III year Mech-Recip Pump

A Course on Reciprocating Pump Mech Diploma III year Introduction: Turbo machines are mechanical devices that either extract energy from a fluid (turbine) or add energy to a fluid (pump) as a result of dynamic interactions between the device and the fluid. There are two main types of pumps namely Dynamic pumps and Positive displacement pumps. Dynamic pumps consist of centrifugal, axial and mixed flow pumps. In these cases pressure is developed by the dynamic action of the impeller on the fluid. Momentum is imparted to the fluid by dynamic action. Positive displacement pumps consist of reciprocating and rotary types. These types of pumps are discussed in this course. In these types a certain volume of fluid is taken in an enclosed volume and then it is forced out against pressure to the required application. Classification of Positive Displacement Pumps: Type and construction features of reciprocating pump: 1. Position: Vertical, Horizontal 2. Purpose: Metering Pump, Power Pump 3. Piston or Plunger acting : Single acting, Double acting 4. Number of Plunger in One Casing : Single, Duplex, Triplex, Multiplex 5. Liquid End Type : Direct exposed, Diaphragm 6. Plunger direction: Forward, Backward. Generally, there are the following types of Positive Displacement Pumps: Rotary Lobe Pump, Rotary Gear Pump, Screw Pump, Vane Pump, Regenerative Pump, Peristaltic Pump, Diaphragm Pump, Progressive Cavity Pump, etc. Reciprocating pumps can be single acting, double acting, etc. a) Single acting Recip Pump consists of one suction and one delivery pipe simply connected to one cylinder. b) Double acting single cylinder Recip pump has two suction and two delivery pipes connected to one cylinder. c) Two-throw Recip pump has two cylinders each equipped with one suction and one delivery pipe. The pistons reciprocating in the cylinders are moved with the help of connecting rods fitted with a crank at 180o. d) Three-throw Recip pump has three cylinders and three pistons working with three connecting rods fitted with a crank at 120o

Page 1 of 11

III year Mech-Recip Pump

We will study Single-acting Recip pump & Double acting Recip Pump in some detail. Single-acting Recip Pump Description of a Single-acting Recip Pump: Main components: The main components are: 1. Single Cylinder with suitable valves at inlet and delivery. 2. Plunger or piston with piston rings. 3. Connecting rod and crank mechanism. 4. Suction pipe with one-way valve. 5. Delivery pipe with one-way valve. 6. Supporting frame. A diagrammatic sketch is shown in Fig. 20.1

Working description: A reciprocating pump has a piston which gets its motion by means of a Crank shaft Connecting Rod arrangement. Therefore it is called Reciprocating Pump. Liquid is sucked into the cylinder and then ejected out by the motion of the piston and hence it is called Positive Displacement Pump. If delivery occurs only during the delivery stroke of the piston, then such a reciprocation pump is called Single-acting Pump. Mechanical rotary motion is obtained from a motor to which a crank-rod is attached. Rotary motion is translated into reciprocatory motion using a connecting-rod and piston arrangement as shown. The piston is placed inside a sealed cylinder that has an inlet and outlet. A suction pipe is connected to the inlet of the pump and delivery pipe is connected to outlet of

Page 2 of 11

III year Mech-Recip Pump

the pump. The inlet and outlet of the pump are covered by a one-way non-return valve which allows flow of liquid along only one direction. The pump functions in two distinct stages: 1. Suction phase: : When , the piston is at the inner dead center [IDC]. As the piston moves away from the IDC, pressure inside the cylinder drops and the oneway suction valve opens. This happens because the liquid is incompressible. Liquid rushes in through the suction pipe into the cylinder.When , the piston is at the outer dead center [ODC]. The cylinder is completely filled with the liquid. 2. Delivery phase: : When the piston starts moving away from ODC towards the IDC. Pressure builds up inside the cylinder. Immediately, the one-way delivery valve opens and the suction valve closes. Liquid is pushed out of the cylinder. At the entire liquid inside the cylinder has been emptied and the cycle gets repeated. Naturally, the delivery occurs only during one half of the crank-shafts rotation and in the other half there will be no delivery. Thus, a single-acting Recip pump gives a fluctuating delivery of liquid. Pump characteristics: 1. Delivery: [Qact] Suppose the length of the cylinder is assumed to be equal to the sweep of the piston, which is again equal to the diameter of the circle made by the crank-shaft rotation. Let the length of the crank-shaft be L meters. Let the cross-sectional diameter of the cylinder be D meters. We know that the delivery of liquid in one revolution is volume of liquid in the cylinder. Again, the delivery of liquid in m3/s is: ( ) ( ). Let the pump make N revolutions per minute. Then, ( )( )( ) m3/s 2. Slip:There can be leakage along the valves, piston rings, gland and packing which will reducethe discharge to some extent. This reduction in the actual discharge is accounted for by using the term Slip.

3. Coefficient of Discharge: Cd is an important Pump characteristic. It is defined as the ratio of actual discharge of a pump to its theoretical discharge.

4. Percentage Slip: is another common Pump characteristic that is used to define a Recip pump. It is calculated as follows: [ ]

Page 3 of 11

III year Mech-Recip Pump

( ( )

It is generally seen that Slip is a positive quantity in most cases. In other words, the actual discharge is lesser than theoretical discharge in most cases. However, it has been found in some cases that , due to operating conditions. In this casethe slip is called Negative Slip. Reason for negative slip: When the delivery pipe is short or the delivery head is smalland the accelerating head in the suction side is high, the delivery valve is found to open before the end of suction stroke and the liquid passes directly into the delivery pipe. Such a situationleads to negative slip. 5. Power required to run the pump: We know that: If the pump raises the liquid from a height hs and delivers it to a height hd, then ( )watts. Indicator Diagram The pressure variation in the cylinder during a cycle consisting of one revolution of the crank, when represented in a diagram is termed as indicator diagram. The same is shown in figure below:

It must always be noted that indicator diagram is only indicative of the actual piston positions and pressures inside the cylinder and not a true graphical representation. Let us suppose that: Point 1 represents position of the piston at its IDC or cycle.

. This is the start of the suction

Page 4 of 11

III year Mech-Recip Pump

Point 2 represents position of the piston at its ODC or . This is the end of the suction cycle. Point 3 represents position of the piston again at its ODC or . This is the start of the delivery cycle. Point 4 represents position of the piston again at its IDC or . This is the end of the suction cycle. The quadrilateral 1234 thus represents the total work done by the pump in one cycle of the crank-shaft. The suction pressure-head, delivery pressure-head and atmospheric pressurehead are also represented in the figure. This is the Indicator Diagram for an ideal cycle. In an ideal cycle, we consider that only suction pressure-head and delivery pressure-head are present in the two cycles and no other pressure-heads are present inside the cylinder. In reality, however, many other components of pressure-heads come into play inside the cylinder in a cycle. Some of them are acceleration pressure-head and friction pressure-head. We shall consider the effect of acceleration pressure-head on the working of a single-acting Recip pump and on its Indicator Diagram. Effect of acceleration pressure-head:

When to , the piston creates a suction pressure inside the cylinder. So the liquid rushes into the cylinder from the suction pipe. The piston however is moving and hence has acceleration from The piston has deceleration from The fast moving liquid also has acceleration and deceleration corresponding to that of the piston. This acceleration of the liquid generates a pressure component. This is denoted as during the suction phase and as during the delivery phase. When we include this component of pressure-head due to acceleration of liquid, the Indicator Diagram gets modified as shown above.
Page 5 of 11

III year Mech-Recip Pump

At , the pressure-head due to acceleration of liquid gets added on to the suction pressurehead and hence Point 1 gets shifted to Point 1`. At , since the acceleration is 0, the only pressure-head present inside the cylinder is the suction pressure-head. At , the pressure-head due to deceleration reduces the suction pressure-head. Hence, Point 2 gets shifted to Point 2` as shown. Similarly, at , at the beginning of the delivery stroke, the pressure-head due to acceleration of liquid gets added to the delivery pressure-head. Hence Point 3 gets shifted to Point 3`. And at , at the end of the delivery stroke, the pressure-head due to deceleration of liquid reduces the delivery pressure-head inside the cylinder. Hence the Point 4 gets shifted to Point 4` as shown in figure. To derive an expression for variation of pressure inside a cylinder: Consider the following figure:

We assume that the ratio of Connecting Rod to Crank-shaft is very large. Then we can assume that the piston has simple harmonic motion. Let us therefore assume that as the Crank moves through a radial distance of in time t seconds, the piston moves a linear distance of x meters. Let us further assume the following: .

Page 6 of 11

III year Mech-Recip Pump

The distance x travelled by the piston is given by:

Now, by differentiating this equation on time, we get the velocity of the piston. ) So, ( . From Continuity equation, we know that the volume of liquid flowing into the cylinder per second is equal to volume of water flowing through the suction pipe per second.

Or,

Or, ) ( From this, we can get an expression for acceleration of liquid in suction pipe by differentiating above relation against time: ( ( )) . What we need to derive here is the pressure-head due to acceleration of the liquid in the suction pipe or in the cylinder. ( ) ( ) Now, And ( ) ( )

Again, from Newtons Laws, we know that: ( )( ( ( )( ( )(

) )( )

) ) for various points in the cycle as follows:

From this expression, we can specify Suction phase: Beginning of suction phase: ( ) ( )( ); since

Page 7 of 11

III year Mech-Recip Pump

Middle of suction phase: ; since End of suction phase: ( ) ( )( ); since We can similarly derive expressions for the delivery phase too. However, we will have to consider again instead of , for in the latter case, the expressions we derive will not match with reality! Delivery phase: Beginning of delivery phase: ( ) ( )( ); since Middle of delivery phase: ; since End of delivery phase: ( )(
)(

); since

Separation: When the pressure reduces inside the cylinder or in some part of the suction pipe or delivery pipe, in some cases, it may so happen that the absolute pressure-head1 may drop below the Vapor Pressure-head2 of the liquid. Under that condition, the liquid inside the hydraulic system undergoes a phase change and becomes a gas. The phenomenon is exactly like boiling. The phase change occurs by formation of gas bubbles. When this happens, output drops and further cavitation3 may occur. This has to be avoided in a Recip pump. This phenomenon is called Separation. Therefore with reference to a Recip pump, the vapor pressure -head of the liquid used is also called as Separation pressure-head [ ]. As we saw above, the Delivery [Qact] of a Recip pump is a function of its speed. So, in order to increase output, we have to increase its speed. However, the absolute pressure-head inside the cylinder and pipes is a function of Qact. In our attempt to increase output of a Recip pump, if we increase its speed to such a level that separation occurs, then our purpose is not served. So is a limiting condition for increasing the speed of a Recip pump.
1Absolute Pressure-head: pressure-head in each case. Thus we have: Suction stroke: Beginning: End: ( Delivery stroke: Beginging: End: ( ; Take care to incorporate the appropriate sign for the ( ) ( ) ) )

2Vapor Pressure: A liquid will change phase and become a gas under two conditions. If its temperature goes higher than its boiling temperature; or if its absolute pressure -head dips below its vapor pressure-head. 3Cavitation: When a liquid enters a region of pressure equal to or below its vapor pressure, the liquid changes its phase. When this happens in a hydraulic system, it is called Separation. Generally gas bubbles are formed, which later on collapse on the inner wall of the hydraulic system. When a bubble collapses, localized high pressure center is created. This high pressure removes material from the wall. The process of loss of material is called Pitting. The entire process of low pressure, separation, gas bubbles and pitting is called Cavitation.
Page 8 of 11

III year Mech-Recip Pump

Use of Air-vessels: We have now seen two problems we face when we use a Recip pump. The first one is that there is constant pressure variation inside the pump during a cycle. The second one is that we cannot increase its speed beyond a certain limit. These two problems can be solved to some extent by use of Air-vessels at appropriate places in the hydraulic system.

Air vessel is a closed chamber containing compressed air in the top portion and liquid at the bottom portion, as shown in the figure. Air vessels are fitted on the suction and delivery pipes, as close to the pump as possible. We have already seen from the modified Indicator Diagram how pressure-head varies inside the cylinder during the suction stroke. This pressure-head variation naturally affects the behavior of liquid inside the suction pipe since the liquid is a continuum; similarly on the delivery stroke. This pressure-head variation affects the discharge, making it uneven. Using Air vessels on the suction & delivery pipes can reduce this fluctuation to a certain extent. During the different points in the delivery stroke, the pressure-head components inside the pump system are tabulated as shown below: Piston position Pressure-head components ( ) Suction stroke: Beginning Suction stroke: Middle ( ) Suction stroke: End ( ) Delivery stroke: Beginning Delivery stroke: Middle ( ) Delivery stroke: End
Page 9 of 11

III year Mech-Recip Pump

For easy understanding, we shall consider the delivery phase: We find that the component is creating the pressure fluctuation in the delivery stroke. If this component can be eliminated, then we will have a uniform pressure-head of throughout the stroke. So, we can add an Air Vessel near the place where the delivery pipe joins the Recip pump. When a suitable Air Vessel is added, at the beginning of the delivery stroke, when the discharge increases due to the effect of component, this extra discharge enters into the Air Vessel. Only that discharge that is due to enters into the delivery pipe. At the end of the stroke, ( ) component reduces the discharge, and then the extra liquid from the Air Vessel is supplied into the delivery pipe. As a result, the output from the pump remains a constant equal to the pressure-head of . Placing of the Air Vessel has to be as near to the junction of the pump and delivery pipe so that the effect of is localized to as small a region as possible. Similarly, the Air Vessel stabilizes the input into the pump during the suction stroke. Therefore using an appropriate Air Vessel maintains a mean discharge from the pump. Double-acting Recip pump: Description Main components: The main components are: 1. Single Cylinder with suitable valves at inlet and delivery on both sides of piston. 2. Plunger or piston with piston rings. 3. Connecting rod and crank mechanism. 4. Suction pipes with one-way valves. 5. Delivery pipes with one-way valves. 6. Supporting frame. A diagrammatic sketch is shown in Fig. 20.2

Page 10 of 11

III year Mech-Recip Pump

Working description: A double-acting reciprocating pump has a piston which gets its motion by means of a Crank shaft Connecting Rod arrangement. Therefore it is called Reciprocating Pump. Liquid is sucked into the cylinder and then ejected out by the motion of the piston and hence it is called Positive Displacement Pump. Since delivery occurs during both the strokes of the piston, such a reciprocating pump is called Double-acting Pump. The pump functions in the following way: 1. : When , the piston is at the inner dead center [IDC]. As the piston moves away from the IDC, pressure inside the cylinder drops and the one-way suction valve on the left-side of the piston opens. This happens because the liquid is incompressible. Liquid rushes in through the suction pipe into the cylinder. But at the same time, pressure builds up on the right-side of the piston and liquid is discharged out of the cylinder. When , the piston is at the outer dead center [ODC]. The discharge on the right-side is completed while the left-side is filled with liquid. 2. : The same process as described above gets repeated in a mirror way and the cycle gets repeated. Naturally, the delivery occurs during both halves of the crank-shafts rotation. Thus, a double-acting Recip pump gives a steady delivery of liquid. Pump characteristics: 1. Delivery: [Qact] Suppose the length of the cylinder is assumed to be equal to the sweep of the piston, which is again equal to the diameter of the circle made by the crank-shaft rotation. Let the length of the crank-shaft be L meters. Let the cross-sectional diameter of the cylinder be D meters. We know that the delivery of liquid in one revolution is twice the volume of liquid in the cylinder. Again, the delivery of liquid in m3/s is: ( ) ( ). Let the pump make N revolutions per minute. Then, ( )( )( )( ) 3 m /s Thus, for a double-acting Recip pump is twice the for a single-acting Recip pump. Once this is calculated, the rest of the pump characteristics can be calculated as before. Note: Only one pump characteristic i.e. is twice of that for a single-acting pump. If you have to determine any other pump characteristic for a double-acting pump, you cannot calculate for a single-acting pump and double it! You will have to obtain the and then calculate using it. *****************

Page 11 of 11