Pressure Pulsations in Centrifugal Pumps

Pressure pulsations in centrifugal pumps are created by the wake flow from the impeller blade trailing edge and by large-scale turbulence and vortices generated by flow separation and flow recirculation at part load. The physical mechanisms causing pressure pulsations and the design parameters having an influence on the level of the pressure pulsations are reviewed. The system in which a pump is operated has a strong impact on the level of pressure pulsations measured, which also depends on the detailed design of the impeller and the diffuser. These effects cannot be predicted theoretically. Therefore, statistical data of 36 tests with different pump configurations are given in order to document the level of pulsations which can be achieved.