What is Centrifugal Pump?- Parts, Working, and Uses

What is a Centrifugal Pump?

A centrifugal pump is a mechanical device that is used to move fluid by transferring rotational energy from one or more driven rotors called impellers. Fluid enters the rapidly rotating impeller along its axis and is expelled by centrifugal force along its circumference through the blade tips of the impeller.

The action of the impeller increases the speed and pressure of the liquid and also directs it to the pump outlet. The pump housing is specially designed to constrict the liquid from the pump inlet, direct it into the impeller, and then slow down and control the fluid before it is discharged.

Centrifugal pumps are used to move liquids by converting rotational kinetic energy into hydrodynamic energy of the liquid flow. The rotational energy typically comes from an internal combustion engine or an electric motor. They are a sub-class of dynamic, axially symmetrical, work-absorbing turbo-machines.

The fluid enters the pump impeller along or near the axis of rotation and is accelerated by the impeller and flows radially outward into a diffuser or spiral chamber (housing) that it consists of.

Common uses are water, sewage, agriculture, petroleum, and petrochemical pumps. Centrifugal pumps are often chosen because of their high flow rate, compatibility with abrasive solutions, mixing potential, as well as their relatively simple design.

A centrifugal fan is often used to implement a ventilation device or vacuum cleaner. The reverse function of the centrifugal pump is a water turbine that converts the potential energy of the water pressure into mechanical rotational energy.

Parts of Centrifugal pumps

  • Impeller: Impeller is a rotor used to increase the kinetic energy of the flow.
  • Casing (Volute): The casing contains the liquid and acts as a pressure containment vessel that directs the flow of liquid in and out of the centrifugal pump.
  • Shaft (Rotor): The impeller is mounted on a shaft. A shaft is a mechanical component for transmitting torque from the motor to the impeller.
  • Shaft sealing: Centrifugal pumps are provided with packing rings or mechanical seal which helps prevent the leakage of the pumped liquid.
  • Bearings: Bearings constrain the relative motion of the shaft (rotor) and reduce friction between the rotating shaft and the stator.
centrifugal pump

How does a centrifugal pump work?

The impeller is the key component of a centrifugal pump.  It consists of a series of curved vanes. These are normally sandwiched between two discs (an enclosed impeller). For fluids with entrained solids, an open or semi-open impeller (backed by a single disc) is preferred.

Fluid enters the impeller at its axis (the ‘eye’) and exits along the circumference between the vanes. The impeller, on the opposite side to the eye, is connected through a drive shaft to a motor and rotated at high speed (typically 500-5000rpm). The rotational motion of the impeller accelerates the fluid out through the impeller vanes into the pump casing.

There are two basic designs of pump casing: volute and diffuser. The purpose in both designs is to translate the fluid flow into a controlled discharge at pressure.

In a volute casing, the impeller is offset, effectively creating a curved funnel with an increasing cross-sectional area towards the pump outlet. This design causes the fluid pressure to increase towards the outlet.

The same basic principle applies to diffuser designs. In this case, the fluid pressure increases as fluid is expelled between a set of stationary vanes surrounding the impeller. Diffuser designs can be tailored for specific applications and can therefore be more efficient.

Volute cases are better suited to applications involving entrained solids or high viscosity fluids when it is advantageous to avoid the added constrictions of diffuser vanes. The asymmetry of the volute design can result in greater wear on the impeller and driveshaft.

Centrifugal Pump Applications

Centrifugal pump uses are common throughout a diverse range of domestic, commercial, and industrial markets.

Examples of centrifugal pump applications include but are not limited to:

  • Water supply for residential areas
  • Fire protection systems
  • Sewage/slurry disposal
  • Food and beverage manufacturing
  • Chemical manufacturing
  • Oil and gas industrial operations

Advantages of centrifugal pump

  • As there is no drive seal so there is no leakage in the pump
  • It can pump hazardous liquids
  • There are very less frictional losses
  • There in almost no noise
  • The pump has almost had 100% efficiencies
  • Centrifugal pump has minimum wear with respect to others
  • There is a gap between the pump chamber and motor, so there is no heat transfer between them
  • Because of the gap between the pump chamber and motor, water cannot enter into motor
  • Centrifugal pump uses magnetic coupling which breakup on high load eliminating the risk of damaging the motor

Disadvantages of centrifugal pump

  • Because of the magnetic resistance, there is some energy losses
  • An unexpected heavy load may cause the coupling to slip
  • ferrous particles in a liquid are problematic when you are using a magnetic drive. This is because particles collect at the impeller and cause the stoppage of the pump after some time