Impellers Information

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Impellers (also spelled impellors or impellars) are rotating devices designed to alter
the flow and/or pressure of liquids, gases, and vapors. Impellers consist of various vanes — often blade-
shaped — arranged around a short central shaft. When the shaft and vanes rotate, they suck in fluids or gases
and impel them out the other side. The image below illustrates basic impeller operation.

Basic theoretical impeller design, showing the eye (shaft), vane assembly, and flow direction.
Image credit: McGraw-Hill via The Free Dictionary

Impellers are typically found in — and are integral components of — pumps, agitation tanks, washing
machines, and other devices requiring fluids or gases to move in a specific direction. The image below shows
the position and function of an impeller in an impeller pump. In this example, fluid enters through the orifice
on the right and is moved through the pump using a combination of suction and pressure until the fluid is
moved through the output orifice on the left. Note that this particular impeller is designed to rotate clockwise
unlike the one in the image above; this rotation coupled with the design of the vanes causes the pump
impeller to move fluid in a roughly clockwise direction.

Image credit: BoatTest

Impellers vs. Propellers

At sight, impellers appear very similar (or even identical) to propellers, and the two are
often used interchangeably in the fluid power industry. Indeed, the two base terms involved — propel and
impel — are both defined as "driving or moving forward." In industrial applications, however, the two are
used to describe two different devices which drive two different objects or substances.

Propellers commonly refer to devices which move an attached object. For example, a ship's propeller moves
the ship itself forward or backward. Impellers, on the other hand, are designed to move the substance — fluid
or gas — passing through it without moving the object it is attached to.

Applications
While all impellers consist of similar design elements as described above, they may perform slightly different
operations depending upon their intended application.

Impellers in Pumps

Impellers are integral components in centrifugal pumps and vacuum pumps, among other pumping devices.
Pump impellers rely on Bernoulli's principle — which states that an increase in fluid velocity is accompanied
by a decrease in pressure or potential energy (and vice versa) — to operate.

When fluid or gas media enters an impeller pump, it becomes trapped between the impeller vanes and the
pump wall and increases in velocity as it moves from the impeller eye (center) toward the outside diameter of
the impeller. Once the media reaches a certain point nearest the outside diameter, it abruptly decreases in
velocity and experiences an equal increase in pressure (according to Bernoulli's principle). The media
becomes even more pressurized as it is discharged from the impeller and out of the pump orifice. Based on
these principles of operation, it can be discerned that a pump impeller's rotational speed (affects
velocity) and vane height (affects pressure and the possible formation of a vacuum) largely determine the
pump's output pressure and flow.

An impeller as a component of a centrifugal pump. Image credit: Engineer's World

Impellers for Mixing

Impellers are frequently used in agitation tanks as a means to mix fluids and slurries. Mixing impellers
typically employ an open design and are fitted to a central shaft which is placed in the center of the tank.

An agitation tank with a central radial impeller. Image credit: Post Mixing

When fitting a tank with an impeller, it is important to choose between axial and radial flow types. (See Flow
Direction below for more information about flow.) Radial impellers — which typically have rectangular
vanes — are used when the tank media is excessively viscous or consists of two immiscible materials.
Axial impellers are suitable for homogenization and mixing which requires bulk motion.

Axial (left) and radial flow within a mixing tank.

Image credit: Wikimedia / Auschulz

Power Number
Power number is a value specific to mixing impellers which describes the impeller's power consumption. The
formula for calculating an impeller's power number is

where:

NP = power number
P = impeller power in watts
ρ = density of tank liquid in kg/m3
n = shaft speed in revolutions/second
Da = impeller diameter in meters
 Because of the difficulty in obtaining many of these values, power numbers can be considered the summary of
various correlated test results (when dealing with standard-sized mixing tank) rather than a precise
specification. Therefore, manufacturers often specify an impeller's power number as a function of its power
and size.

This link contains an excellent mixing impeller calculator as well as raw formulas for many of the parameters
listed above.

Flow Characteristics
Impellers can be designed to impart various flow characteristics to pump or tank media. Impeller flow
designs can take on three distinct types: axial, radial, and mixed. Because centrifugal pumps are also classified
in this manner, the impeller selection depends upon matching the pump's flow characteristic to that of the
impeller.

 Axial flow impellers move media parallel to the impeller.

 Radial flow impellers move media at right angles to the impeller itself.
 Mixed flow impellers have characteristics of both axial and radial flow. They may move media at an angle
which is different from right angle radial flow.

Flow direction of three different pumps/impellers.

Image credit: Globalspec

Impeller Design
Impellers can be broadly classified into two different designs: open and closed. The information below
describes these two designs, their respective advantages and disadvantages, and application considerations.

Three impeller designs: (l to r) open, semi-closed, and enclosed (shrouded).

Image credit: TechTransfer
 Open Design

Open impellers simply consist of a series of vanes attached to a central "hub" designed to be fitted to a shaft.
By fitting the vane ends very close to the pump casing, the open impeller is able to prevent large amounts of
fluid or gas from recirculating back through the eye.

Advantages Disadvantages

Easy maintenance – efficiency can be maintained through frequent

Impeller-to-casing clearance – tolerances must be manually adjusted
vane adjustment. Open design allows for ease of cleaning and
to compensate for heat. This adjustment must be done at operating
clearing of clogs. Pump need not be disassembled for adjustment
temperature, which may be hazardous.
or maintenance.
Use of soft materials – the soft non-sparking materials required are
Less expensive to manufacture and inspect due to open design.
practical in few applications.
Vane alteration (cutting and filing to increase capacity) is possible
and economical.

A major drawback to open impellers results from the tight vane/casing tolerances required to maintain
efficiency. As temperature increases, shafts are known to increase in diameter as well as length
(approximately 0.001 inches both ways per inch of shaft for every 100° F increase over ambient
temperature). Therefore, a typical centrifugal heat transfer pump operating at 600° F would experience a
shaft diameter increase large enough to force the impeller vanes to make contact with the casing, causing
sparks and damage to the impeller. (While the casing may also increase in size due to ambient heat, it is often
manufactured using different materials than the impeller and therefore may expand at different or
unpredictable rates.) For this reason, open impellers are not used in oil and gas applications, as sparks within
the impeller would be likely to cause a catastrophic explosion. While open impellers may be manufactured
using soft materials to prevent sparks, these materials are typically unsuitable for the abrasive media
pumped in oil and gas applications.

The table below describes other advantages and disadvantages of open impeller designs.

Closed Design

Closed impellers feature two solid plates attached to both sides of the blades. After the impeller media enters
the eye and makes its way through the vanes it is drawn into a nozzle and expelled. Because closed impellers
have no need for vane/casing tolerance consideration, their efficiency results from the use of wear rings to
prevent media from being recirculated back to the eye.

As shown in the graph below, closed impellers (dark blue line) are more efficient than open designs (light
blue line) and are much more suitable for explosive environments. Because the impeller is closed it is more
difficult to access for routine maintenance, however; because closed impellers actually require more
maintenance due to the need to periodically replace wear rings, they carry higher maintenance costs but are
slightly cheaper to run over time regardless of this fact.
 Comparison of closed vs. open impellers. (For larger image, click on Pump-Zone link below.)
Image credit: Pump-Zone

The table below lists advantages and disadvantages of enclosed impellers.

Advantages Disadvantages
Maintenance and inspection is impossible to perform
Increased efficiency
without disassembly
Suitable for volatile fluids and explosion-prone
Prone to clogging
environments
Periodic wear ring maintenance is necessary to maintain
Compensates for thermal growth
efficiency
More expensive to manufacture
Standards
Impellers may be manufactured, tested, and used based on various industry standards. While standards
related to centrifugal pumps and agitation tanks often cover use of impellers, some standards — such as
those listed below — are more directly relatable to impellers.

 AMCA 99-2412 -- Impeller diameters for centrifugal fans

 AICHE E-30 -- Impeller-type mixing equipment