The Basic Concept, Construction, and Working Principle of Hydraulic Pumps A fluid or hydraulic pump is a machine that transfers

energy from its moving parts to the fluid passing through the pump. The energy transferred from the pump to the fluid appears as the pressure and velocity of the fluid. Find more basic details about hydraulic pumps here in this article. Basic Concept of a Pump A pump in general is a machine which imparts energy to anything flowing through it. This can be any fluid, heat or even electrons. The devices pumping heat are called as heat pumps and electrical batteries can pump electrons. The spontaneous tendency of anything is to flow from high potential to low potential and this natural tendency is harnessed in many applications. But the pump does exactly the reverse; it forces something to move from low potential to high potential. For this purpose pumps use energy and by their functioning transfer that energy to the substance flowing through them. Fluid pumps or Hydraulic pumps move fluids and displace them from one position to another and in course energizes them. In fluids this energy is manifested as its pressure and velocity. Similarly, heat pumps move heat from low temperature to high temperature against its natural tendency to flow from high temperature to low temperature. An electrical battery is also a type of pump; it pumps electrons in a circuit from low electrical potential to high electrical potential which is against the spontaneous tendency of electrons to move from high electrical potential to low electrical potential. Hence, an electrical battery can be called as an Electron Pump. Hydraulic Pump Construction

Basically a fluid pump or hydraulic pump is a device or machine having moving mechanical components which uses energy from some source, generally electrical, supplied to it in form of mechanical energy by electrical motor. Generally pumps have rotating parts run by the electrical motors. The rotating parts of pumps can be some volume defining components which can form an enclosed envelope of volume where the fluid can captured and displaced. Other type of rotating parts can be blades mounted on discs or shafts which rotate with the driving power and transfers that to the fluid by making it move with increased velocity. Basic Working Principle In simple words we consider a pump to be a black box to understand its working. Fluid enters a pump at certain velocity and pressure, which may be even zero, and leaves it with increased energy, that is, velocity and pressure. For this a pump consumes a certain amount of energy from any external source. Now, what is happening inside that black box? There are rotating components inside which move the fluid either by confining it in definite volumes and then displacing it or by imparting energy to the fluid by dynamic action of the moving parts and increasing velocity and pressure of the fluid.

Fluid Pumps: Classification and Types Classification of fluid or hydraulic pumps is based on fluid flow pattern through pumps and fluid supplied by pumps. Pumps can be classified as intermittent flow Positive Displacement Pumps and continuous flow Roto-Dynamic or Turbo Pumps. Read more on criteria of classification and different types.

Classification Criterion The most basic classification criterion for differentiating the pumps, whether it is for purpose of analysis or for commercial purpose, is the fluid flow pattern. There are also other important classifications based on the power rating range and fluid discharge rate. The flow supplied by a pump can be intermittent or continuous. The pumps with intermittent flow are all positive displacement pumps and pumps with continuous flow are all Roto-Dynamic pumps. These classifications of the pumps does not end here, these two broad categories have further different types of pumps having varying characteristics. To sum up the classification criterion: Broad categories based on Flow Pattern: 1. 2. Intermittent - Positive Displacement Pumps Continuous - Roto-Dynamic or Turbo Pumps

Positive Displacement Pumps Positive displacement, as the name suggests, is displacing something positively, that is, certain fixed quantity is displaced. In case of the fluid pumps that something is fluid for sure. Positive displacement of a fluid is that a closed volume of the fluid is moved from one part of the machine to the other part. The construction of the positive displacement pumps is such that the moving parts along with the fixed ones inside it can form moving enclosed volumes. They open on one side, take the fluid, enclose it and open on the other side, discharging the fluid. Positive Displacement pumps can further be classified under subcategories according to the motion pattern of the enclosed volume forming parts. Centrifugal Pumps Axial Flow Pumps The coming articles on fluid pumps will provide information about each type of pumps their construction, working and different features.

Reciprocating Positive Displacement Pumps Reciprocating Positive Displacement Pumps has reciprocating parts to pump fluid. During one direction of motion of the reciprocating part fluid or liquid is taken inside and during the other opposite direction of motion fluid is pushed out. Reciprocating part can be a piston or a diaphragm. Construction of Reciprocating Pumps Reciprocating Positive Displacement Pumps or simply Reciprocating Pumps has fluid displacing arrangement which runs by reciprocation of certain parts. The motion of the reciprocating part is mating with a cavity or chamber and the contact is leak proof. There is relative motion between the reciprocating part and the chamber body but with perfect mating the cavity is a closed volume. The volume of the cavity increases or decreases with the motion of the reciprocating part. The chamber has one

inlet valve, which can allow liquid to enter the chamber but does not allow it to exit the chamber, and one outlet valve which only allows liquid to exit the chamber. Working of Reciprocating Pumps When the piston or diaphragm moves backward the volume of cavity increases and pressure inside it drops, this opens the inlet valve and liquid is taken in until the differential pressure between the supply side and the chamber is zero. Then the piston or diaphragm moves forward decreasing the volume of the chamber and pressure inside the chamber increase, this opens the outlet valve and the liquid from inside the chamber is pushed outside in the discharge line until the differential pressure is zero. This cycle repeats and an intermittent discharge of fluid is obtained. Specifications of Reciprocating Pump One backward movement, taking in the liquid plus one forward movement discharging the liquid is counted as one stroke. The distance between the two ends of the movement of piston or diaphragm is called as the stroke length. Volume displaced in one stroke equal to the stroke length multiplied by the cross sectional area of the chamber or cylinder. The volume discharge per stroke is an important parameter of any reciprocating pump to consider while deciding to use it for a particular application. The flow rate through a pump is the product of volume discharge per stroke and the frequency of strokes. Applications of Reciprocating Pump Reciprocating pumps has low discharge rate and high pressure ratios. For moderate pressures of the range 10 bar rotary pumps can be used but for sustained high pressure work of the range 500 bar reciprocating pumps are used. As the volume of fluid displaced per stroke is accurate the reciprocating pumps are used in metering application where a certain calculated amount of liquid has to be supplied. Types of Reciprocating Pumps Reciprocating pumps can have two types of reciprocating part, a piston or a diaphragm and based on this, reciprocating pumps can be piston or diaphragm pumps. Each type has different features suitable for specific applications. Read in this article construction, working and variants of Piston Pumps. Piston Pump - Construction A Piston Pump is very similar in construction to a Reciprocating Internal Combustion Engine. The basic pumping action is obtained by reciprocation of a piston in a cylinder. The cylinder has two valves, one inlet and one outlet valve. And they allow for only inwards and outwards movement of the liquid respectively. These valves are situated in inlet and outlet manifold respectively. The piston is connected to a crankshaft through a connecting rod. The Piston Pump has a liner made of leather or any other synthetic material to provide proper sealing between the moving surfaces of the piston and the cylinder. The reciprocating action of the piston is obtained by crankshaft arrangement and guide path provided by the cylinder. The piston is connected to the crankshaft through the connecting rod which is coupled with the crankshaft through a revolute joint situated at

some distance from the crankshaft axis. This distance can be called as crank length or the eccentric distance. It is this crank length which determines the stroke length of a piston pump. The crankshaft is coupled to an electric motor or an engine shaft. As the crankshaft rotates the piston reciprocates. In one cycle of the crankshaft the piston reciprocates once, that is, moves one stroke forward and one backward. The intake and discharge of the liquid by a piston pump is basically the same as reciprocating pumps in general as discussed in previous article under working of reciprocating pumps. Piston Pump - Variants The basic Piston Pump has single piston cylinder arrangement with intake and discharge of liquid through one side only. Piston Pumps are available is different configuration and each being suitable for particular application. The discharge of a piston pump can be changed by varying the stroke length of the piston. The common variants of the Piston or Plunger Pumps are: Single Acting Piston Pump Having liquid chamber on only one side of the piston and valve arrangement on that side only. The liquid is discharged from one side of the cylinder once in a crankshaft cycle, only in the forward stroke of the piston. Double Acting Piston Pump Both sides of the piston have liquid chamber and the valve arrangement. Liquid is discharged from both the sides, from one side in the first half of the cycle and from the other side in the second half of the crankshaft cycle. As the liquid is discharged in both the forward and backward stroke, the discharge is more per cycle and also smooth as compared to the Single Acting pump. Duplex Pump There are two piston-cylinders assemblies. Both the pistons are coupled to the single crankshaft through separate connecting rod of each. The connecting rods are coupled to the crankshaft at an angular distance of 180 degrees from each other. Each piston-cylinder can be single acting or double acting. Triplex Pump There are three piston-cylinder assemblies. All the three pistons are coupled to the single crankshaft through the connecting rod of each. There is an angular separation of 120 degrees between any two adjacent connecting rod and crankshaft couplings. Diaphragm Pump Diaphragm Pumps have a diaphragm as the reciprocating part. The reciprocation of this diaphragm produces the pumping action of the diaphragm pump. The diaphragm can be actuated by liquid or air. Accordingly pumps are called as hydraulically operated or air operated diaphragm pumps. Diaphragm Pump - Construction Diaphragm pumps have a reciprocating diaphragm in a liquid chamber in place of reciprocating piston inside a cylinder to produce the pumping action of the reciprocating positive displacement pump. The arrangement of valves and their functioning is same as that in the piston or plunger pumps. The liquid chamber is formed of the fixed body of the pump and the diaphragm is fitted to one side of the chamber. The diaphragm is coupled to an actuating part which moves the diaphragm.

Diaphragm Pump - Working By the action of the actuators the diaphragm bulges in and out of the liquid chamber. When the diaphragm bulges out of the liquid chamber the volume of the chamber increases and pressure inside the chamber decreases, this opens the inlet valve and liquid is taken inside the chamber. When the diaphragm bulges in the chamber the volume of the chamber decreases and the pressure increases which opens the outlet valve and the liquid is pumped out of the chamber. The diaphragm does not have any frictional motion with the chamber, thus, there is no need of any seal or liner. The movement of the diaphragm can be obtained either by hydraulic plunger or by air pressure. Based on the type of actuation of the diaphragm the diaphragm pumps are of two types, Hydraulically operated or Air Operated Diaphragm Pumps. Hydraulically Operated Diaphragm Pump The diaphragm is reciprocated by the action of hydraulic fluid and the fluid itself is pumped by a reciprocating piston. Thus, one piston pump is making the other diaphragm pump work. The diaphragm has driving hydraulic fluid one side and the liquid to be pumped on the other side. The piston pumps the driving fluid which moves the diaphragm and in turn pumps the liquid on the other side. This arrangement avoids any contact between the pumping element and the liquid pumped. This avoids leakage and makes the pump suitable for handling expensive, explosive or toxic liquids. Air Operated Diaphragm Pumps The Air Operated Diaphragm Pumps have two chambers, each divided into two parts by flexible diaphragms. The liquid side of both the chambers has inlet and outlet non return type valves. The centers of the two diaphragms are interconnected with a rigid rod. There is a supply of pressurized air which is controlled by a valve system. At one time it allows air to enter one of the air chamber and exhaust from the other chamber. The chamber receiving the air pushes the fluid out thorough outlet valve and the other chamber takes in the fluid through inlet valve. After reaching the end of the stroke the air control valve reverses the direction of air flow in the air chambers, thus reversing the flow of the liquid in the liquid chambers. This configuration creates a double acting pump. The construction of Diaphragm Pumps is such that there is no direct contact between the power source and the liquid to be pumped. Moreover, there is no frictional motion between the pumping chamber elements. Thus diaphragm pump does not require seals, there is least possibility of leakage and contamination of the liquid and also there will be no heat generated due to friction. All these properties of the diaphragm pumps make them suitable and reliable for pumping corrosive, abrasive, viscous, toxic and inflammable liquids safely.