Performance Test of Axial Pump

Michael Adrian Vallecera Ygnacio1

Abstract: An axial-flow pump is a common type of pump that essentially consists of a propeller (an axial impeller) in a
pipe. The propeller can be driven directly by a sealed motor in the pipe or by electric motor or petrol/diesel engines mounted
to the pipe from the outside or by a right-angle drive shaft that pierces the pipe. The main advantage of an axial pump is
that it has a relatively high discharge (flow rate) at a relative low head. It also can be easily be adjusted to run at peak
efficiency at low-flow/high-pressure and high-flow/low-pressure by changing the pitch on the propeller. The purpose of
this experiment is to test the performance of the current axial pump used at University of San Carlos Hydraulics Laboratory.
The pump was tested with varying the discharge head.

Author keywords: Axial Flow; Axial Pumps; Low Head Pump

recent years, it have also been applied in nuclear power, jet

Introduction propulsion, etc. (Wang, et al. 2013).

Flow components include inlet, impellers, vanes and outlet.

Fluid machines either take energy from a fluid and convert
it into mechanical energy or vice versa. Machines which
take energy from a fluid are called turbines and machines
which give energy to a fluid are called pumps and fans.
Pumps are machines that transfer energy into fluid system.
Pumps have a shaft and an impeller. The impeller is the
rotating element.
Axial flow pumps are one of three subtypes of centrifugal
pumps, the others being mixed flow and radial flow. Of
these three types, axial flow pumps are characterized by the
highest flow rates and lowest discharge pressures. They
direct flow in a straight line parallel to the impeller shaft
rather than radially. The impeller is shaped like a propeller
and contains only a few vanes. The impeller is driven by a
motor that is either sealed directly in the pump body or by
a drive shaft that enters the pump tube from the side. The
impeller looks and operates similar to a boat propeller,
which is the reason why axial flow pumps are also called
propeller pumps.
Axial flow pump is a low head pump and is widely applied
in irrigation, municipal water supply and drainage, water
diversion works, power plant circulating water projects. In
The performance of the various hydraulic components
affect hydraulic performance of the pump. (Wang, et al.
2013).
The performance characteristics of axial flow pumps are
different from other pump types. Pump performance curves,
which are provided by a manufacturer to describe the
correlation between head and capacity of an individual
pump, can be used to describe these characteristics.
Axial flow pumps handle some of the highest flow rates of
any type of centrifugal pump. These pumps have
performance characteristics that differ drastically from
other pump types. Although they produce very low heads at
their normal operating point, the curve of head to capacity
ratio is much steeper than that of other types of centrifugal
pump. The shut off head can be up to three times the head
at the pumps maximum efficiency point. The horsepower
required increases as flow is decreased with the highest
horsepower draw being at shut off. This is opposite of radial
flow pumps which requires an increase in horsepower at
higher flow rates.

1Student,
Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing
Engineering, University of San Carlos, Cebu City 6000,
Philippines. E-mail: michaeladrianygnacio@gmail.com
Experimental Methods Calculation

Axial Pump Set-up The flow rate of the pump at each setting is computed by
the equation below. The amount of water from the discharge
The actual set up as seen in the University of San Carlos divided by the time it took to have that amount of water is
Hydraulics lab and as used in the experiment is shown in the flow rate of the pump.
Fig. 1. The axial pump is the object in vertical position
located on the left side of Fig. 1. The suction pipe is just V
beneath the pump where the water reservoir is also located. = Equation(1)

The pipeline visible in the Fig 1 below is the discharge line
of the axial pump. The pipe has an outlet and a connection Where: Q - the volume flowrate,
to the centrifugal pump behind the axial pump. A water V - the volume measured
hose is connected to the outlet or the discharge of the axial t - the time
pump.

Table 1. Data Gathered

Speed Discharge Suction Flow rate
(rpm) Head (m) Head (m) (m3/s)
1801 0.89 1.65 5.2310-4
1799 0.66 1.65 4.0210-4
1800 0.42 1.65 4.0910-4

Table 1 shows the data that were gathered during the

experiment. Three different discharge or delivery head were
Fig. 1. Axial Pump Set- up(Courtesy: Abellanosa et al). performed when the outlet valve was fully opened.

Hydraulic Power
Data Gathering
Power is consumed by a pump, fan or compressor in order
Before starting the axial pump, all the foot valves that are
to move and increase the pressure of a fluid. The power
connected to the axial pump were closed. The hose
requirement of the pump depends on a number of factors
connected to the discharge pipe was set up to the designated
including the pump and motor efficiency, the differential
height/head. The discharge valve was set to be fully open.
pressure and the fluid density, viscosity and flow rate. The
hydraulic power which is also known as absorbed power,
Starting at the lowest discharge head, the axial pump was represents the energy imparted on the fluid being pumped
the turned on. The suction head was obtained by measuring to increase its velocity and pressure. Hydraulic power is
the distance between the floor and the water level of the the calculated using equation 2.
reservoir below the pump. The speed of the pump was
obtained by using the tachometer provided by the
= Equation(2)
laboratory. Lastly the flow rate was obtained by recording
the time it takes to fill the container. By getting the volume
Where: PH - the hydraulic power
of the container divided by the time it took to fill the
- the specific weight of water
container would yield the flow rate of the pump. The same
procedure were repeated several times for three different Q - the volume flow rate
discharge head. H - the total head.
Total Dynamic Head The data gathered and obtained in this experiment, the flow
rate vs. head was graphed and shown in Fig. 2. From the
Total Dynamic Head (TDH) is the total equivalent height graph, it can be seen that the flow rate initially decreased
during the second designated discharge head but increased
that a fluid is to be pumped. The total head was calculated
again during the higher discharge head.
using the equation.

= +
Where: H - the total head
Zs - the suction head
ZD - the discharge head.
Equation(3) Figure 3 shows the flow rate vs total head of Ling, Lasa and
Ragaza group in their experiment with the performance of
the axial pump. Fig.3 shows the different trials they made
at different head. Trials 2 and 3 shows decreasing volume
flow rate as total head increases. Trial 1 on the other hand
decreases on the first part but then increases again as total
head also increases just like what we obtained in our
experiment.

Results and Discussion

From the gathered data, the total head, flow rate and the
Hydraulic power of the axial pump were obtained and
tabulated as shown in Table 2.

Table 2. Calculated Data

Hydraulic
Speed Total Flow rate
Power
(rpm) Head (m) (m3/s)
(KW)
1801 2.54 5.2310-4 0.013 Fig 3. Flowrate vs. Total head (Courtesy of Ling et al.)

1799 2.31 4.0210-4 9.1210-3

1800 2.07 4.0910-4 8.3110-3 Figure 4 shows the total head vs flow rate from Geerts 2006.
From their data, it can be seen that as the total head
increases, the flow rate decreases. An inverse
The speed of the axial pump almost remained constant as
proportionality is shown in the relationship between the
the delivery head or the discharge head was varied. The
total head and the flow rate of the axial pump.
flow rate varies as the discharge head was varied. From the
data in table 2, it can be observed that the hydraulic power
increases as the discharge head increases.

Flow Rate Vs Total Head

0.00055
Flowrate (m^3/S)

0.0005
0.00045
0.0004
0.00035
2 2.2 2.4 2.6
Total Head (m)

Figure 4 Total Head VS Flow Rate (Geerts 2006)

Fig 2. Flow rate vs. Total head
Fig 5 below is the hydraulic power vs the total head. From References
the figure it can be observed that as the total head increases,
the hydraulic power also increases.
Arasu, V A, (2012), Turbo Machines, Vikas
Publishing House. p. 342. 2nd Ed. (2012)
Hydraulic Power Vs Total Head
0.014 Khan A A, Rama S R, (2003), Turbomachinery
Design and Theory, CRC Press. p 59. (2003)
Power (KW)

0.012

0.01 Potter M C, Wiggert D C, (2011), Mechanics of Fluids,

Cengage Learning, 4th ed., p 609 (2011)
0.008
2 2.2 2.4 2.6 Worley N G, (2008), Radial, mixed and axial flow
Total Head (m) pumps., Engineering Science Data Unit; (2008)
Fig 4. Hydraulic power Vs Total Head Geerts S. (2006), Experimental and Numerical
Study of an Axial Flow Pump, Vrije
Potter M C, Wiggert
Universiteit D C,(2006).
Brussel, (2011), Mechanics of
Fluids, Cengage Learning, 4th ed., p 609 (2011)
Conclusions W J Wang, et al. (2013). Performance analysis of axial
Worley
flow N G, (2008),
pump on gap changing
Radial, mixed and impeller
between axial flow
and
In the industry or in real world applications, knowing pumps.,
guide Engineering
vane. Science Data Unit; (2008)
Jiangsu University
the performance curves of the axial pump are very
important especially to the engineers as it is needed for
Geerts S. (2006), Experimental and Numerical
the selection of pumps of a particular flow system.
Study of an Axial Flow Pump, Vrije
From the experiment, the performance of the axial pump
Universiteit Brussel, (2006).
was being tested however it was only based on the total
head and the volume flow rate that the pump could deliver.
W J Wang, et al. (2013). Performance analysis of
The efficiency was not calculated since the necessary
axial flow pump on gap changing between impeller
parameters needed for the efficiency of the pump could not
and guide vane. Jiangsu University
be obtained. Based on the data from the experiment, the
pump is still in its working condition.

Notation

The following symbols are used in this paper:

Q - Volume Flow rate

V - Collected volume of water
t - time used to collect water
PH - water power of hydraulic power
- Specific weight of water
H - Total head
Zs - Suction head
ZD - Delivery head