Fluid Mechanics Lab
4th SEMESTER
Lab Report # 2
Lab Instructor: Engr. Kashif Farooq
Name: Muhammad Ali Arshad
CMS ID: 406356 Session: ME-14 Section: B
School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering
Objectives:
The objectives of this lab were as follows:
To understand the components operations of the pump test rig
To calculate the efficiency and the heat of the centrifugal pump of the pump rig
To draw characteristics curves of Efficiency-Flowrate and Head-Flowrate and
understand the trend of both the curves
Experiment 3:
“Determining the efficiency and head of a centrifugal pump”
Apparatus:
The apparatus used for this experiment is:
1. Series / Parallel Pump Test Rig
The pump test rig consists of major components that work together for its effective
operation. A list of these components is as follows;
i. Pressure Gauges:
Three pressure gauges are installed in the apparatus that measure the pressure at
three different areas in the apparatus.
ii. Centrifugal Pumps:
Two centrifugal pumps are installed in the apparatus. These pumps work to regulate
the water flow to and from the circulation tank.
iii. Pipe Flow Valve:
These valves are used to either allow the water to flow to pass through a certain pipe
or stop it.
iv. Centrifugal Pump:
The mechanism which feeds water from the reservoir to the volumetric tank by doing
work against gravity is the centrifugal pump. It is operated by an electric motor.
v. Water Circulation Tank
The circulation tanks acts as the container for storing water during the experiment. The
pumps extract water from this tank and then after circulation, return the water back to
it. Therefore, the water is continuously recycled during the experiment.
vi. Flow Control Valve:
The flow control valve plays its role in controlling the flowrate of water in the pipes. By
rotating the valve, the flowrate through the pipes can be increased or decreased.
vii. Dump Valve:
The monitoring and control system for the test rig is used to give instructions to the
apparatus as well as read the necessary data from it. The control system has a knob to
power the system as well as buttons to power the pumps. Moreover, it has displays
that helps the user note the readings for;
Pressure in Pipes (Bar)
Motor Speed
Motor Power
Water Flowrate (Litres per minute)
Two knobs of pressure and speed selector give instructions on which pump data to
display.
Figure:
Water
Circulation
Tank
Flow Control
Valve
Monitoring and Pressure Indicator Motor Speed Display
Control System Pump Speed
Selector
Pump Pressure Selector Pressure
Motor
Power Gauge
Display
Fluid Flowrate Display
Pipe Flow
Valve
Emergency
Pump 2
Power Button Stop
Pump 1
Pump On/Off
Switches
Figure 1: Series/Parallel Pump Test Rig
Procedure:
Power on the series/parallel pump test rig system.
Now, open the valve V1 that is the valve that supplies water from the circulation tank
to the Pump 1.
Power the Pump 1 by pressing the green button for it on the control system.
Ensure that the motor speed is above than 2000 RPM by seeing the motor speed
value on the LCD display.
As a result of Pump 1 , water will start flowing in the pipe 1 connected to it and back
into the circulation tank.
Adjust the flowrate of water in the pipes by altering the red valve (flow control
valve). Rotate the valve up till a specific angle.
Wait for about 10-15 seconds for the flowrate to stabilize.
After that, start taking readings from the displays embedded in the control system.
Shift the pump pressure selector to give pressure reading for Pipe segment 1 and
note it. This will be referred to as 𝑷𝟏. Then rotate the knob such that it gives the
pressure reading for Pipe segment 3. Note it down as 𝑷𝟑. Since no water flows
through pipe 2, we don’t note down its reading.
Similarly, the values for the water flowrate and the motor power are also noted
down from their respective displays.
Now, the head rise resulting as a result of the pump is calculated by the following
formula;
𝑷𝟑−𝑷𝟏
𝒉𝒑 =
𝜸
Where 𝜸 is the specific weight of the water.
The efficiency of the pump is also calculated by the following formula;
∆𝑷 ∙ 𝑸
𝜼=
𝑾̇
Where, ∆𝑷 is the pressure difference in the two pipes, 𝑸 is the flowrate and 𝑾̇ is the
motor power.
This procedure is repeated 9 times to get values for 𝒉𝒑 and 𝜼 at different flowrates.
The different flowrates are obtained by rotating the red valve by an angle at every
stage.
With the obtained values of 𝒉𝒑 and 𝜼 at different flowrates, two graphs are
constructed. They are the Head-Flowrate and the Efficiency-Flowrate graphs. The
behaviour of both these graphs is then analysed.
Results and Calculations:
The experiment was repeated at different values of flow rate. The pump head and
efficiency values were calculated at all the different flow rates as follows:
Pressure In Pipe Segment 1 = P1 = 101000 Pa
Pressure In Pipe Segment 2 = P2 = 300000 Pa
Pressure Difference = 199000 Pa
Power Delivered by Motor = 𝐖̇ = 515 W
Volumetric Flow Rate = Q = 12.5 Litres Per Minute
𝟏𝟐𝐱 𝟏𝟎−𝟑
Q=( ) m3/s = 0.0002083 m3/s
𝟔𝟎
Pump Head = hp = Pressure Difference / Specific Weight
hp = 199000/9810
hp = 20.285 m
∆𝑷∙𝑸
Pump Efficiency = 𝜼 = 𝑾̇
(𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐗 𝟎.𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟐𝟎𝟖𝟑)
η=
𝟓𝟒𝟓
η = 0.0805
Table:
The readings for efficiency, pump head at different flow rates were recorded in the
following table:
Table1; Experimental Data for Efficiency And Head Of Centrifugal Pump
Pressure Pressure Pressure Flowrate Power Pump Pump
at Pipe at Pipe Difference 𝐖̇
Head
Q Efficiency
Segment Segment
(bar) (watts) hp
1 3 (Liters η
per (m)
(bar) (bar)
minute)
1.01 3.00 1.99 12.5 515 20.285 0.0805
0.99 2.79 1.8 42.5 571 18.348 0.2232
0.97 2.54 1.57 62.6 673 16.004 0.2434
0.94 2.26 1.32 82.5 708 13.456 0.2563
0.92 2.13 1.21 92.4 725 12.334 0.2570
0.89 1.89 1.00 105.7 730 10.193 0.2413
0.85 1.58 0.73 120.9 731 7.44 0.2012
0.82 1.21 0.39 126.4 692 3.975 0.1187
Graphs:
For this experiment, two graphs were plotted. The first was plotted between pump head
and flow rate and the second graph was plotted between pump efficiency and flowrate.
These graphs help in better understanding and analysis of efficiency, head and flow rate of
pump and their relationship with each other.
25
HEAD RISE (METRES)
20.285
20 18.348
16.004
15 13.456
12.334
10.193
10 7.44
3.975
3.873
5
0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140
FLOWRATE (LITRES PER MINUTE)
Figure 2 Graph Between Flow rate and Pump Head
0.3
0.2563 0.257
0.2434 0.2413
0.25 0.2232
0.2012
PUMP EFFICIENCY
0.2
0.15 0.1187
0.1 0.0805
0.05
0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140
FLOWRATE (LITRES PER MINUTE)
Figure 3: Graph Between Flow rate and Pump Efficiency
Discussion Of Results:
Looking at the graphs patterns can be inferred shown in our results. By studying the plot of
pump head and volumetric flow rate graph, it can be seen that as the flow rate is
increased, the head rise for the pump decreases. The main reason for this is that at higher
flow rates, the friction between water and pipe increases. This friction causes loss in the
pump head rise as indicated in the graph.
Plotting the pump efficiency versus flow rate gives a concave down graph. This indicates
that the as the flow rate increases the efficiency increases as well until it reaches a certain
maximum point. After this point, further increase in the flow rate leads to a decrease in the
pump efficiency. The point of maximum efficiency is known as “Best Efficiency Point”. The
decrease in efficiency after the Best Efficiency Point can be explained by reasoning that
after the increase the flow rate past the optimum point leads to increased turbulence in the
flow which affects its overall efficiency.
Some errors in the readings of the experiment can be explained by the following reasons:
Human Error
Frictional Effects
Conclusion:
In this experiment the behaviour of a pump and relationship between its efficiency, head
rise and flow rate was thoroughly studied and analysed. Following conclusions can be
drawn from this experiment:
An increased flow rate does not necessarily mean an efficient pump. Rather each
pump has a specific optimum flow rate which is not too high or low at which it gives us
the Best Pump Efficiency.
Frictional effects cannot be ignored while considering a pipe and pump system and
must be properly understood in order to obtain an optimal outcome.
An increase in flow rate leads to a decrease in pump head due to enhance frictional
effects.
Pumps generally give a concave down curve for efficiency versus flow rate graphs.
