PUMP QUESTIONS

Q1 Problem:

A seepage water sump has been installed next to a clean water reservoir. All the seepage water that
gathers in this sump must be returned back into the clean reservoir. You are asked to install a pump
station that is able to perform two duties, namely:
Transfer at least 45l/s of seepage water from the sump into the reservoir under normal
conditions
Transfer 80l/s of seepage water from the sump to the reservoir during rainy conditions.

As your client already has HDPE Pipe available (200mm OD, with 6mm wall thickness), this pipe must
be used in your installation. The pipe must be installed such that it takes suction from the bottom of
the sump and discharges into the top of the reservoir. You can assume that the exit velocity head at
the discharge point is negligible. You can also assume that 100m of pipe will be installed with 6 90
bends.

The following additional information is available to you:

Your client has four identical pumps in his stores. Each pump requires a 22kW supply.
Your client has two available switchgear buckets. If possible, the client would prefer that the
maximum power drawn from each bucket is 15kW.
Assume a constant pump efficiency of 85%.
The NPSH available is sufficient for the installation.
The maximum static head between the sump water level and the top of the reservoir is 19m.
The pump characteristic curve can be plotted using the following table:
Flow (l/s) (1 Pump) Head (m)
0 38
5 37.5
10 36
15 35.5
20 35
25 34
30 33
35 30
40 28
45 25
50 22
55 19
60 15

K-Factors for the pipe components is as follows:

K (200 OD Pipe)
Sharp Entrances 0.5
Non-Return Valves 2.5
Gate Valves 0.15
T-Pieces 0.1
 90deg Elbows 0.31
45deg Elbows 0.16
Sharp Exits 1

Pump configuration and valve installation is at your discretion. All losses associated to the
pump installation can be neglected.
The following properties should be used in your calculations.
Density 998 kg/m3
Viscosity 1.00E-03 kg/ms
Gravity 9.81 m/s2
Pipe roughness
factor 0.0015 mm

a) Draw the system diagram.

b) Generate the system resistance curve and plot this against the pump characteristic curve.
c) Determine the best pump configuration to meet your client needs.
d) Tabulate your results, with respect to total head and total power requirements for each duty
point.

Q1 Solution:

Two pumps in parallel.

For normal conditions:
A minimum flow rate of 45l/s must be achieved.
Any answer in the region of 45l/s to 52l/s is acceptable.
Power drawn of one pump: 11kW 13kW
For rainy conditions:
A minimum flow rate of 80l/s must be achieved.
Any answer in the region of 85l/s to 90l/s is acceptable.
Power drawn of one pump: 13kW-14kW
Total power drawn: 26kW 28kW
Non return valve and isolation valve installed:
Per pump
Common discharge
Necessity to protect off duty pump for normal conditions.
Q2 Problem:

Service water is used for cooling water at a power station. A pressurised manifold is used to supply
service water to various points at the power station. This is an expensive operation as the price of
river water (used as the normal service water supply) is slowly rising. Power stations have other
sources of water that is also suitable for service water supply such as rain water or recovered run off
water. This water is captured at a power station in a recovery reservoir.

You are asked to install a pump station that is able to recover water from the recovery reservoir into
the pressurized service water manifold. Your pump station must be able to perform two duties,
namely:
Transfer at least 75l/s of recovered water from the reservoir into the service water
manifold under normal conditions
Transfer at least 140l/s of recovered water from the reservoir into the service water
manifold during rainy conditions.

Your client already has commercial steel pipe available (250mm NB, with 6mm wall thickness, SANS
719). This pipe must be used in your installation. The pipe must be installed such that it takes suction
from the bottom of the reservoir and discharges into the service water manifold at a pressure of
200kPa. The gauge pressure in the manifold is 190kPa so you can assume that the exit velocity head
at the discharge point is negligible. You can also assume that 100m of pipe will be installed with 4
90 bends.

The following additional information is available to you:

Your client has four identical pumps in his stores. Each pump requires a 45kW supply.
Your client has two available points of supply in the nearest switchgear room. If possible, the
client would prefer that the maximum power drawn from supply point is 30kW during
running conditions.
Assume a constant pump efficiency of 85%.
The NPSH available is sufficient for the installation.
The maximum static head between the reservoir water level and the service water manifold
is 10m.

The pump characteristic curve can be plotted using the following table:
Flow (l/s) (1 Pump) Head (m)
0 72
10 68
20 65
30 62
40 59
50 53
60 50
70 42
80 35
 90 30
100 22
110 18
120 10

K-Factors for the pipe components is as follows:

K (250 NB Pipe)
Sharp Entrances 0.5
Non-Return Valves 2.5
Gate Valves 0.15
T-Pieces 0.1
90deg Elbows 0.31
45deg Elbows 0.16
Sharp Exits 1

Pump configuration and valve installation is at your discretion. Remember that you will
need to protect your pumps/service water manifold using NRVs and Isolation Valves. Minor
losses due to the pipeline installation around the pumps can be ignored.
The following properties should be used in your calculations.

Density 998 kg/m3

Dynamic Viscosity 1.00E-03 kg/(ms)
Gravity 9.81 m/s
Pipe roughness
factor 0.046 mm

e) Draw the system diagram.

f) Generate the system resistance curve and plot this against the pump characteristic curve.
g) Determine the best pump configuration to meet your client needs.
h) Tabulate your results, with respect to total head and total power requirements for each duty
point.
i) Discuss whether you will meet all of your clients requests.

Q2 Solution:

Two pumps in parallel.

Transfer at least 75l/s
Actual operating point of 84 l/s
Transfer at least 140 l/s
Actual operating point of 152 l/s
Utilised the existing pipe as requested by client
Utilised two of the four available pumps
Preferable to use 30 kW during normal running conditions
Could NOT meet this request.
 This can be rectified by increasing the resistance in your pipe line by throttling the
manifold inlet valve (increases the gradient of your resistance curve, less flow,
higher head, small power drawn).
Also suggest to client to install pump protections such as no flow cut-off switches and over-
pressure cut-off switches.
Q3 Problem:

You are asked to complete a pump installation design. The following information is available:

The length of the installed pipe is 40m.

The outer diameter of the pipe is 160mm.
The wall thickness of the pipe is 4mm.
The maximum static head between the suction and discharge dam is 15m.
Both dams are open to atmosphere.
The suction and discharge pipe is at the bottom of both dams.
The total minor losses, K, are 15.
A submersible pump has already been chosen. Its pump curve is available on the
answer sheet (pg 4).
Some velocities, friction factors, head losses etc. are available on the answer sheet
(pg 4).

a) For a flow rate of 80l/s and 120l/s, calculate hloss and hp. Tabulate your answers in the
given table on pg 5. (4)

b) Plot the system resistance curve. (1)

c) If a flow rate of 0.045m3/s is required, how many identical pumps would you use? In what
configuration? What is your expected duty point? (3)

d) Discuss any other pertinent information necessary for your pump installation. (2)
 Pump Curve vs System Resistance Curve
50

45

40

35

30
Head (m)

25

20

15

10

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140
Flow (l/s)

Q3 Solution

Two pumps

In series

Flow rate of approx. 54l/s

Interface with Electrical Engineering for switchgear design

Interface with Electronic Engineering for control design
Q4 Problem:

Your manager has asked you to complete the design of a pump station between the open
dam at the Vaal Water Purification Plant and a private reservoir on a neighbouring farm.

Your manager has given you the following information:

Clean water is to be pumped at ambient conditions ( = 998 kg/m3, = 0.001kg/(ms),
g = 9.81 m/s).
The maximum static head difference the dam and the Reservoir is 15m. The pump
takes suction from the bottom of the dam.
The reservoir is maintained at a slightly positive gauge pressure of 90kPa, thus the
exit velocity of the water can be ignored. Your manager suggests you discharge into
the reservoir at 100kPa.
The client only has HDPE (Plastic) pipe with a 200mm outer diameter and 10mm wall
thickness.
100m of HDPE Pipe with 8 x 90 elbows will be sufficient for the installation.
The farmer requires a minimum flow rate of 80l/s to be pumped into the reservoir.
The farmer is installing a new switchgear room for the pump station.
The number of valves to be installed in the system is at your discretion.
The farmer has indicated that he would prefer a centrifugal pump with the pump
characteristic curve as shown.
The NPSH available at the dam will be sufficient for the given pump characteristic
curve.
The efficiency of the pump is constant at 92%.
The number of pumps to be installed in the system is at your discretion.

The Moody Chart is available to you. You may also use Haalands Approximation where:

[ ( ) ]

(a) Complete the design of the pumping system by determining the best pump
configuration to meet the flow requirements.

i. You only need to plot 4 points to generate the system resistance curve
namely 0l/s, 40l/s, 80l/s and 120l/s.
ii. Also please show your expected pump configuration on the given graph.
iii. State the expected operating point as well as any other necessary information
to complete the design.
K FACTORS K (200 NB Pipe)
Sharp Entrances 0.5
Non-Return Valves 2.5
Gate Valves 0.15
T-Pieces 0.1
90deg Elbows 0.31
45deg Elbows 0.16
Sharp Exits 1
Flow Rate (l/s) Velocity Reynolds Num hlosses hpump

Vlooi Tempo

40

80

120

140

120

100
Head (m)

80

60

40

20

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130
Flow (l/s)
Q4 - Solutuion

Flow Rate (l/s) Velocity Reynolds Num hlosses hpump

Vlooi Tempo

0 0 0 0 25.21 m

40 1.99 m/s 31.77 x 105 3.41 m 28.62 m

80 3.98 m/s 63.54 x 105 12.83 m 38.04 m

120 5.97 m/s 93.58 x 105 27.98 m 53.2 m

Parallel pump application will not work.

Series pump application will work.

Expected operating point:

Q = 92 l/s, h =42.5m

Power consumption:

P = 41.62 kW for two pumps (20.8kW)

Inform farmer to install switchgear for two pumps sufficient sized for a minimum rating 30kW
as well as control system (pressure switches, flow switches etc) for pump protection.