you can assume a
to carry out preliminary NPSH cal- pump efficiency between 50 and 60%.
Sizing centrifugal pumps culations using information from the Make a judgment call 50% is typi-
Normal flowrate and rated flow- preliminary layout. Note that NPSH cally a sufficient value for calculating
rate. To define the normal and rated values can be increased by later modi- horsepower during the initial stages
flowrates, refer to the heat and mass fications to the layout. NPSH plays a of a project.
balance of your project. Normal flow- very important role during pump se- Shutoff pressure. Shutoff pressure is
rate is the flow at 100% capacity. lection, and could significantly impact required in early stages of the project
Rated flowrate is the design margin the cost of the pump if a lower-NPSH to determine the flange rating for the
that is added to the normal flowrate (required) pump is specified, since discharge piping of the pump. There
(typically on the order of 1030%), to pumps with a lower NPSH require- are several ways to calculate shutoff
accommodate potential short-term ex- ment tends to be more expensive. pressure. A more conservative method
cursions in flowrate during operation. The goal is to calculate a preliminary uses the following formula:
Rated flowrate is usually defined by NPSH value and provide it to the
Differential pressure 1.25 +
the user. If it is not defined, consider pump vendors to get initial feedback.
maximum suction pressure
10% for normal-service pumps, and This allows both parties to determine
2030% for critical-service pumps, whether a pump with the specified Maximum suction pressure is
such as distillation column reflux NPSH can be achieved or not, can be calculated by:
pumps, reactor feed and furnace-feed achieved with some modification to Pressure safety valve (PSV) set pres-
pumps and other feed pumps that play the plant layout, or can be achieved sure 10 21% accumulation + static
a critical role in the overall process. by selecting a pump with lower NPSH head based on high liquid level
Pressure-drop calculations. The requirements. Based on the vendors If a user does not have information
intent of these calculations is to de- feedback, modify your layout to have a such as the PSV set pressure in the
termine suction pressure and rated design margin between the available early stages of the project, a simple
differential pressure. Please refer and required NPSH. A design margin approach for calculating shutoff head
to sample calculation #1 (discussed of 34 ft is widely accepted, per indus- is to use this formula:
below) and Figure 1 for performing try standards. See sample calculation
pump-sizing calculations, which in- #2 for calculating NPSH (available). Rated differential head 1.5

CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHE.COM FEBRUARY 2013 43

 TABLE 1. PUMP-SIZING SPREADSHEET FOR CALCULATING SUCTION
PRESSURE AND RATED DIFFERENTIAL PRESSURE (CALCULATION #1)
Engineering Practice Rated flow Normal flow
condition condition
Suction pressure
Re
opecomm Source pressure, psig 30 30
rat en
Head produced by pump

Impeller 1 ing ded Static head = 10.5 ft (ft x specific gravity/2.31), 3.2 3.2
ran
ge* psi
Impeller 2
Suction line loss, psi 0.3 0.3
Impeller 3 Pump suction pressure, psig (30+3.2) (30+3.2)
0.3 = 32.9 0.3 = 32.9

Best efficiency
Discharge pressure
point (BEP)** Delivery pressure, psig 100 100
Static head = 19 ft (ft x specific gravity/2.31), psi 5.8 5.8
Flowrate produced
Line loss, psig 33 23
* The recommended operating range is between
70120% of the BEP flowrate Control-valve pressure drop, psid 38 83.5
* * BEP is a point on the curve, is specific to each
pump, and is provided by the pump manufacturer Filter pressure drop, psid 14.4 10
Heat exchanger 1 pressure drop, psid 14.4 10
FIGURE 2. This pump-performance
curve shows the best efficiency point Heat exchanger 2 pressure drop, psid 14.4 10
(BEP) and the recommended operating Furnace pressure drop, psid 72 50
range, which are helpful during pump
selection. Note the shaded region rep- Orifice flowmeter pressure drop, psid 2.88 2
resents the operating range for different Contingency, psig 10 10
impeller sizes
Differential pressure, psig
Specifying centrifugal pumps Discharge pressure, psig =100+5.8+3 =100+5.8+2
The following steps must be carried 3+14.4+14. 3+10+10+10
4+14.4+72+ +50+2+83.5
out during the specification of centrif- 2.88+38+10 +10=305
ugal pumps: =305
Gather basic process data. Fill out
Minus suction pressure, psig 32.9 32.9
the pump data sheet with the follow-
ing basic information: Suction pres- Total pump differential pressure, psig 272 272
sure, normal and rated discharge Pump head (psi x 2.31/specific gravity) 900 900
pressures, normal flowrate and rated Hydraulic power = gal/min x pump head (ft) x 382 318
flowrate, fluid properties, such as den- specific gravity/3,960, hP
sity, viscosity and vapor pressure at Efficiency at 3,600 rpm, % 60 60
operating temperature.
Rated power = Hydraulic power/efficiency, hp 637 530
Determine a preliminary value
for NPSH. Please refer to the NPSH
calculations presented below (sample regarding whether to use a sealed or must be based on the end users re-
calculation #2). sealless design pump. Consider seal- quirements, process conditions, and
Specify desired materials of con- less pumps for liquids that are flam- the cost of the equipment. In general,
struction. This should come from the mable, toxic and corrosive. For in- the cost increases in this order: Non-
end user or from a metallurgist who is stance, many facilities use traditional ANSI, sub-ANSI, ANSI and API, while
involved in the project and is respon- sealed pumps for pumping water, and non-ANSI pumps have the lowest cost.
sible for specifying the appropriate sealless pumps for pumping acids and A non-ANSI pump usually finds its ap-
metallurgy of the equipment. alkalis and other corrosive liquids. plication in small sizes handling less
Specify sealless versus mechanical Work closely with your vendor and critical service, such as water that is
seals. Magnetic-drive sealless pumps seek guidance based on previous being pumped at relatively low pres-
are desirable for many applications experience in applications with sure and low temperature. An ANSI
since they eliminate the need for me- similar service. If a sealless pump is pump is usually used in applications
chanical seals, and thus eliminate the not available, consider using a double requiring relatively larger sizes (for
inherent risk of leakage and mainte- mechanical seal to minimize the risk instance, more than 10 hP) in chemi-
nance associated with such seals. But of leakage. Rely on the vendors expe- cal or hydrocarbon service.
sealless pumps also have drawbacks, rience, as well, in selecting the most However, some ANSI pumps may be
such as an inability to handle larger appropriate mechanical seal for your limited to a maximum casing pressure.
particles in the process fluids. And service. Provide vendors with as much For higher-casing pressures, the user
in some applications, relatively high process data as you have, to ensure may have no choice but to consider a
differential pressure requires high proper seal selection for your service. custom-made pump or an API pump.
torque, which may be beyond the ca- Classify non-ANSI, sub-ANSI and API pumps tend to be considerably
pabilities of the sealless pump. ANSIAPI pumps. Ultimately, the more expensive than ANSI pumps, as
Rely on the end-users experience selection of specific centrifugal pumps they are typically used in hydrocarbon
44 CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHE.COM FEBRUARY 2013
 NPSH required, ft
40
NPSH-required
20
380
0
Rated flow Efficiency
90 360

80 340 Head
BEP The pump-sizing calculations also
Head, ft

70 320
provide pressure-drop data across the
60 300 control valve, under normal- and rated-
Efficiency, %

50 280 Allowable flow circumstances. Specify control-

operating region valve pressure drop at the rated flow,
40 260
Preferred following the widely accepted rule of
30 240 operating region 150 thumb that is, pressure drop is 25%

Power, BHP
20 100
of the dynamic head loss at rated flow.
Power In this case, dynamic head loss at the
10 50
rated flow is 151 psig (the sum of pres-
0 0 sure drop across filters, heat exchang-
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1,000 1,100 1,200 1,300
ers, furnaces, orifices and line losses.
Flowrate, U.S. gal/m
Hence the differential pressure across
FIGURE 3. This igure shows a relationship between lowrate and head, power, effi- the control valve in this scenario at
ciency and NPSH. Note the NPSH curve is bowl-shaped. NPSH requirements increase rated flow is 38 psig).
with low. Make sure you analyze this value carefully and select a NPSH (required)
Note: If the calculated pressure drop
value that corresponds to the rated lowrate
across the control valve is less than 10
service involving high temperatures Sample calculations psig, use a minimum value of 10 psig
and very high pressures. Such pumps Consider the pump system sketch for the control valve at rated flowrate.
are widely used in refinery service. shown in Figure 1. A fluid with a vapor Now adjust the pressure drop across
Specify design pressure and tem- pressure of 45.9 psia at operating tem- the control valve at normal flow and
perature. Specifying design pressure perature of 430F with a viscosity of try to match the discharge pressure
and temperature based on the design 0.5 cP is pumped at normal flow of until it is equal at normal and rated
conditions of the pump suction vessel 2,000 gal/min. The specific gravity is flow. Pressure drop is directly propor-
may seem to be the easiest approach. 0.7 and the delivery pressure is 100 tional to the square of the flow, hence
But check for any possible upset condi- psig. The operating pressure of col- pressure drop across rated flow is cal-
tions that might warrant an increase umn C-100 is 30 psig. The atmospheric culated using the following formula
in design pressure and temperature, pressure at site is 14.5 psia. Assume (Note that the rated flow is 1.2 times
such as a new process stream entering a rated flowrate of 2,400 gal/min (1.2 the normal flow):
the pump suction in a different pro- times the normal flowrate).
cess operating mode. Note that two sets of calculations Filter pressure drop at normal flow =
Specify the motor requirements. are done for calculating horsepower 10 psig
The required power supply, whether one for normal flowrate and other Filter pressure drop at rated flow =
it is 460 V at 60 Hz, or 230 V at 50 for rated flowrate. Refer to Figure 1 10 (1.2 1.2) = 14.4 psig
Hz, must be supplied by the end user. for calculating static head. Pressure
Lastly you have to specify the hazard- drop across filters, heat exchangers, In reality, the discharge pressure at
ous area classifications and tempera- orifice meters and furnaces are taken normal flow and rated flow may not be
ture rating of the motor. Check with from actual equipment vendor quotes. the same, but the two values will be
your electrical engineers to identify These quotes may be available from very close. A pump is designed to oper-
the required hazardous area classi- different disciplines, such as mechani- ate at rated flow conditions. However,
fication. Motor temperature rating cal and instrumentation departments. a pump operates at normal flow most
should also come from the end user. If vendor quotes are not available of the time during normal operation.
This is based on the lowest autoigni- during preliminary pump sizing, then
tion temperature of the components assumptions must be made based on Normal operation
involved in the process. Keep in mind, interactions with other disciplines. During normal operation, because the
most of the time, a motor rating up to For instance, it is okay to assume a flow is lower than the rated flow, the
T3A is available at no added cost, but pressure drop of 10 psid across heat pump will try to develop more head.
the cost increases substantially if a exchangers or a pressure drop of 510 During this scenario, the control valve
motor with a rating of T4 or higher is psid across a filter. Pressure drop will start closing and will consume
specified. across a vessel filled with catalyst more pressure drop. This will have the
Next, you need to specify whether should be calculated using the Ergun effect of moving the pump back onto
you want a fixed-speed motor or a equation. These pressure-drop values the pump curve.
variable-speed drive motor. If you are are finalized when equipment design Here, you will notice that pressure
controlling the pump flow with a speed is finalized and are used for final pump difference in rated flow is 38 psig
controller, then you must select an sizing, during the detailed engineering (specified by the designer) and is 83.5
inverted-duty, variable-speed motor. phase, to check the rated differential psig in normal flow. The difference be-
However, note that if there is a control pressure and rated brake horsepower. tween these two values is the excess
valve on the pump discharge, then you It is helpful to perform these calcula- dynamic head between normal flow-
must use a fixed-drive motor. tions using an Excel spreadsheet. rate and rated flowrate. The relation-
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHE.COM FEBRUARY 2013 45
 Head capacity curve
Operating points Control valve
A
pressure drop
Engineering Practice
B

Head at normal flow

P1
Total head, ft P2
ship between the pumps head-capac-

Head at rated flow

ity curve and pipe-system relationship
System
resistance is shown in Figure 4. resistance P2
Pressure drop across the control P1 Dynamic
valve should not be included as a part head loss
through
of the dynamic head loss. The gap be- Static and discharge
pressure head H piping
tween the head-capacity curve and the differentials
system-resistance curve is available
for throttling (control-valve pressure Capacity (Q), gal/min
drop). Control valve pressure drop at
normal flow is higher than the pres- FIGURE 4. This igure shows the relationship between a pump's head-capacity
sure drop at rated flow. While pipe curve and pipe system resistance (dynamic head loss). It also shows pressure drop
dynamic head loss increases at higher across a control valve at normal and rated lowrate. Note: Pressure drop across the
flowrates (rated flow), control-valve control valve at rated low is less than the pressure drop at normal low
pressure drop decreases. At higher
flowrates, the control valve has to Pump selection sure. Analyze all quotes to see whether
open more and pass larger flow with During this stage of the project, you they meet your specified value of rated
less resistance. should be getting quotes back from flow and differential pressure.
Designers should appreciate the the vendor, based on the pump speci- Material of construction. Does this
importance of specifying the correct fications you have provided. While meet your specified material of con-
pressure drop for the control valve various quotes will vary in their dol- struction?
at different flow conditions, to en- lar value, keep in mind that a more- Analyzing pump curve and effi-
sure a rugged system design. If a sys- expensive pump does not necessarily ciency. Pump efficiency is a very im-
tem is poorly defined, the pump will mean that it is the best pump for the portant value to be considered. Some
never be able to control the flow and job, and the least-expensive pump is vendors may quote a bigger pump
it will never provide proper flow at not worth further consideration. To as- than what is required. In such a case,
the required head. The efficiency will sess competing quotes fairly, develop a the pump efficiency will be reduced.
be low and the pump will consume spreadsheet to gather the following se- Designers should note that a pump
more power. lection criteria. Assign points to each with even 10% higher efficiency will
It is also advisable to install a globe item that meets your specifications. save thousands of dollars in power
valve at the pump discharge, to allow NPSH. Check for NPSH (required) costs over the service life of the pump.
for throttling the flow and adjusting from the pump data sheet provided by It is good practice to examine sev-
the flow and discharge pressure. How- the vendor. How close it is to your esti- eral performance charts at different
ever, please keep in mind that the in- mated value of NPSH (available)? Ask speeds to see if one model satisfies the
stallation of a globe valve will incur a yourself Can you make this pump requirements more efficiently than an-
constant pressure drop, which must be work by increasing NPSH (available)? other. Whenever possible, the lowest
accounted for during head-loss It cannot be stressed enough that pump speed should be selected, as this
calculations. NPSH is a key parameter during pump will save wear and tear on the rotat-
Ultimately, the calculated control- selection, and insufficient NPSH often ing parts. Efficiency can be found on
valve pressure drop at normal and results in pump cavitation. the pump curve provided by the pump
rated flows will be given to the in- Cavitation occurs when vapor bub- vendor. Refer to Figure 3, which shows
strument engineer who is responsible bles that have formed in areas of low the relationship between efficiency and
for specifying and sizing the control static pressure move along the impel- flowrate. This figure also shows the re-
valves for your project. ler vanes into high-pressure areas, lationship between volumetric flowrate,
Sample calculation #1. Table 1 where they rapidly collapse. The forces head, NPSH and brake horsepower.
shows the results of a pump-sizing ex- produced by these bubbles as they im- Every pump has a best efficiency point
ercise, in which suction pressure and plode erode the impeller vane, result- (BEP), which is the flow/head combina-
rated differential pressure were calcu- ing in progressive pitting to the impel- tion that corresponds to the highest ef-
lated. lers. As a rule of thumb, an acceptable ficiency. The preferred operating region
Sample calculation #2. Static pres- margin between NPSH (available) and is between 70 and 120% of the BEP
sure available at the pump suction NPSH (required) is required to ensure flowrate value [1], although most users
inlet = (Operating pressure of the pump reliability. A minimum margin require the rated flow to fall between
vessel + static head) suction-piping of 34 ft is a widely practiced rule of 80% and 110% of BEP. The allowable
head loss at rated flow. thumb. Since the NPSH requirement operating region varies from pump to
NPSH (available) = Static pressure at increases with increasing flow, it is pump, and is defined as the flow range
the pump suction inlet vapor pres- important to consider the maximum within which vibrations do not exceed
sure at the operating temperature. expected flow when specifying an ac- the limits established by the American
The results of these sample calcula- ceptable NPSH margin. Petroleum Institute (API) [1].
tions are shown in Table 2. Rated flow and differential pres- Refer to Figure 2, for the recom-
46 CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHE.COM FEBRUARY 2013
 TABLE 2. NPSH CALCULATIONS (CALCULATION #2)
Atmospheric pressure, psia 14.5
Specific gravity (SG), dimensionless 0.7
Original pressure (vessel pressure), psig 30 Get Chemical
Static head = 10.5 ft (Note 1) (10.5/2.31) x 0.7 = 3.18 psig
Suction line loss, psig 0.3 Engineerings
Suction pressure at pump inlet flange, psia =30 + 3.18 (0.3)
= 32.88 + 14.5 = 47.38 psia
plant cost index
Vapor pressure, psia 45.9 to improve plant
Net pressure suction head (NPSH) = Suc- 47.38 45.9 = 1.48 psia
tion pressure vapor pressure, psia cost estimates
NPSH available, ft = 1.48 x 2.31/0.7 = 4.89
Note 1: Static head is measured from the low liquid level in the vessel to the center line of the and delivered in
pump-suction flange, or from the vessel bottom nozzle to the center line of the pump-suction
flange. The latter is more conservative approach.
advance of the
mended operating range. The shaded tion-oil coolers, interconnecting piping
region represents the operating range, between the coolers, instruments, such print edition!
that is discussed in the above para- as flow switches on the cooling water
graph. Note in this figure, there are lines and so on. Be sure to compare all For more than 37 years,
three curves for three different impel- the quotes on the same basis. chemical process industries
ler sizes provided by the pump vendor. Price. Before selecting a particular
professionals- engineers,
While selecting an impeller, it is good pump, make sure that you are com-
practice to select a pump with an im- paring apples to apples, as different manager and technicians,
peller that can be increased in size, as vendors may have quoted different have used Chemical
this will allow for future increases in pump options in different styles, with Engineerings Plant Cost
head and capacity. different seal arrangements, using dif- Index to adjust process
Mechanical seal arrangements. ferent assumptions and so on. plant construction costs
When evaluating competing vendor
from one period to another.
quotes, be sure you are comparing Final thoughts
apples to apples. For instance, some Close coordination with the pump This database includes all
vendors may have quoted a double me- vendor and developing a solid under- annual archives (1947 to
chanical seal, while your requirement standing of the process requirements
present) and monthly data
was for a single seal. If this happens, are essential steps during pump de-
ask the vendor to revise the quote. sign and selection. By understanding archives (1970 to present).
Motors. Check for the motor sizing, the concepts of rated flow, head, suc- Instead of waiting more
and whether it has been sized for full tion pressure and NPSH, and by un- than two weeks for the
run-out case. Full run-out means that derstanding pump curves, you will be print or online version of
the motor should be sized for the max- on the right track to design and select Chemical Engineering to
imum flowrate the pump can deliver. the most appropriate pump that meets
The stated motor temperature rating all of the process requirements. arrive, subscribers can
and specified electrical area classifica- Edited by Suzanne Shelley access new data as soon as
tion must meet your requirements. its calculated.
Physical size of the pump. Check Reference
for the dimension of the pump from 1. American Petroleum Inst. (API), Centrifugal Resources included with
Pumps for Petroleum, Petrochemicals and
the quotes received. If space is tight, Natural Gas Industries, 10th Ed., API Stan- Chemical Engineerings
you may have to consider an inline dards 610 (ISO 13709), Washington, D.C.
Plant Cost Index:
pump, or a high-speed, single-stage
pump over a multistage pump. Author Electronic notiication of
Asif Raza is a lead process monthly updates as soon
Design conditions. Check for design engineer at Zeton Inc. (740
temperature and pressure from the Oval Court, Burlington, ON as they are available
L7L 6A9, Canada; Phone:
vendor quotes and make sure that 905-632-3123; Email: asi- All annual data archives
[email protected]). His
they meet your requirements. work involves the design and (1947 to present)
Design codes. Does the quoted pump manufacture of pilot and
demonstration units for re- Monthly data archives
meet your specified design codes, such search and development, in
(1970 to present)
as API, ANSI and so on. the areas of petroleum refin-
ing, petrochemicals, gasifica-
Warranty. When evaluating compet- tion and unconventional sources of energy, such Option to download in
ing pump options, check for the manu- as biomass, gas-to-liquids and coal-to-liquids. Excel format
He has more than 15 years of experience in pro-
facturers performance warranties and cess design. His areas of interest include major
equipment sizing and selection, P&ID develop-
for the availability of onsite startup ment, selection of control logics and process
assistance from the vendor, if specified simulation. Before joining Zeton, Raza worked Subscribe today at
as a lead design engineer with engineering, pro-
in the Request for Quotation (RFQ). curement and construction (EPC) companies, in- www.che.com/pci
Scope of supply for auxiliary cluding Bantrel Inc. and SNC Lavalin Engineers
and Constructors. He holds a B.Tech degree in
equipment. Make sure the vendors chemical engineering from Amravati University 17817
quote includes the supply of all the (India). Raza is a registered professional engi-
neer in the province of Ontario, and is a member
accessories required, such as lubrica- of Ontario Society of Professional Engineers.

CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHE.COM FEBRUARY 2013 47