What Does “Head (HGL)” Mean for Submerged

Pumps and Exit Pressures?

Wednesday, 28 December 2016

Ben Keiser

Tips and Tricks

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In AFT Fathom and AFT Impulse, it is possible to model a submerged pump where a
short and possibly frictionless suction pipe for the pump’s inlet does not need to be
modeled. When modeling a submerged pump, there are two options available for
specifying the system inlet boundary condition at the pump suction. As shown in Figure
1 below, the Submerged Pump’s Suction Pressure can either be specified as “Head
(HGL)” or “Pressure”.

Figure 1 – Pump Property window with Submerged Pump option selected. No upstream pipe
required. Suction Pressure must be entered as boundary condition in terms of pressure or Head
(HGL).
Modeling a submerged pump is not the only time where the “Head (HGL)” or “Pressure”
choices will arise. If an Exit Valve (i.e., a valve that discharges into ambient conditions
with no downstream pipe), Exit Orifice, Spray Discharge Nozzle, Exit or Inline Exit Relief
Valve is modeled, then an “Exit Pressure” value like that shown in Figure 2 will need to
be specified with the same type of “Head (HGL)” or “Pressure” choices. This blog will
clarify how to specify either option appropriately.

Figure 2 – Valve Property window with Exit Valve option selected. No downstream pipe required. Head
(HGL) or Pressure must be entered as Exit Pressure for boundary condition. Exit Pressure is the pressure of the
ambient conditions that flow discharges into.

Consider the system in Figure 3 where a pump is submerged in a large tank. The pump
is at an elevation of 75 meters (246 ft), liquid surface elevation of the tank is 100 meters
(328 ft) and is open to the atmosphere, therefore, the liquid column above the pump
suction is 25 meters (82 ft).
Figure 3 – Example system with a submerged pump inside a large tank. Tank Liquid Surface Elevation is 100
m (328 ft) above sea level and pump suction is located 75 m (246) above sea level.

Modeling this system in AFT Fathom is very simple. Figure 4 contains three identical
systems on the same AFT Fathom Workspace. The top system includes a reservoir
junction that represents the tank from Figure 3 as well as a short, frictionless connector
pipe. The top system serves as a reference to help determine the inlet suction pressure
for the middle system and allows for a consistency comparison amongst the three
systems. The middle system models a single pump junction with no suction pipe and
represents the submerged pump in Figure 3. The middle system uses the “Pressure”
option for the Submerged Pump Suction Pressure option while the bottom system uses
the “Head (HGL)” option.
 Figure 4 – Three identical systems running on same Workspace. Top system uses supply reservoir and short
connector pipe. Middle system uses “Pressure” for the Submerged Pump Suction Pressure option while bottom
system uses “Head (HGL)” option.

After running the model, the pump inlet pressure in the top system is determined to be
3.458 bar (stagnation). This value can then be entered into the middle system when the
“Submerged Pump” feature is chosen with the “Pressure” option selected for the
Suction Pressure. The suction pressure can also easily be calculated from the
relationship shown below the image in Figure 5.
 Figure 5 – Suction Pressure calculation details to use for Submerged Pump’s “Pressure” option for Suction
Pressure, based upon 25 m (82 ft) liquid column above pump suction.

The bottom system in Figure 4 uses the “Head (HGL)” option for the Suction Pressure
specification on the submerged pump. One may be tempted to enter the value of the
liquid column height above the pump suction. However, this is incorrect. When
specifying the Suction Pressure with the “Head (HGL)” option, the liquid surface
elevation of the reservoir or tank in which the pump is submerged is what needs to be
specified.

When the liquid surface elevation of the reservoir in which the pump is submerged in is
specified, then AFT Fathom and AFT Impulse will be able to determine the amount of
liquid head above the pump suction based upon the pump’s inlet elevation and the
“Head (HGL)” value. This will provide the correct boundary condition at the inlet of the
pump, as shown in Figure 6.
 Figure 6 – Submerged Pump using “Head (HGL)” option for the Suction Pressure. Value to use is liquid
surface elevation of tank/reservoir that pump is submerged in, NOT the liquid column above the pump suction.

After running the model for the three systems in Figure 4, you can see from the results
shown in Figure 7 that the systems are identical. This should help clarify that the “Head
(HGL)” value that needs to be specified is the liquid surface elevation of the reservoir or
tank that the pump is submerged within, NOT the height of the liquid column above the
pump suction.

Figure 7 – Results comparison for three systems on same Workspace running for Figure 4.

If the pump is submerged into a pit which is below zero elevation, the same concept
applies, just be sure to specify the elevations correctly with the appropriate negative
values. The pump suction is 170 m (558 ft) below sea level, therefore the “Inlet
Elevation” for the pump will be -170 meters. However, the liquid surface elevation of the
pit in this case is 150 meters (492 ft) below sea level, therefore, the “Head (HGL)” that
is specified will be -150 meters. This establishes the 20 meters (66 ft) of liquid column
above the pump suction.

Figure 8 – Example of specifying pump inlet elevation and Submerged Pump “Head (HGL)” option when
submerged in a pit below zero-point reference of system.

As mentioned previously in this blog, the “Head (HGL)” and “Pressure” options can exist
for other junction types such as exit valves, spray discharge nozzles, etc. This is the
“Exit Pressure” that must be defined for the case of an Exit Valve that was shown in
Figure 2. The “Exit Pressure” is simply the ambient conditions in which the fluid is
discharging into through the valve, spray discharge nozzle, etc. If the fluid is
discharging directly into the atmosphere, then it is easiest to choose the “Pressure”
option for the “Exit Pressure” and then simply enter the atmospheric pressure
value. However, if the valve or spray discharge nozzle is submerged into a tank or
reservoir and that is the medium in which the fluid is discharged into, then it may be
easier to use the “Head (HGL)” option. Again, specify the elevation of the component in
the junction property window with reference to the zero point of the model. Then for the
“Head (HGL)” option, specify the liquid surface elevation of the tank or reservoir in
which the component is submerged.

In conclusion, this discussion should now have clarified that the value that needs to be
entered for the “Head (HGL)” option for the Suction Pressure on a submerged pump or
Exit Pressure for an Exit valve is the liquid surface elevation of the tank/reservoir in
which the component is submerged. NOT the liquid column of fluid above the
component. Based upon the junction’s inlet elevation and the “Head (HGL)” that is
entered, AFT Fathom and AFT Impulse will properly take into account the liquid column
of fluid above that component.