The Performance of Centrifugal

Pumps as Turbines
and Influence of Pump Geometry
Arthur Williams University of Nottingham
(School of Electrical & Electronic Engineering)
Arnaldo Rodrigues Flowserve Pumps, Newark, UK

Pump as Turbine (PaT) range

For Medium head Micro hydro,

use either:
Crossflow
or

Pump as Turbine
Photo: Energy for Sustainable Development

For Pico size (< 5 kW)

e.g. 22 m head, 22 l/s :

Photo: Border Green Energy Thailand

a pump is much more

compact than a crossflow
turbine, which needs either
belt-drive or 8-pole generator

Typical pump and PaT curves

18

7000

16

6000

PaT Head

12

Head (m)

5000

10

4000

Pump best
efficiency: 72%

3000

PaT Power

6
2000
4
1000

2
0

0
0

10

20

30

40

50

Flow (litre/s)

End-suction centrifugal pump with 4-pole motor

60

Turbine power (W)

14

16

80

14

70

12

60

10

50

PaT best
efficiency: 72%

40

Pump best
efficiency: 72%

30

20

10

0
0

10

20

30
Flow (l/s)

40

50

60

Efficiency (%)

Head (m)

Typical pump and PaT curves

PaT efficiencies can be as good

as pump mode but not always
1.15
1.1

PAT:Pump efficiency ratio

1.05

+/- 5%

1
0.95

>2% lower efficiency

+/- 2% efficiency

0.9

>2% higher efficiency

0.85
Double suction pumps
0.8

Cylindrical volute pump

0.75
10

100
Pump Specific Speed (Nq - metric units - logarithmic scale)

1000

Examples of PaT applications

Rural Electrification:

Kinko, Tanzania (10 kW) ->

Sahyadri
Energy
Systems

Photos: Pico Energy Ltd.

^ Thima, Kenya (2.2 kW) ->

Examples of PAT applications

Water In
To drinking
water tank

PAT

Multi-stage
Pump

Gearbox

^ PATs for water pumping:

Cave system in Java, Indonesia
(45 kW each set)

Diagram adapted from KSB Pumps

Zones for PAT loss study (CFD)

Plane vi-vii

Plane v-vi

Zone vi

Measurement
plane for
suction
head

Pump Centreline
Zone vi

Zone v

Impeller

Zone
vii

Draft
Tube

Zone iv

Zone iii
Zone ii

Churning
region

Zone i

Volute

CFD was checked against tests

Full model

No leakage
Simplification of
pump geometry
changes CFD
predictions

No churning
volume

V-shaped interface
- OK for pump mode
- not acceptable for
turbine modelling

PAT with constricted impeller eye

CFD streamlines:
Turbine mode

Modification to impeller
= material removed

Enlarging suction eye

reduces head

24

80

4
0
0.04

End of part
load region

0.08
Non-Modified

gH/N D

60
50
40
30
20
10
0

0.12
Modified-Eye

Q/ND3

Efficiency (%)

12

Overload region begins

16

No load line

gH/N2D2

70

hhyd curves

20

Enlarging suction eye reduces

head, but not power

2.0

80

Phyd/N D

0.0
0.04

No load
line

0.4

End of part

0.8

0.08
Non-Modified

Overload region

1.2

0.12
Modified-Eye

60
50
40
30
20
10
0

Q/ND3

Efficiency (%)

hhyd curves

1.6

Phyd/N3D5

70

Loss (m)
3

8
12
16
20
24

Discharge (l/s)

Overload region

BEP

End of part load

No load

0
28
32

PaT selection

Double suction pump with ribs to

prevent pre-swirl

End suction pump with

Cylindrical Volute

Examples of pumps NOT suitable for turbine application

Estimating PaT match for Thima site

25

80
70

20

50

15

Predicted
operating point

40

10

30

Pump head
Net site head

20

Estimated Turbine
Pump eff (%)

10

0
0

10

15

20

25
Flow (l/s)

30

35

40

45

Efficiency (%)

Head (m)

60

Correcting PaT match at Thima

40

80
70

Cut down impeller

30

60

25

50

Full size impeller

20

40

15

30

10

20

10

0
15

20

25

30

Flow (l/s)

A reduction in impeller diameter improved PaT efficiency at this site

35

Efficiency (%)

Head (m)

35

Conclusions
Pumps as Turbines (PaTs):
Are suitable for medium-head micro & pico hydro
Have acceptable efficiency for fixed flow operation
May need modification to improve efficiency

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD):

Gives useful insight into hydraulic losses
Needs to use appropriate geometrical models

Indicates some pump geometries not suitable

for micro-hydro

Acknowledgements
where most of the
research was done
where much of
testing was done
(Prof Franz Nestmann & Dr Punit Singh)

funded most of Arnaldos PhD

funded research exchange with Karlsruhe

funded my travel to Hidroenergia 2008