Wear in Centrifugal Pump

Wear in Centrifugal Pumps
Tips to recognize and reduce erosion and abrasive wear

by Gary Dyson
Centrifugal pumps are sometimes used in environments where the pumped

product contains suspended solids. While some pumps are specifically
designed for solid handling or slurry applications, normal centrifugal
pumps do not contain features to prevent performance degradation from
the impact of solids.
There are a few key signs that a conventional centrifugal pump is suffering
from erosive and abrasive wear. Here are assessment and mitigation
strategies to be considered and applied when this occurs.
Particles are a problem in a centrifugal pump due to the way the machine
adds velocity to the liquid as it passes up the impeller channels. In general,
the higher the speed at the tip of the impeller, the more energy that is
imparted to any particle that is suspended within the liquid. This energy can
then cause damage to anything it impacts.
Image 1. Particle velocity is directly associated to the tip speed of the impeller. (Images courtesy of
Hydro, Inc.)
It is important to draw the distinction between tip speed and rotational

speed. A small diameter impeller running at high speed could have a lower
tip speed than a large diameter impeller running slowly. Tip speed is the
velocity of the impeller at its outside diameter.
In general terms, the material loss by erosion is determined by the velocity

of the particle cubed (Equation 1).
Equation 1:
Erosion = XC3
C is the velocity of the particle

X is a coefficient based on the liquid
being pumped
The velocity of the particle is directly associated to the tip speed of the
impeller (Image 1). Lowering the tip speed of a machine has a significant
impact on particle velocity and, thus, the erosive energy.
Equation 2:
Tip Speed= πD2n/60
In particular, this affects particles exiting the impeller with the high
velocity impact onto the pump volute lips, causing erosive damage.
As a high-energy particle passes from the impeller onto the volute lip, a
very particular pattern of damage occurs. The damage is generally
concentrated at the intersection of the casing volute lip and the side wall of
the casing. Particles that impact the center of the volute lip are swept away
into the mean streamline flow, and the time they are in contact with the lip
is limited (Image 2).
Image 2.
Illustration of wear at the volute lip
The particles that impact the volute lip close to the side wall become
influenced by the double boundary layer interface that exists between the
lip and side wall. These particles are not quickly passed into the mean
streamline flow and begin to spin (Image 3).
Image 3.
Representation of particle movement illustrating near-wall vs. mid-stream flow
Other areas are also susceptible to wear and are generally associated with
the fine clearance of the wear ring annulus. There are two types of
abrasive/erosive wear that increase the wear ring clearance and deteriorate
pump performance.
Image 4 (left). Particles pass across the wear ring clearance driven by differential pressure and their
shape and direction impact onto the wear ring surfaces increasing the clearances. Image 5 (right). If
the wear ring clearances are smaller than the maximum particle size, material is removed from the
clearance.
When the wear ring clearance is large enough to pass the particles through—
the gap is bigger than the maximum particle size—the particles pass across
the wear ring clearance driven by differential pressure and their shape and
direction impact onto the wear ring surfaces increasing the clearances
(Image 4). If the wear ring clearances are smaller than the maximum
particle size, material is removed from the clearance due to crushing and
abrasion until the clearance increases (Image 5).
Wear rings also play a significant part in another common form of wear that
occurs in the volute casing side walls. One of a wear rings’ primary functions
is to provide a restrictive annulus between different pressure regimes within
a centrifugal pump. Because of this function, one side of the wear ring
operates at higher pressure than the other. The differential pressure across
the ring annulus drives the fluid across wear ring clearance.
This effect has stiffening properties that improve the rotor dynamics of the
machine. Within an erosive environment this can cause a particular wear
pattern of damage. As the liquid exiting the wear ring annulus jets into the
low-pressure passage carrying higher energy particles, with it the particles
impact the casing side wall and cut into the pressure boundary. This is
known as Taylor vortex damage.
Tactics for Limiting Wear
Limiting tip speeds on services where particles may be present within the
pumped fluid limits damage. If the tip speed cannot be limited, choose a
machine that has a high tip clearance between the impeller outside
diameter and the volute lip. This gives time/distance/velocity the chance to
act on any particles, thus reducing their velocity before they impact the
casing.
Modify the volute lips. By profiling the volute lips into a horseshoe shape, it
is possible to limit the wear seen at the intersection between the lip and
casing side wall. The large, smooth radius on the lip means that the
consequence of the double boundary layer that holds the particles and
causes them to spin due to the passing flow is minimized as the particles are
forced into the mean flow stream by the geometry of the radius and cannot
be stuck in corner intersections (Image 6).
Image 6. Volute lip
modification to ease damage
Modify the casing to limit Taylor vortex damage. Sometimes the geometry of
the wear rings and casing wall can be modified to move the distance from
the wear ring jet farther away from the wear ring, limiting the impact of
the jet by using time/distance/viscosity. Another technique is to ensure a
large, smooth radius is allied to the jetting from the wear ring annulus. This
uses the Coanda effect, which states that a fluid will stay attached to a
curved surface, taking the direction of the fluid and the associated particles
around the radius rather than allowing them to impact into the side wall of
the casing.
Coatings can be helpful in combatting abrasive wear, but it requires a

skillful eye to ensure the right type of coating is applied in the right areas
based on an assessment of the damage that is observed. Coating with a high
bond strength and a high hardness when applied in conjunction with the
other techniques mentioned in this article can be successful in limiting
damage.
Particles present in centrifugal pump liquids can cause damage and

performance degradation. Some damage is still inevitable, but using
modifications to geometry, combined with hard coatings, increases pump
life and reliability.
Source: Pumps and Systems

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Wear in Centrifugal Pumps

Tips to recognize and reduce erosion and abrasive wear

Centrifugal pumps are sometimes used in environments where the pumped

It is important to draw the distinction between tip speed and rotational

In general terms, the material loss by erosion is determined by the velocity

C is the velocity of the particle

Illustration of wear at the volute lip

Tactics for Limiting Wear

modification to ease damage

Coatings can be helpful in combatting abrasive wear, but it requires a

Particles present in centrifugal pump liquids can cause damage and

Source: Pumps and Systems

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