THE TEN PUMP RULES FOR

OPTIMUM PUMP
PERFORMANCE - PART 1,
CAVITATION #6
Suction Energy
Imagine a bus speeding down the highway. Now picture a bicycle pedaling slowly along a
suburban road. An adorable squirrel runs out into the path. Can the bus or the bicycle more
easily make a quick course correction? Obviously, the larger object traveling faster is more likely
to cause damage.
In the pumping world, Suction Energy helps us classify our pumps so we know which one is a
bus and which one is a bicycle. It cuts to the most critical questionwhen is cavitation most
likely to cause damage?
As an example we can compare a propane pump to a cooling water pump. Lets assume the
two pumps have the same NPSHR and NPSHA. From experience, we know which pump is
more likely to exhibit cavitation damage. Propane pumps rarely exhibit cavitation damage.
Cooling water pumps frequently do.
Heinz Bloch and Allan Budris summarize the issue very well (Pump Users Handbook: Life
Extension, p. 109):
Due to the very high NPSH margins required to completely suppress cavitationnormally 2 to 5
times the NPSHR of the pumpwe know that cavitation is sure to exist in a high percentage of
pump applications. However, we also know that acceptable life is achieved in most installations,
despite this cavitation. So how can we predict when cavitation is likely to cause problems?
The answer is to determine the amount of energy contained in the liquid. Suction Energy, which
describes the momentum of the liquid at the impeller suction, provides a method for comparing
different services.

Suction Energy (S.E.) = De X N X S X S.G.

De = Impeller eye diameter (inches)
N = Pump speed (rpm)
S = Suction specific speed
S.G. = Specific gravity of the liquid
Suction Energy Limits
Using Suction Energy, pumps can be classified as Low, High, or Very High suction energy
with the limits for each category somewhat variable depending on pump type. Following is a
table showing the limits for each category:

Source: Bloch, H.P., Budris, Allan, Pump Users Handbook: Life Extension, p 114.
Example: Propane vs. Cooling Water
Using these numbers, we can go back to our example of the propane pump vs. the large water
pump. We can fill in a few variables to run the calculation:

Service

De

RPM

GPM

S.G.

Propane

5 inches

3600

100

0.5

1800

5000

1.0

Cooling Water 12 inches

As we said above, we assume both pumps have the same NPSHR. Lets assume the NPSHR is
12 feet.
Propane Pump:

Cooling Water Pump:

If we assume that both pumps are end suction type pumps, the propane pump is clearly well
below the high suction energy limit and the cooling water pump is beyond the limit. (Note: if we
assume the cooling water pump is a double suction pump, the flow in the Suction specific speed
calculation is divided by 2 and we obtain a value of 134 X 106, which is above the high suction
energy limit for the double-suction pump type.)
Even if both pumps have an NPSHA above the NPSHR by a reasonable margin, the cooling
water pump is far more likely to exhibit cavitation damage.
Other Factors
Suction energy is probably one of the most practical concepts in evaluating pump cavitation. It is
easy to calculate for any pump and provides clear indications of which pumps are likely to pose
the most significant problems. Yet, even if we calculated the same suction energy for a cooling
water pump and a propane pump, wed still expect to see much more damage in the cooling
water pump due to several additional factors.
Fluid properties
Fluids have different vapor to liquid volume ratios. When water goes through a phase change
from liquid to vapor, it undergoes tremendous volumetric expansionon the order of 40,000
times greater volume in vapor form compared to liquid form. Hydrocarbon volumes expand

much less from liquid to vapor. Thus, when a water pump cavitates, there will be much larger
volumes of air, which create greater impact forces when they implode.
Warmer liquids tend to mitigate this effect, which is why colder water services like drinking
water, cooling water, and condensate show much more significant damage compared to hot
water services like boiler feed water.
Furthermore, if the fluid contains particles or is corrosive, cavitation damage will accelerate.
High velocity impacts from the particles will add abrasive wear damage. Corrosion will
accelerate because oxidation layers are being destroyed and new material is being exposed to
the corrosive agent.
Impeller Materials
Cheaper impeller materials such as steel, cast iron, and brass are much more susceptible to
cavitation damage compared to stainless steel and bronze. Upgrading materials to far more
expensive alloys is often the cheapest way to solve a cavitation problem.
Putting it all Together
Cavitation is not a simple problem. Old rules of thumb suggesting that NPSHA should exceed
NPSHR by 3 feet are woefully inadequate in many situations. Because NPSHR cannot be
calculated, only measured once cavitation has already begun, there is no clear indication of the
point of zero cavitation for a given pump. Research suggests NPSHA should be 2-5 times
higher than the NPSHR (which is where 3% cavitation is already occurring) shown on the pump
curve.
Obviously, building a plant with 5X NPSHR available for all of the pumping services would be
impractical, and if there were 5X NPSHR available for your existing pumping service, you likely
wouldnt be experiencing a cavitation problem. Instead, we have some guidelines which can
minimize the chance of avoidable problems, and a few ways to minimize the problems that go
beyond simple modifications.

Design to avoid problems (Hydraulic Institute standards are a good place to start.)
Use suction energy to determine which pumps will most likely cause cavitation problems
and pay special attention to the suction conditions in these services
Ensure the suction system is properly designed
Intakes designed to avoid vortex cavitation and air entrainment
Piping designed to minimize flow disruptions leading into the impeller

If a pump is already in the field, determine if the problem is due to recirculation or suction
cavitation.
Recirculation cavitation:
Modify the flow rate through the pump with a minimum flow bypass or a hydraulic upgrade for
the design flow rate
Suction cavitation:
Correct faults in the suction designintake design, piping designto the degree possible

Reduce the NPSHR of the pump by reducing the wear ring clearance using composite
case rings made from Vespel CR-6100. This modification can reduce the NPSHR of
the pump by as much as 1 meter (3 feet).
Install a new impeller with lower NPSHR compared to the original design (note that this
may require operation closer to BEP to avoid recirculation cavitation)

In conjunction with the above measures, upgrade the impeller material if it has not already been
done. This will minimize the damage to the impeller and often allow run times to provide
sufficient pump reliability.