End users or service centers often need to specify replacement pumps or pump motors, sometimes involving a retrofit or re-application project. A successful outcome depends on accurate assessment of application requirements and a good understanding of the parameters that govern pump performance.

Service centers are often called on to provide replacement pumps or pump motors or to advise on pump retrofit and re-application projects. A good understanding of the parameters that govern pump performance is essential to help customers with these opportunities. The information here relates to rotodynamic pumps (centrifugal and axial flow impellers) and not to positive displacement pumps.

Vertical turbine pumps (VTPs) are workhorses in the petrochemical, power generation and manufacturing industries, and prolific in municipal water applications that handle the primary intake load. Although these machines are ruggedly built, abrasive sediments in the pumpage take a toll, particularly on line shaft and pump bowl bearings, so periodic overhauls are often necessary. Rather than simply replacing the bearings, however, it is important that repairs address all of the issues needed to restore maximum operating life.

An important step when selecting a centrifugal pump and an electric motor for an application or when troubleshooting operation issues is to determine how much power the pump should be using.

If you work with electric motors and pumps, you’ll eventually encounter a pump curve and one of its key parameters — best efficiency point (BEP). The BEP is the point on the curve where the pump operates most efficiently. Unique to each pump, the BEP is a product of both impeller design and several related pump curve parameters.