Pumping Viscous Fluids using Centrifugal Pumps

This course on “Pumping viscous fluids using centrifugal pumps” is a challenging proposition and problems related to the topic are encountered in the industry occasionally. For example, in the oil and gas industry starting from the crude oil to the refined products we handle liquids of varying viscosities. Moreover, the viscosity of the fluid’s changes with the temperature. Centrifugal pumps performance degrades as the viscosity of the fluids being pumped increases. ANSI/HI standards have developed empirical formulae for determining the behavior of the centrifugal when handling viscous fluids. This course includes information available on the topic in the form of international papers, pump manufacturer's recommendations, technical literature, and standards which has been sifted and collated to form a cohesive content of practical value. It contains:

· Calculations using formulae,

· Graphs and tables,

· and worked examples.

The course focuses on the pumping systems, and it covers:

· Conversion of pump performance on water to viscous fluids and vice-versa,

· System head curve calculations,

· Types of mechanical seals and sealing systems,

· NPSH measurement and calculations,

· Pump testing procedure using viscous fluids.

Thus, it provides a great opportunity to those who are keen to understand the effect of viscous fluids on the centrifugal pumps performance and are eager to apply these lessons to their pumping systems.