A centrifugal pump is a rotating machine in which flow and pressure are generated
dynamically. The inlet is not walled off from the outlet as is the case with positive displacement
pumps, whether they are reciprocating or rotary in configuration. Rather, a centrifugal
pump delivers useful energy to the fluid or “pumpage” largely through velocity
changes that occur as this fluid flows through the impeller and the associated fixed passageways
of the pump; that is, it is a “rotodynamic” pump. All impeller pumps are rotodynamic,
including those with radial-flow, mixed-flow, and axial-flow impellers: the term
“centrifugal pump” tends to encompass all rotodynamic pumps.

Although the actual flow patterns within a centrifugal pump are three-dimensional
and unsteady in varying degrees, it is fairly easy, on a one-dimensional, steady-flow basis,
to make the connection between the basic energy transfer and performance relationships
and the geometry or what is commonly termed the “hydraulic design” (more properly the
“fluid dynamical design”) of impellers and stators or stationary passageways of these
machines.

In fact, disciplined one-dimensional thinking and analysis enables one to deduce pump
operational characteristics (for example, power and head versus flow rate) at both the optimum
or design conditions and off-design conditions. This enables the designer and the
user to judge whether a pump and the fluid system in which it is installed will operate
smoothly or with instabilities. The user should then be able to understand the offerings of
a pump manufacturer, and the designer should be able to provide a machine that optimally
fits the user’s requirements.

The complexities of the flow in a centrifugal pump command attention when the
energy level or power input for a given size becomes relatively large. Fluid phenomena
such as recirculation, cavitation, and pressure pulsations become important; “hydraulic”
and mechanical interactions—involving stress, vibration, rotor dynamics, and the associated
design approaches, as well as the materials used—become critical; and operational
limits must be understood and respected.

A centrifugal pump is a rotating machine in which flow and pressure are generated
dynamically. The inlet is not walled off from the outlet as is the case with positive displacement
pumps, whether they are reciprocating or rotary in configuration. Rather, a centrifugal
pump delivers useful energy to the fluid or “pumpage” largely through velocity
changes that occur as this fluid flows through the impeller and the associated fixed passageways
of the pump; that is, it is a “rotodynamic” pump. All impeller pumps are rotodynamic,
including those with radial-flow, mixed-flow, and axial-flow impellers: the term
“centrifugal pump” tends to encompass all rotodynamic pumps.

Although the actual flow patterns within a centrifugal pump are three-dimensional
and unsteady in varying degrees, it is fairly easy, on a one-dimensional, steady-flow basis,
to make the connection between the basic energy transfer and performance relationships
and the geometry or what is commonly termed the “hydraulic design” (more properly the
“fluid dynamical design”) of impellers and stators or stationary passageways of these
machines.

In fact, disciplined one-dimensional thinking and analysis enables one...