Explore Pump Hydraulic Calculations, Operation, and Control

Learn how the centrifugal and reciprocating pumps operate, how to calculate pump main parameters as a chemical engineer

Pumps have been the heart of any plant as they are the main equipment used to guarantee the required process flow or pressure. Pumps are used extensively in oil and gas, chemical, and petrochemical industries to pump different fluid types at various pressures and temperatures.

What you’ll learn

  • How pump curves work and get the operating point against system curve.
  • Calculate pump available NPSH and make sure that we are avoiding pump cavitation using solved examples.
  • Estimate pump differential head based on process needs and discharge side resistance using solved examples.
  • Calculate pump power.
  • Difference between the operation of a centrifugal pump and positive displacement.
  • Pump control methods.
  • Operation of pumps in series and in parallel.

Course Content

  • Introduction –> 5 lectures • 15min.
  • Pump NPSH –> 9 lectures • 33min.
  • Calculate pump differential pressure / head –> 6 lectures • 18min.
  • Pump Horsepower –> 3 lectures • 6min.
  • Let’s Recap –> 0 lectures • 0min.
  • Pump performance and system curves –> 3 lectures • 8min.
  • Pump Control –> 4 lectures • 15min.
  • Pump configuration in series and in parallel –> 5 lectures • 14min.
  • Interaction between a pump and a control valve –> 6 lectures • 30min.
  • Pump P&ID Considerations –> 7 lectures • 16min.
  • Let’s Recap –> 0 lectures • 0min.
  • Bonus Section –> 1 lecture • 1min.

Explore Pump Hydraulic Calculations, Operation, and Control

Requirements

Pumps have been the heart of any plant as they are the main equipment used to guarantee the required process flow or pressure. Pumps are used extensively in oil and gas, chemical, and petrochemical industries to pump different fluid types at various pressures and temperatures.

Without a pump or if there is a problem in the pump operation, this can cause a huge process disturbance, and in some cases, this may lead to process shutdown.

Sizing the pumps and their suction and discharge systems is one of the major carried-out activities by process engineers during process design. This course will not just explain the theory of operation of a pump against the process.

We will see live examples where we shall calculate main pump requirements such as:

  1. Net positive suction head (NPSH)
  2. Differential head
  3. Hydraulic power

This will be through Excel sheets that will be provided in the course to teach you how to calculate these parameters. You shall have access to pump calculation sheets throughout the course.

In this course, we shall also see:

  1. How the pump curve works and how to plot it against the system curve.
  2. How the pump and process system interact with each other and how the pump responds and interacts with process changes or disturbances.
  3. The difference between the pump curve of a centrifugal pump VS a positive displacement pump. We shall also see how each of them interacts with the discharge system differently.
  4. Different control methods to make sure we are on the required pump operating point.
  5. Different pump configurations, how to operate the pumps in series and in parallel, and how this is reflected on pump curves.

So cannot wait to see you in the course, and I hope it shall give you added value!

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