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Centrifugal Pump Testing at the Extreme

26 Feb 2020  |
The thermal fluid test laboratory located in West Sussex, UK provides pump performance testing for centrifugal water pumps utilised in the automotive and marine sectors to a 15 kW rating.

In general manufacturer published data is based on water and 20˚C, allowing easy comparisons to be made across the various suppliers. In general pump testing is conducted to confirm one of more aspects of the pump design specification, but often there is little data available for pump performance at non-standard conditions, such as elevated temperatures, pressures, process conditions, contaminated fluid and indirect influences. These non-standard operating conditions are the typical type of tests undertaken within the laboratory to gain a better insight into unforeseen issues with pump operation at the extremes of the envelop. These changes to operating conditions can often bring unexpected issues into the pump performance and provide early warning signs for manufacturer warranty issues.

The most common type of test the laboratory undertakes is a Pump Performance Test, to determine the flow and head pressure characteristics across the pump speed range. To establish this, the following hardware will be required to control and measure (1) the pump speed, normally via an electric motor, inverter and tachometer, (2) the fluid flow rate with some form of flowmeter such as a magnetic flowmeter and (3) the fluid head pressure with a suitable ranged pressure transducer and method of regulating the head pressure with a pressure control valve.

Within the test laboratory we move the boundary conditions to a higher level and accelerate stress test the pumps to the extreme. Routine testing can be conducted for fluid contamination with sand, grit, fluid waxing, emulsified fluids, induced cavitation, aeration, elevated bearing temperatures for engine overheat simulation, repetitive cold starting and high speed and elevated temperature durability. For more details visit our Fluid Test & Development Service page. Supporting the test laboratory with UKAS accredited instrument calibration for flow, pressure, speed, electrical and temperature instrumentation, is th

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The Young Calibration laboratory provides UKAS accredited calibration (Laboratory 0604) services and thermal fluid and component testing services to a wide scope of industries whilst maintaining a reputation for quality, cost effectiveness, impartiality and reliability....

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