Addis Ababa Science & Technology

University
Collage of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering
Department of Electromechanical Engineering

Laboratory-Report
Thermo-Fluid Lab
OPERATION OF SERIES AND PARERIES PUMP
Experiment 10

Prepared By:

Submitted to:
Experiment – 10: Series and Parallel Pump
Performance
Objectives
To understand how series and parallel pump are operating and measuring their
parameters

To determine characteristics behavior for series and parallel pump operation

 To investigate the result on discharge and total head of operating pump in series and
parallel

INTRODUATION

Centrifugal pumps are used to transport fluid by the conversion of rotational kinetic
energy to the hydrodynamic energy of the fluid flow. They are often used together to
enhance either the flow rate or the delivery pressure beyond that available from the
single pump. For some piping system it may be desirable to consider a multiple pump
system to meet the design requirements. The two typical option included are parallel
and series configurations of pumps which require a specific performance criterion. In
series operation the head of the pumps are added and in parallel operation the flow rate
(capacities) of the pumps are added.

The experimental unit provides the determination of the characteristic behavior for
single pump operation and interaction of two pumps. The apparatus consists of the tank
and pipework which delivers water to and from a centrifugal pumps. The unit is fitted
with electronic sensors which measure the process variables. Signal from these sensors
are sent to a computer via an interface device, and unit is supplied with data logging
software as standard.
Equipment list
 Variable AC source
 Pump demonstration unit
 Console interface
 PC with suitable software installed
 Figure 1: pump Demonstration unit Figure 2: Interface of one of the suitable
softwares

The pump demonstration unit were investigated in the lab. It mainly consists two single
phase pumps having the following technical features:
 Rated power: VA
 Rated frequency: 50Hz
 Rated speed: Rpm
 Rated voltage: 220 – 230V

Setting the flow path

The system may be configured to drive flow using single, series and parallel pumps.
The valve were set and the system were configured as follows. The software were also
set to the corresponding flow path.

Figure 3. Series pumps Figure 4. Parallel pumps

Theory (Series pumps)
A single pump may be insufficient to produce the performance required. Thus
combining the two pumps increases the pumping capacity of the system.
 Figure 5.pump curve for two pumps in series
The pumps may be connected in series, so that water passes first through one pump
and then through the second. When two pumps operate in series, the flow rate is the
same as for a single pump but the total head increased. The combined pump head
capacity curve is found by adding the heads of the single pump curves at the same
capacity.

Equipment setup (series pump)

Before staring the experiment equipment set up was performed, thus ensured that the
drain valve was fully closed and reservoir was filled with water within 10cm of the top
rim and checked that both pumps was fitted with similar impellers and the inlet valve
and gate valve were both fully open. The 3-way valve was set and then the equipment
was connected to the interface device and the interface was connected to a suitable PC.
The red and green indicator lights on the interface device was illuminated. The
interface device was connected to an appropriate mains supply, and the supply was
switched on and the appropriate software was running. The ‘IFD: OK’ was displayed
in the bottom right corner of the screen and that there values displayed in all the sensor
display boxes on the mimic diagram.

Procedure (Series Pump)

a) Both pump were used at the same setting in this experiment and identical performance
was ensured as the speed of pump 2 was fixed at its design operational point, pump 1
was set to much, the selected 80% for a 50Hz electric power supply or 100% for
60Hz.
b) Water was allowed to circulate until all air has been flushed from the system.
c) New result sheet was created using the (New) icon and was renamed. In the software,
on the mimic diagram, the ‘Mode’ to ‘series’ was set by selecting the appropriate
radio button.
d) Then pump 2 outlet valve was opened, pump 1 outlet valve was closed and waited for
any air to circulate out of the system.
e) The (Go) icon was selected to record the sensor reading and pump setting on the
results table of the software.
f) The gate valve was closed to reduce the flow by a small increment and (Go) icon was
selected again
 g) The gate valve was continued to close to give incremental change in flow rate,
recording the sensor data each time.
h) After taking of the final set of data, the gate valve was fully opened.

Motor
Pump Pump Water Inlet Pump 1 Pump 2 Operatin
Sampl 1 Flow
Settin Speed Temperatur Pressur Pressur Pressur g
e Torqu Rate
g e e e e Mode
Numbe e Q
S n T P0 P1 P2
r t [l/s]
[%] [rpm] [°C] [kPa] [kPa] [kPa]
[Nm]
12 80 1440 28.8 -87.2 0.0 2.3 3.16 0.000 Series
13 80 1440 29.4 -70.6 0.0 1.3 3.16 0.133 Series
14 80 1440 29.6 -63.2 0.0 3.8 3.16 0.246 Series
15 80 1440 30.1 -67.8 0.0 6.3 3.16 0.357 Series
16 80 1440 30.3 -65.8 0.0 7.0 3.16 0.434 Series
17 80 1440 30.1 -61.1 0.0 10.6 3.16 0.584 Series
18 80 1440 30.0 -56.9 0.0 12.3 3.16 0.680 Series
19 80 1440 30.1 -47.1 0.0 16.3 3.16 0.754 Series
20 80 1440 29.9 -36.5 0.0 21.3 3.16 0.830 Series
21 80 1440 30.1 -20.3 3.0 27.3 3.16 0.943 Series
22 80 1440 30.1 -16.9 4.6 28.3 3.16 1.037 Series
23 80 1440 30.2 0.8 17.6 36.0 3.16 1.170 Series

Densit Pump 1 Pump 1 Pump 2 Pump 2

Operatin Pump Pump
y
g 1 2
of Inlet Outlet Inlet Outlet
Mode Total Total
water Velocit Velocit Velocit Velocit
Head Head
rho y y y y
[m] [m]
[kg/m³] [m/s] [m/s] [m/s] [m/s]
Series 996 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 8.999 0.233
Series 996 0.31 0.55 0.55 0.55 7.316 0.129
Series 996 0.57 1.02 1.02 1.02 6.578 0.393
Series 996 0.82 1.49 1.49 1.49 7.095 0.641
Series 996 1.00 1.80 1.80 1.80 6.925 0.713
Series 996 1.35 2.43 2.43 2.43 6.543 1.080
Series 996 1.57 2.83 2.83 2.83 6.182 1.256
Series 996 1.74 3.13 3.13 3.13 5.244 1.670
Series 996 1.91 3.45 3.45 3.45 4.227 2.176
Series 996 2.17 3.92 3.92 3.92 3.009 2.489
Series 996 2.39 4.31 4.31 4.31 2.936 2.427
Series 996 2.70 4.86 4.86 4.86 2.634 1.884

The next table is continued from the previous table

Pump 1 Pump 2 Pump 1 Pump 2

Combin Total Pump 1 Overall
ed Hydrau Mechani Efficien
Hydrau Hydrau Efficien Efficien
Total lic cal cy
lic lic cy cy
Head Power Power Egr
Power Power E1 E2
[m] [W] [W] [%]
[W] [W] [%] [%]
 9.23 0.0 0.0 0.0 477.2 0.0 0.0 0.0
7.44 9.5 0.2 9.7 477.2 2.0 0.0 1.0
6.97 15.8 0.9 16.8 477.2 3.3 0.2 1.8
7.74 24.8 2.2 27.0 477.2 5.2 0.5 2.8
7.64 29.3 3.0 32.3 477.2 6.1 0.6 3.4
7.62 37.3 6.2 43.5 477.2 7.8 1.3 4.6
7.44 41.0 8.3 49.4 477.2 8.6 1.7 5.2
6.91 38.6 12.3 50.9 477.2 8.1 2.6 5.3
6.40 34.3 17.6 51.9 477.2 7.2 3.7 5.4
5.50 27.7 22.9 50.7 477.2 5.8 4.8 5.3
5.36 29.7 24.6 54.3 477.2 6.2 5.2 5.7
4.52 30.1 21.5 51.6 477.2 6.3 4.5 5.4

Results:
10.00

9.00

8.00

7.00

6.00

5.00
series pump
4.00 single pump

3.00

2.00

1.00

0.00
0.000 0.100 0.200 0.300 0.400 0.500 0.600 0.700 0.800 0.900 1.000

Flow Rate Q [l/s]

Figure 6. Curve of single and Series Pump

Conclusion

Theory (Parallel Pump)

A single pump may be insufficient to produce the performance required. Combining two
pumps increases the pumping capacity of the system. Two pumps may be connected in
parallel, so that half the flow passes through one of the pumps and the other half through
the second pump. When two pumps operate in parallel, the total head increase remains
unchanged but the flow rate is increased. The head capacity curve is found by adding the
capacities of the single pump curves at the same head.

Equipment setup (Parallel pump)

The drain valve is fully closed and the water level of the reservoir was checked if it
was within 10cm of the top rim. Both pumps were checked of it was fitted with similar
impellers. The gate valve and the inlet valve were both fully opened and the 3-way
valve was set for flow in parallel. The pump 1 outlet valve and pump 2 outlet was
 opened and ensured that the pressure on both pumps were equal. Then the equipment
was connected to the interface device and the interface device was connected to the
suitable PC. The red and green indicator lights on the interface device was illuminated.
The interface device was connected to an appropriate mains supply, and switch was on
in the supply switch on the interface device and the software was running. The ‘IFD:
OK’ was displayed in the bottom right corner of the screen and that there values
displayed in all the sensor display boxes on the mimic diagram. In the software, on the
mimic diagram the mode was set to ‘parallel’ by selecting the appropriate radio button.
Procedure (Parallel Pump)
a) Both pump were used at the same setting in this experiment and identical performance
was ensured as the speed of pump 2 was fixed at its design operational point, pump 1
was set to much the selected 80% for a 50Hz electric power supply.
b) Water was allowed to circulate until all the air has been finished from the system
c) New result sheet was created using the (New) icon and was rename. In the software,
on the mimic diagram, the ‘Mode’ to ‘Parallel’ was set by selecting the appropriate
radio button.
d) Then the pump 2 outlet valve was opened and pump 1 outlet valve was closed and
then waited for any air to circulate out of the system.
e) The (Go) icon was selected to record the sensor readings and pump setting on the
results table of the software.
f) The gate valve was closed to reduce the flow by small increment and the (Go) icon
was selected again.
g) The closing of the gate valve was continued to give incremental changes in the flow
rate, recording the sensor data each time
h) After taking the final set of data, the gate valve was fully opened and Pump 1 was set
to 0% and both pump were switched off.

Results
The result obtained from series and single operation of a pump looks like as follow
 Parallel
pump
6.00

Head Pressure P [ 5.00

4.00

3.00

2.00

1.00

0.00
0.000 0.200 0.400 0.600 0.800 1.000 1.200 1.400 1.600 1.800
Flow Rate Q [l/s]
Figure 7. curve of Single and Parallel pump

X
The data generated from the experiment looks like as follow:

Motor
Pump Pump Water Inlet Pump 1 Pump 2 Operatin
Sampl 1 Flow
Settin Speed Temperatur Pressur Pressur Pressur g
e Torqu Rate
g e e e e Mode
Numbe e Q
S n T P0 P1 P2
r t [l/s]
[%] [rpm] [°C] [kPa] [kPa] [kPa]
[Nm]
24 80 1440 30.4 -47.1 0.6 1.2 3.16 0.000 Parallel
25 80 1440 30.6 -44.2 2.1 3.2 3.16 0.133 Parallel
26 80 1440 30.8 -39.9 2.6 4.5 3.16 0.264 Parallel
27 80 1440 30.5 -39.1 1.7 5.4 3.16 0.320 Parallel
28 80 1440 30.6 -36.1 4.5 7.9 3.16 0.471 Parallel
29 80 1440 30.8 -36.3 3.8 8.0 3.16 0.490 Parallel
30 80 1440 30.9 -33.9 5.6 10.1 3.16 0.604 Parallel
31 80 1440 30.9 -32.9 6.4 10.9 3.16 0.697 Parallel
32 80 1440 31.1 -31.4 8.3 12.0 3.16 0.754 Parallel
33 80 1440 30.9 -29.8 9.4 14.3 3.16 0.830 Parallel
34 80 1440 31.0 -26.1 12.5 16.7 3.16 0.943 Parallel
35 80 1440 31.0 -21.8 15.2 19.6 3.16 1.074 Parallel
36 80 1440 30.9 -19.9 17.6 21.8 3.16 1.131 Parallel
37 80 1440 31.3 -15.4 21.3 24.5 3.16 1.227 Parallel
38 80 1440 31.2 -9.2 25.4 29.3 3.16 1.357 Parallel
39 80 1440 31.4 -5.4 29.0 31.6 3.16 1.434 Parallel
40 80 1440 31.3 -0.4 31.2 32.8 3.16 1.490 Parallel

Densit Pump 1 Pump 1 Pump 2 Pump 2

Operatin Pump Pump
y
g 1 2
of Inlet Outlet Inlet Outlet
Mode Total Total
water Velocit Velocit Velocit Velocit
Head Head
rho y y y y
[m] [m]
[kg/m³] [m/s] [m/s] [m/s] [m/s]
Parallel 996 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 4.950 5.012
Parallel 996 0.15 0.28 0.15 0.28 4.824 4.937
Parallel 995 0.30 0.55 0.30 0.55 4.434 4.630
Parallel 996 0.37 0.67 0.37 0.67 4.276 4.650
Parallel 996 0.54 0.98 0.54 0.98 4.268 4.617
Parallel 995 0.57 1.02 0.57 1.02 4.212 4.641
Parallel 995 0.70 1.25 0.70 1.25 4.174 4.639
Parallel 995 0.80 1.45 0.80 1.45 4.174 4.637
Parallel 995 0.87 1.57 0.87 1.57 4.231 4.603
Parallel 995 0.96 1.73 0.96 1.73 4.197 4.694
Parallel 995 1.09 1.96 1.09 1.96 4.169 4.590
Parallel 995 1.24 2.23 1.24 2.23 4.038 4.491
Parallel 995 1.30 2.35 1.30 2.35 4.112 4.541
Parallel 995 1.41 2.55 1.41 2.55 4.064 4.389
Parallel 995 1.56 2.82 1.56 2.82 3.906 4.301
Parallel 995 1.65 2.98 1.65 2.98 3.907 4.174
Parallel 995 1.72 3.10 1.72 3.10 3.648 3.811

Pump 1 Pump 2 Pump 1 Pump 2

Combin Total Pump 1 Overall Operati
ed Hydrau Mechani Efficien ng
Hydrau Hydrau Efficien Efficien
Total lic cal cy Mode
lic lic cy cy
Head Power Power Egr
Power Power E1 E2
[m] [W] [W] [%]
[W] [W] [%] [%]
4.98 0.0 0.0 0.0 477.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 Parallel
4.88 3.1 3.2 6.3 477.2 0.7 0.7 0.7 Parallel
4.53 5.7 6.0 11.7 477.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 Parallel
4.46 6.7 7.3 14.0 477.2 1.4 1.5 1.5 Parallel
4.44 9.8 10.6 20.4 477.2 2.1 2.2 2.1 Parallel
4.43 10.1 11.1 21.2 477.2 2.1 2.3 2.2 Parallel
4.41 12.3 13.7 26.0 477.2 2.6 2.9 2.7 Parallel
4.41 14.2 15.8 30.0 477.2 3.0 3.3 3.1 Parallel
4.42 15.6 16.9 32.5 477.2 3.3 3.6 3.4 Parallel
4.45 17.0 19.0 36.0 477.2 3.6 4.0 3.8 Parallel
4.38 19.2 21.1 40.3 477.2 4.0 4.4 4.2 Parallel
4.26 21.2 23.6 44.7 477.2 4.4 4.9 4.7 Parallel
4.33 22.7 25.1 47.8 477.2 4.8 5.3 5.0 Parallel
4.23 24.3 26.3 50.6 477.2 5.1 5.5 5.3 Parallel
4.10 25.9 28.5 54.4 477.2 5.4 6.0 5.7 Parallel
4.04 27.3 29.2 56.6 477.2 5.7 6.1 5.9 Parallel
3.73 26.5 27.7 54.3 477.2 5.6 5.8 5.7 Parallel

Conclusion
It can be concluded that the performance of the single pump operation is very small as
can be noticed from the table. The total head of the single pump is very small as
compared to the total head of series pump as well the capacity of this single pump is
very less as relative to the capacity of parallel pump.