Investigating the performance degradation of centrifugal pumps

虽然用于泵送的能源量取决于许多因素，但泵送系统的能源消耗约占世界电能需求的10%。此外，运行泵的生命周期成本往往远远超过其资本成本，泵的低效率通常占泵送系统潜在能源节省的25%左右。因此，理所当然的是，对于各种系统的操作，包括但不限于能源生产、冷却、加热、食品加工、水分配等，能量效率和评估泵的性能退化应该是重要的考虑因素。几个因素在泵的性能退化中起重要作用，例如振动、水力因素（包括空化、再循环、轴向推力、径向推力、和压力脉动、腐蚀、侵蚀和维护。开发了不同的方法来监测泵的退化，包括：振动谱分析、模态分析、声发射分析以及电机电流或功率分析。还使用过程参数的历史趋势，例如温度、压力、流速和红外成像。然而，非常有限的研究开发，以评估在泵的整个寿命期间，操作和改变系统负载对泵性能的影响。此外，评价的多重退化机制对泵的性能的影响还没有以前的研究。因此，本研究的目的是通过实验研究Xylem公司感兴趣的不同类型泵在不同操作条件下的性能退化。此外，自动化系统分析将用于开发预测性维护的诊断工具。从这项研究中获得的知识将使泵的更好的设计和开发一个更好的操作控制。这不仅可以节省泵送系统的能耗，还可以提高泵的可靠性，降低生命周期成本，这将直接有利于加拿大经济。

While the amount of energy used for pumping varies depending on a number of factors, the energy consumption in pumping systems accounts for approximately 10% of the world's electrical energy demand. Also, the life-cycle cost of running a pump is often far outweighs their capital cost and the pump inefficiencies usually account for up to approximately 25 per cent of potential energy savings in pumping systems. It therefore stands to reason that energy efficiency and evaluating performance degradation of pumps should be an important consideration to the operation of variety of systems including but not limited to energy production, cooling, heating, food processing, water distribution, etc. Several factors play a significant role in performance degradation of pumps such as vibration, hydraulic factor including cavitation, recirculation, axial thrust, radial thrust, and pressure pulsations, corrosion, erosion and maintenance. Different methods were developed to monitor degradation in pumps including: vibration spectral analysis, modal analysis, acoustic emission analysis, and motor current or power analysis. Historical trending of process parameters such as temperature, pressure, flow rates, and infrared imaging are also used. However, very limited studies were developed to evaluate the effect of operation and varying the system load on pump performance over the entire life of the pump. Also, evaluating the effect of multi-degradation mechanism on the pump performance has not been studies before. Therefore, the objective of this study is to experimentally investigate the performance degradation of different type of pumps of interest to Xylem Co. under different operating conditions. Also, the automation system analysis will be used to develop a diagnostic tool for predictive maintenance. The gained knowledge from this research will enable better design of the pumps and develop a better operation control. This will not only save energy consumption in the pumping system, but also will improve the pump reliability, and reduced life cycle costs, which will directly benefit the Canadian economy.