School of Civil Engineering & the Built Environment
Department of Civil Engineering Technology
Doornfontein Campus
HYDRAULICS 2A
(HYDCIA2)
CLASS EXAMPLES 6:
PUMPS
(April & May 2024)
QUESTION 1
1.1 A pump is fitted with a variable speed motor. At a speed of 1200 revolutions per minute
(rpm), the pump delivers 0.12 m3/s of water. What speed of the pump would be required
in order to increase the discharge to 0.15 m3/s? [1500 rpm]
1.2 A pump has a variable speed motor. At 1000 rpm the head over which the pump can
lift a given quantity of water is 8 m. If the lift has to be increased to 12 m, what speed
should the pump now run at? [1225 rpm]
1.3 A pump runs at a constant speed of 1500 rpm with an impeller diameter of 1.1 m. If a
similar pump operating at the same speed is fitted with a 1.25 m diameter impeller,
what do you think would be the percentage increase in the power required to drive the
larger pump? [89.5%]
QUESTION 2
Fig 3.1 represents a system where the pump is pumping from a tank that is 2.5 m above the pump
inlet through a 75-mm pipe with roughness size, k = 0.080 mm. The water in the tank is at 25oC
while the local atmospheric pressure is 100.5 kPa. The total length of the suction pipe is 12 m.
9.0V 2
The flow rate in the pipe is 95 l/min. If the total minor losses are given as , determine the
2g
available NPSH for the system. [12.34 m]
Property of Civil Engineering Technology Prepared by Dr G.K. Nkhonjera
Tank
Water
75-mm Suction pipe
2.5 m
Flow Pump
Fig. 3.1
QUESTION 3
Consider a pumping system as shown in Fig 3.2 where the pump is 2.0 m above the water level
in the reservoir. The atmospheric pressure in the reservoir is 101.8 kPa while the temperature of
the water is 20oC. The total length of the 50-mm suction pipe (k = 0.15 mm) is only 10 m. The
10.8V 2
pump discharge is 300 l/min. If the total minor losses are taken to be , determine the
2g
available NPSH for the system. [2.51 m]
Pump
Suction pipe
2.0 m
Reservoir
Fig. 3.2
Property of Civil Engineering Technology Prepared by Dr G.K. Nkhonjera
QUESTION 4
A pump is installed to pump 2.39 m3/min of water from a dam reservoir to an elevated tank up the
hill to service a certain community. The water temperature is 20oC. The suction length is 20 m.
The pipe size available is a 150 mm diameter pipe with a roughness size, k = 0.15 mm. For this
area, the local atmospheric pressure is 101.4 kPa. If the NPSH required is specified at 5.0 m of
water absolute, determine the maximum permissible height above the water level where the pump
station may be placed. [4.13 m]
QUESTION 5
A pump is installed in a 1-km long pipeline to raise water from a supply reservoir (Reservoir A)
to an elevated tank (Reservoir B) as shown in Fig. 5.3 below. The pipe (200 mm in diameter) has
roughness size, k = 0.36 mm. The local conditions on site, however, dictate that the pump has to
be 2.5 m above water level in the supply reservoir. The pump, when running at constant speed of
1500 rpm, gave the following characteristics as shown in Table 5.4 below.
a) Determine the pump operating conditions (Head, Discharge, Efficiency and NPSHR).
[Q = 70 l/s; H = 54 m; η = 63.6%; NPSHR = 3.0 m]
b) Calculate the power input to the pump. [P = 58.3 kW]
c) If the local atmospheric pressure is 76 cm of mercury (SG =13.6) and a vapour pressure is
7.5 kPa, calculate the NPSH available for a suction length of 40 m. [5.5 m]
d) State whether the pump is under threat of cavitation and decide what recommendations you
would provide in your capacity as the Civil Engineer.
e) If the pump speed were increased to 1800 rpm, what would be the new duty point of the
pump (i.e. head, discharge, efficiency and input power)? [Q = 89.0 l/s; H = 71.0 m]
Table 5.4: Pump characteristics
Discharge (L/s) 100 88 79 71 60 50 30 0
Head (m) 24 35 44 53 64 71 79 84
NPSH required (m) 4.3 3.6 3.1 2.6 2.3 2 1.5
Efficiency (%) 46 57 63 68 64 43
Property of Civil Engineering Technology Prepared by Dr G.K. Nkhonjera
Elevation,
E = 261.26 m
Pump
Elevation,
E = 236.26 m
A
Fig. 5.3
QUESTION 6
Use the five different types of pumps given to you in class. These pumps are classified in terms
of their impeller sizes as shown on the pump charts. The impeller sizes range from 340 mm to 405
mm. Now, your duty as the Civil Engineer responsible, is to select one of these pumps that can do
the job of pumping water from a supply reservoir to a service reservoir through a 150 mm pipe
which has roughness size, k = 0.15 mm. The length of the pipeline between the two reservoirs is
1200 m while the difference in elevation between these two reservoirs is only 25 m.
a) What do you think would be the pumping head, discharge, efficiency and power input to
the pump, if the following pumps are selected for the job at hand:
- 360-mm impeller pump. [Q = 90 m3/h; H = 40.9 m; η = 69.0%; Pin = 15.0 kW]
- 400-mm impeller pump. [Q = 112 m3/h; H = 50 m; η = 70.2%; Pin = 21.7 kW]
b) For the discharge, Q = 0.040 m3/s against a head, H = 45.1 m, what would be the best pump
that can do this job? [400-mm impeller pump]
c) For the pump in (b), determine the efficiency and its power input.
[η = 71.5%; Pin = 25.8 kW]
d) Given that a 340-mm impeller pump is selected that will be operating at an optimum
efficiency of 70%, determine the discharge (Q), head (H) and the power input for this
pump. [Q = 100 m3/h; H = 34 m; Pin = 12.8 kW]
Property of Civil Engineering Technology Prepared by Dr G.K. Nkhonjera
e) If two 340-mm impeller pumps were installed in parallel, what would be the discharge (Q)
and head (H) for this pump combination?
[Q = 82.0 m3/h; H = 38.3 m]
QUESTION 7
The characteristics of five different types of pumps are shown in the attached annexure. These
pumps are classified in terms of their impeller sizes, with the smallest pump having an impeller
size of 345 mm and the largest pump having impeller size of 415 mm. A pump needs to be selected
from this pump family, that can pump water from a dam reservoir to a service reservoir through a
250 mm galvanized iron pipe. The length of the pipeline between the two reservoirs is only 100
m. With proper assumptions where and when necessary, answer the following questions:
7.1 If the difference in elevation between these two reservoirs is only 25 m, determine the
pumping head, discharge, efficiency, power input and NPSH required for the pump
when the following pumps are selected:
a) Smallest pump. [Q = 170 l/s; H = 29 m; η = 79.3%; Pin = 61 kW; NPSHr
=2.8 m]
b) Largest pump. [Q = 262 l/s; H = 36 m; η = 82.6%; Pin = 112 kW; NPSHr
=6.8 m]
7.2 If the local atmospheric pressure is 101.1 kPa and the vapour pressure is 3.5 kPa at a
normal temperature, determine whether cavitation would be a problem in the system
when working under the following conditions:
- Suction length, L = 40 m.
- Static suction head, hs = 2.5 m.
- Pump selected: 385 mm diameter impeller. [Tell me]
7.3 It is expected that over a period of 30 years, the roughness size of the pipe will increase
quite considerably. For some reasons, this pipe will then have to be replaced with a
commercial steel pipe, but smaller with a diameter, D = 200 mm. This will definitely
have an effect on the performance of the pumps. After this unique venture, estimate the
pumping head and discharge if the following pumps are selected:
a) The 365 – mm diameter impeller pump. [Q = 165 l/s; H = 35 m]
b) The 385 – mm diameter impeller pump. [Q = 190 l/s; H = 37.5 m]
ALL THE BEST TO YOU ALL!!!
Property of Civil Engineering Technology Prepared by Dr G.K. Nkhonjera
