Cavitation and Pump NPSHR

Cavitation and Pump NPSHR
Gordon Stables
Engineering Manager CLYDEUNION Pumps Canada
November 2009
www.clydeunion.com
www.clydepumps.com
What is Cavitation ?
By cavitation we understand the formation of local vapour bubbles inside a

liquid.
In contrast to boiling, which may be caused either by the input of heat or a

reduction of pressure, cavitiation is a local vaporization of the liquid
induced by hydrodynamic pressure reduction.
www.clydepumps.com
How does cavitation manifest itself
The consequences of cavitation in centrifugal pumps, damage to solid

boundary surfaces, noise generated over a wide frequency spectrum
vibration and loss of capacity / total differential head.
Cavitation will destroy all types of materials.
In centrifugal pumps, cavitation is a determining factor as it sets the lower

limit for the size of the pump and the upper limit for speed.
Cavitation damage takes place when the vapour bubble reaches a zone of
higher pressure where it collapses with very high implosion pressure.
www.clydepumps.com
www.clydepumps.com
Bubble collapse
www.clydepumps.com
Cavitation
Damage caused
by suction
recirculation.
Damage starts on
the vane
pressure surface
and bores
through to the
suction surface.
www.clydepumps.com
Cavitation associated with other

devices.
Initial cavitiation studies were

associated with ships propellers
and hydraulic turbines.
www.clydepumps.com
Cavitation in Valves.
Valves can suffer from cavitation damage if the pressure drop across
the valve is significant and the pressure loss is associated with
sudden expansions.
Valve manufacturers have designed valves that control the pressure

breakdown using torturous paths and limited magnitude losses.
www.clydepumps.com
www.clydepumps.com
www.clydepumps.com
www.clydepumps.com
Why does a pump cavitate ?
Insufficient NPSHA
Net
Positive
Suction
Head
Available
www.clydepumps.com
Net
Positive
Suction
Head
How do we determine the NPSHR of a pump ?
By physical test usually on water
www.clydepumps.com
NPSHA calculation
NPSHA is the value of the suction energy available at the reference

level, usually the centre line of the suction branch.
NPSHR = NPSHA for a pump on test
NPSHA =
Barometric pressure
+ suction line velocity head
+ static head correction to the suction gauge
the vapour pressure of the test fluid.
NPSH is expressed in ft of fluid
www.clydepumps.com
This is a typical head drop curve with suction pressure

on the x axis and developed head on the Y axis.
The suction pressure is reduced until the 3% head drop

figure is obtained.
www.clydepumps.com
Typical multipoint NPSHR curve
www.clydepumps.com
www.clydepumps.com
Why do we want to know what the NPSHR is for a number of

flows?
Obviously to determine the requirements of the pump however

once we have determined the requirements, we can also calculate
the Suction Specific Speed.
Suction Specific Speed = (speed X flow^.5) / NPSH ^.75
www.clydepumps.com
Why is suction specific speed important ?
Maximum specific speed is usually mandated in customers

specifications
Suction specific speed is to be calculated in accordance with API

610 appendix A; it is the suction specific speed based on NPSHR at
full diameter BEP (Best Efficiency Point) flow.
www.clydepumps.com
Why is suction Specific Speed important ?
www.clydepumps.com
In the oil crisis of the mid 70s

users were forced to run
equipment back on the curve.
Pump failures increased

dramatically, particularly seals
and bearings.
This focused the industrys

attention as plant reliability was
now an even more important
issue.
www.clydepumps.com
Users had taken the term minimum

flow to mean MCSF
Manufacturers understanding of
minimum flow was Minimum thermal
flow.
www.clydepumps.com
An Exxon Engineer ( Ed Hallam) noticed that not all pumps

experienced the same accelerated failure rates.
He noted that pumps with suction specific speeds (Nss) of more

than 11,000 (usgpm units) were more prone to failure.
The industry picked up on this and 11,000 very quickly became the
maximum allowable Suction specific speed irrespective of pump
type, speed, energy level and density of fluid being pumped.
Today 11,000 prevails as the maximum suction specific speed

allowed in the majority of specifications.
www.clydepumps.com
Why is suction Specific

Speed important ?
www.clydepumps.com
Other things were changing in the Oil industry, namely much larger
equipment was being built to service the massive oil fields in Saudi
Arabia and aggressive development was taking place in the
offshore industry, particularly the North Sea.
In parallel, better instrumentation was becoming available and

more research was being carried on centrifugal pumps.
www.clydepumps.com
Cavitation Inception.
Work was being carried in the nuclear industry relative to fast

breeder reactors. These reactors used liquid sodium as the heat
transfer medium. The only way to understand what was going on
in the reactor was to monitor high frequency noise level to
determine if any boiling was taking place.
Pump cavitation will send out similar signals.
www.clydepumps.com
Cavitation Inception.
Research work showed that

instead of the understood
theory that pump cavitation
inception took place at 0 head
drop, cavitation inception
takes place at multiples of 3%
head breakdown.
www.clydepumps.com
I was lucky to be involved

in the design and
manufacture of a liquid
sodium pump and
Cavitiation Inception
studies were carried out
using head drop, visual
and high frequency noise.
Actual shop tests single

flow inception plot
www.clydepumps.com
Inception vs. Flow Sodium

Pump.
www.clydepumps.com
Cavitation Inception
Zero Cavitation Zone
NPSH
3% Head
Drop Curve
Pump will achieve

Performance but
Will cavitate
Suction Face
Pressure Face
www.clydepumps.com
Based on field problems and the then current state of the art, what
did this mean to the pump industry ?
As discussed earlier much larger , more powerful and higher speed

equipment was being installed in the field.
Some of these pumps failed after a number of days due to

cavitation damage, or could not be operated due to surging and
high vibration.
www.clydepumps.com
Vlaming who worked for Saudi Aramco, studied the problem.

Working with various pump manufacturers he came up with a
concept of 40,000 hrs life.
The Impeller inlet would need to be designed to a certain set of

criteria and the appropriate level of NPSH available to guarantee
40,000 hr life.
www.clydepumps.com
Cavitiation and Pump NPSHR
Rot
diameter
OUTLET
ation
U m/s
Flow
C = Fluid Velocity m/s

U = Impeller Eye Velocity m/s
Low Pressure areas at High flow

Pressure face
a
U m/s
Tan a = C/U = Flow Coefficient.
a is the blade angle.
Suction face
Low Pressure areas at Low flow
www.clydepumps.com
Although cavitation inception could be determined by noise studies

it was understood that pumps could operate with some level of
cavitation and still meet the requirement of 40,000hrs life.
In order to determine what level of cavitation was acceptable,

visual studies were carried out and a standard based on cavitation
bubble length was adopted in the industry. Most major
manufacturers of high energy pumps developed first stage impeller
visual rigs.
Over time, design standards were developed where a level of

confidence was obtained whereby visual studies were no longer
required. With the advent of computational fluid dynamics the
NPSH required for bubble length can now be demonstrated
mathematically.
www.clydepumps.com
NPSHA
NPSH
Acceptable cavitation
To achieve 40,000 hrs
Zero Cavitation
4mm Bubble
Length
40,000 hrs
3%
(Q)
www.clydepumps.com
CFD Analysis
Computational Flow Analysis can now predict cavitation from incipient to

breakdown.
www.clydepumps.com
CFD Analysis
Computational Flow Analysis can

now predict cavitation from
incipient to breakdown.
www.clydepumps.com
Where do we go from here ??
Some organizations are questioning the absolute nature of the

11,000 Nss boundary.
Is it necessary for lower energy pumps, was the work of Hallam to

subjective and based on pumps with small shafts and single volute
pumps where high radial loads prevailed back on the curve.
Should Fraser's recirculation work be revisited based on CFD

capabilities.
www.clydepumps.com
Recommended Reading From the Proceedings of the 25th

International Pump Users Symposium 2009
Pump Cavitation Various NPSHR Criteria, NPSHA Margins and

Impeller Life Expectancy.
A review of Nss Limitations New Opportunities.
www.clydepumps.com

Cavitation and Pump NPSHR

Încărcat de

Informații document

Titlu original

Drepturi de autor

Formate disponibile

Partajați acest document

Partajați sau inserați document

Opțiuni de partajare

Vi se pare util acest document?

Este necorespunzător acest conținut?

Drepturi de autor:

Formate disponibile

Cavitation and Pump NPSHR

Încărcat de

Drepturi de autor:

Formate disponibile

Cavitation and Pump NPSHR