PUMP SIZING ADDING MIN.

FLOW TO RATED
FLOW WHEN AND WHY
12 APR 2015
By:

Muhammad Imran Mechanical Rotating Engineer LUKOIL Overseas Services B.V Dubai

entrifugal Pumps are the most widely used Rotating Equipment in the process plants. The
ultimate goal of using a Centrifugal Pumps is to maintain a certain flow rate (m3/h) in the system
at a certain time. Flow rate demands can be intermittent or continuous, fixed or variable within a
range from zero (no flow) to a certain maximum. Centrifugal pumps are flexible to meet the process
demand variations; however it is inherent design feature of the centrifugal pumps that they are limited
for a certain minimum flow rate called minimum continuous flow - MCF below which it is not
recommended to operate the pump in a continuous manner.
Unlike positive displacement pumps, centrifugal pumps behave differently when the system resistance
(line backpressure) changes. An increase in the system resistance kills the pump differential head and
the pump is able to maintain a lower flow rate in the system. Similarly, a decrease in the system
resistance enables the pump to maintain a higher flow rate. This characteristic of centrifugal pumps is
widely used in a controlled manner to achieve flow regulation in order to meet the process demand
variations.
There are possibilities when the system resistance may change in an uncontrolled fashion, for example,
chocking of heat exchanger tubes in the downstream or a sudden closure of the discharge valve etc. This
may cause that pump operating point to move further left beyond the MCF point and may even push
the pump into shut-off condition resulting in a catastrophic pump failure.
Pump selection becomes challenging when the process flow demand falls below the MCF capability of
the available centrifugal pumps. In such cases, a larger centrifugal pump is selected with a particular
system design such that the process demand is fulfilled without having to operate the pump below the
MCF point.
Various methods are used to prevent the pump operation below the MCF point and to avoid the
operation at shut-off condition. Commonly used methods include Minimum continuous flow control
valve, Automatic recirculation valve or using a Minimum continuous flow by-pass line, the last one
being the simplest method used for the smaller size pumps.
This paper describes how centrifugal pump protection is achieved by using MCF by-pass line and how
the pump sizing is done for this particular case.
MCF BY-PASS LINE HOW IT WORKS:

Figure 1-a shows schematic for a simple pumping system. In case of any increase in the system
resistance, the pump operating point (red dot) moves upwards along the Q-H curve. If the system
resistance keeps on increasing, the pump operating point keeps riding up the curve until it reaches the
MCF point (black dot). If the system resistance keeps on increasing further, the operating point moves
beyond the MCF point and may finally reach the shut off point if the pump discharge is fully blocked.
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Figure 1-a: Typical Pumping System without MCF Protection

Figure 1-b shows a typical pumping system with MCF by-pass line. The by-pass line consists of a suitably
sized orifice plate with an appropriate line size leading back to the suction system. The MCF by-pas line
provides an additional flow path in the pump discharge system which remains continuously open thus
ensures that certain minimum flow is always passed through the pump. In this case, even if the pump
discharge is fully blocked, the system resistance does not increase beyond the MCF point of the pump
and hence the operating point does not fall below the MCF region.

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Figure 1-a: Typical Pumping system with MCF By-Pass Line

PUMP SIZING FOR MCF BY-PASS SYSTEM:

There are various applications where MCF by-pass line is the most suitable method for the centrifugal
pump protection. There are cases when the rated flow rate is too small to be covered by the available
centrifugal pumps, so a bigger capacity pump is selected and operated at a larger flow with continuous
spill back for the excess flow. In another case, the pump controls are simplified by adopting the
minimum continuous flow line. A good example is application of Jockey Pumps in the Fire Water Pump
system when pump is continuously operated without using a pressure sensing line. In all these cases,
the pump sizing is done based on Rated Flow + Minimum Continuous Flow rather than the Rated
Flow. Following details are provided to explain how and why this pump sizing practice works to achieve
the desired pump performance.
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Example: Cold Condensate Pumps Steam Generation and Distribution System

Following figure shows section of data sheet with operating conditions for a centrifugal pump in the
steam generation and distribution system of a Gas Treatment Plant.

Fig-2: Section of Pump Data Sheet Cold Condensate Pumps

The pumps in the above example were part of the system where the system resistance was variable.
There was an all-time possibility of increase in the system resistance leading the pump operation below
the MCF point or even pushing the pump into dead head (shut-off) condition when occasionally the
system demand was zero. Therefore, pump MCF protection was required. However, considering that the
pump was very small (flow / head: 11.8m3/h / 1113m) and a too small quantity of MCF (1.7m3/h), a
minimum continuous flow by-pass line was selected as the best option for pump MCF protection.
The pump selection was done based on flow rate rated flow + minimum flow instead of just rated
flow. The following description explains why and how this pump selection basis works.
Let us assume we select the pump based on Rated flow instead of Rated flow + minimum flow.
When the minimum continuous flow by-pas line is added to this pump, the system behaves as if the
discharge line size has increased. In other words, the system has an additional flow path which causes a
decrease in the system resistance. In this case, the pump is able to maintain an overall higher flow rate
in the system consuming additional chunk of the differential head produced by the pump causing the
pump operating point to move down the curve. This causes loss of flow/head to the main process as
shown Figure 2.

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Fig-2: Pump Selected for RF without Considering MCF & Operated with MCF By-pass

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The illustration in Figure 2 shows how the overall flow maintained by the pump is increased but the
head/flow to the main process is decreased. Therefore, the pump behaves as an undersized pump for
the required process demand.
The correct way of sizing the pump in the above example is to add MCF to the RF, thus the pump should
be sized for (11.8 + 1.7 = 13.5 m3/h). A pump sizing based on this approach would not cause any
head/flow loss to the main process as illustrated in Figure 3 below.

Fig-3: Pump Selected for (RF + MCF) & Operated with MCF By-pass
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CONCLUDING REMARKS:

Pump MCF protection is a critical requirement for the centrifugal pumps and must be carefully
addressed during the FEED and EPC detail engineering stage. Failing to provide MCF protection may
result into catastrophic failure of the pump during operation. The process engineer must assess the
pumping system and define the MCF protection requirement in the process data sheet for the pump and
the same should be indicated in the P&IDs. When a MCF by-pass line is required, the process and
mechanical data sheet must say Rated flow: X + MCF where X = Rated Flow & MCF = Minimum
Continuous Flow. Alternatively, a note may be added in the Rated Flow column to say Pump is
provided with MCF by-pass line, the pump MCF shall be added to the Rated Flow. The Rotating
Equipment Engineer must be qualified enough to interpret this requirement in the process data sheet
and P&IDs and must ensure this requirement is incorporated in the pump sizing during the TBE
(technical bid evaluation) stage. The orifice plate required for the by-pass line must be included in the
pump vendor scope. The pump vendor must do the orifice plate sizing and should provide the actual
materials including the orifice plate with mating flanges, nuts & bolts and gaskets. The vendor
documents must include the orifice plate sizing calculation and reference drawing. The process engineer
should do the by-pass line sizing based on the pump data sheets & performance curves provided by the
vendor.

About the author

Muhammad Imran is Mechanical Rotating Equipment Engineer presently working with

LUKOIL International Services B.V based in Dubai. He has 15 years of professional
experience in Oil & Gas and Petrochemical projects including EPC detail engineering,
PRE-FEED, FEED and hands-on experience in the Pre-commissioning, Commissioning,
Startup and initial operations. Before joining LUKOIL, he worked for WorleyParsons
Qatar as Lead Mechanical Design Engineer for Rotating Equipment and Packages. He
can be reached at muhundis@gmail.com.

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