This Course is designed to help engineers design, test, and run more effective, more economical, and more reliable pumps. Attendees will come to understand the best state-of-the-art design practices and learn the latest theories on performance and cavitation.

Beginning with an extensive survey of the current technology base for pump design, topics include impellers, diffusers, volutes, and other flow elements. The limitations on pump operation and range due to stall and other instabilities are described, with special attention given to problems and design issues specifically associated with pump flows, namely cavitation, unsteady flow, and vibration.

Emphasis is placed on modern methods available to the pump designer for blade layout and design, using flexible geometric techniques associated with hydrodynamic loading calculations and the computational fluid dynamic analysis of pump flows. The advantages and limitations of such analyses are reviewed thoroughly by the instructor.

Program Outline

• Foundations of Pump Design - The Diverse World of Pumps
• Essentials of Turbomachinery Performance (a review session of fundamentals)
• Design Session 1 - Hand calculations by students
• Impeller Modeling 1 - 1D Modeling issues; slip, recirculation, secondary flow
• Impeller Modeling 2 - Understanding the full 3D viscous flow process
• Impeller Modeling 3 - Core models and their utility
• Diffuser Modeling and Design - When to use a diffuser; vane- less, airfoil and channel
• Design Session 2 - Layout of three (3) stage pump illustrating all common elements; historic data usage
• Volutes and Return Channels - Purposes; design principles; design data
• The Design Process 1 - Organizing the process for design and choosing tools
• The Design Process 2 - Shaping blades and vanes for best performance
• Design Session 3 - Detailed blading design of first stage including live CFD
• Stress and Deflections - Class example included
• Vibration and Life - Class example included
• Stability, recirculation and cavitation
• Design Session 4 - Volute design with CFD; multistage design matters; intro to Multi-Disciplinary Optimization (MDO)
  1. Leakage and thrust;
  2. Results of MDO
• Rotordynamics for Pumps - Rotor response, bearings, seals, etc...
• Laboratory Procedures - Setting up for test; instrument selection; data handling
• Data modeling and Technology Building - Converting raw data into advanced design models