Editor's Note: To read about the winner or the other finalists of the 2009 success story of the year award click here
Designing a New Pump for a Water Resources Pumping Plant
The State of California Department of Water Resources Edmonston Pumping Plant experienced cavitation and erosion on the first stage of one of its pumps. Coating failures also created extensive corrosion damage throughout the pump.
To combat this problem, Hitachi America Ltd. performed model tests to design a new pump. The first set of model tests consisted of the pump inlet, pump discharge and four-stage pump. The second set of model tests included the same pump inlet and pump discharge, but only on the first stage of the pump. The four-stage model tests confirmed that the new design met the specified performance, and the singlestage model tests confirmed that the first-stage produced cavitation-free operation under the full first-stage pressure.
The new pump eliminated cavitation and excessive vibration and increased efficiency from 89.5 to 93.3 (an increase of 38 percent)
The pump inlet and impellers were designed using computational fluid dynamics and finite element analysis to maximize efficiency. Compute controlled machining technology was used to form the hydraulic profile of the impeller blades and the pump's water passages for improved efficiency.
Hitachi Plant Technologies Ltd. produced the new pump, which eliminated cavitation and excessive vibration and increased efficiency from 89.5 to 93.3 (an increase of 38 percent). The pump's rating is 315 cfs with 1,970 ft of head and an 80,000 hp motor.
Individual Involved in the Program and Nominated By: James Slocum, Hitachi America Ltd.
The pump's rating is 315 cfs with 1,970 ft of head and an 80,000 hp motor.
Pumps & Systems, July 2009
