VSPA Instructions

The Variable Speed Pump Analysis spreadsheet produces five charts that will allow you to evaluate the performance of a pump and
its H/Q in a particular application. Pump Head and Pump Efficiency will show you how well the curve will meet your desired flow
range. Pump BHP, kW per 1000 gal and Cost per 1000 gal will allow you to evaluate power consumption and savings. The
Useful Calculations tab automatically computes Specific Speed, Suction Specific Speed, and several conditions at BEP and
the design point. Once you have decided on the best pump, download VFPPA from my web site and use it to determine
whether individual or synchronous speed control is best for multiple pump operation.

Enter the pump description as you would like it to appear on the charts.

Auto Plot requires that you enter eight, 60 Hz operating points in the row with the yellow background. Flows are entered
beneath Q1 - Q8 and the corresponding heads are entered beneath H1 - H8. It is not necessary to begin with shutoff head
unless the pump will operate to the far left of the curve. Corresponding flows and heads are calculated for each point from
59 - 30 Hz, however, Auto Plot displays the curves in 5hz increments (i.e. 55, 50, 45, etc). The labels displayed at each
xy intercept on the head / capacity curves is differenc for each chart that is plotted. *If you wish to enter fewer than eight
points, enter the last point multiple times. For example if you have only six points, enter the data in Q6/H6 again in both
Q7/H7 and Q8/H8. The same will hold true for Steps 3 & 7.

Enter the pump's hydraulic efficiency in Ef1 through Ef8. Enter the value as a decimal. When entering fewer
than 8 points, follow the directions in Step 2.

Enter the design point flow, head and hydraulic efficiency in the proper cells. Enter efficiency as a decimal.

Enter the Best Efficiency Point flow, head and hydraulic efficiency in the proper cells. Enter efficiency as a decimal.
Enter the electric motor efficiency, speed in RPM and the cost per kilowatt hour charged by the local utility.
Enter efficiency and kWH cost as a decimal. Three decimal places are provided for cost as many utilitiy rates
include a fraction of a cent.

Generate a system curve for the application and enter the values in SH1 through SH8. These may be a flat curve for
pressure booster applications or a combination of static head and friction. Calculate the system head for each flow
point Q1 through Q8. If you are entering fewer than 8 points follow the directions in Step 2

If the selected pump will be running in parallel with an identical pump, copy the flow, head, efficiency and system
curve data and paste in into VFPPA. Use VFPPA to determine whether to use synchronous or individual speed
control during operation of the pumps.

The Example

The VSPA example shows a pump operating at a static head of 125' and additional friction head that kicks in at flows
over 1000 gpm. The max flow design point is 1850 gpm @ 140' which is to the right of BEP but within the acceptable
operating range. The application requires variable speed flows from 1000 to 1850 gpm.

The "Pump Head" chart shows that the pump will produce 1000 to 1850gpm over a speed range of 50 to 60hz. This
10hz range is more than adequate to keep the VFD from "hunting". If it were only 5hz you would probably want to
evaluate another pump.

The "Pump Efficiency" chart shows the slope of the efficiency isomers at each flow point. At a low flow of 1000gpm
hydraulic efficiency is 84% and at max flow it is 85%. At intermediate flows it is 86%. This wide efficiency range
will makes this pump a good choice. Even at a flow of 800gpm it still maintains 80% efficiency.

The "Pump BHP" chart shows the hp required across the pumping range and also shows the hp savings obtained
through variable speed vs a control valve. Variable speed hp ranges from 39 to 76 while control valve hp ranges
from 59 to 76. Even at 1500gpm there is a 15hp reduction with variable speed vs a control valve.
The "kW per 1000 Gal" chart takes BHP a step further and shows the energy required to pump 1000 gallons. It
ranges from 0.51 kW at 1000gpm to about 0.57 kW at full flow.

The "Cost per 1000 Gal" chart shows the actual cost to pump 1000 gallons at various points based upon the utility
kWH charge that was entered. It ranges from $0.051 at 1000gpm to $0.057 at full flow.

The "Useful Calculations" tab contains several calculations including Specific Speed, Suction Specific Speed and
some BEP and Design Point information. You can add more if you like. You will note that the Nss calculation is
is fairly high and could indicate flow reversal in the eye at flows below BEP. But Nss is directly proportional to
pump speed and if you calculate it at the lower speeds, you will see that it drops proportionally.

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 Pump Hydraulic Efficiency vs System Head

250
Cornell 5RB 1780 RPM 13.5" Trim

20000%
200 19500%
18700%
17800%
Head in feet

168 16500%
164
157
60hz
150 14800%
150 55hz
139 135 139
130 50hz
124 124 12500% 45hz
113 115 40hz
110
105 103 105
100 10000% 35hz
100 93 30hz
89 87 87
83 83 84 System
79
73 70 Design
68 66 69
64 66 Pt
61
56 56 56
50 49 50
47 45 44
50 41 43
37 34
31
25
Data Label values = Pump Ef

0
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500
Gallons Per Minute
 Pump BHP vs System Head

250
Cornell 5RB 1780 RPM 13.5" Trim

200
Head in feet

60hz
150 55hz
50hz
45hz
40hz
35hz
100 30hz
System
Design
Pt

50

Data Label values = BHP

0
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500
Gallons Per Minute
 kWh / 1000 Gallons Pumped

250
Cornell 5RB 1780 RPM 13.5" Trim

200.00
200 195.00
187.00
178.00
Head in feet

168 165.00
164
157
60hz
150 148.00
150 55hz
139 135 139
130 50hz
124 124 125.00 45hz
113 115 40hz
110
105 103 105
100 100.00 35hz
100 93 30hz
89 87 87
83 83 84 System
79
73 70 Design
68 66 69
64 66 Pt
61
56 56 56
50 49 50
47 45 44
50 41 43
37 34
31
25
Data Label values = kWh / 1000 Gal

0
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500
Gallons Per Minute
 Cost / 1000 Gallons Pumped

250
Cornell 5RB 1780 RPM 13.5" Trim

200
200 195
187
178
Head in feet

168 165
164
157
60hz
150 148
150 55hz
139 135 139
130 50hz
124 124 125 45hz
113 115 40hz
110
105 103 105
100 100 35hz
100 93 30hz
89 87 87
83 83 84 System
79
73 70 Design
68 66 69
64 66 Pt
61
56 56 56
50 49 50
47 45 44
50 41 43
37 34
31
25
Data Label values = $$ / 1000 Gal

0
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500
Gallons Per Minute
Useful Calculations
General BEP

Specific Speed (Ns) 1679 Pump Efficiency 86.0%

Pump BHP 76.9
Suction Specific Speed (Nss)** kWh per 1000 Gallons Pumped 0.62
60hz 10140 Cost per 1000 Gallons Pumped $0.062
55hz 9816
50hz 9469 Design Point
45hz 9103
40hz 8712 Pump Efficiency 85.0%
35hz 8283 Pump BHP 76.9
30hz 7819 kWh per 1000 Gallons Pumped 0.57
Cost per 1000 Gallons Pumped $0.057
Suction Energy (SE)
Enter eye diameter in inches 7.2 If eye diamater is not known it can be
60hz 129957376 estimated as follows:
55hz 115360936
50hz 101085255 End Suction - Suction Diameter X 0.9
45hz 87500427 Split Case - Suction Diameter X 0.75
40hz 74468732
35hz 61886397
30hz 50105418

** NPSHr estimation at reduced speeds is:

(RPM2 / RPM1)^1.5 = (NPSHr2 / NPSHr1)