Light Oil Suction - Flow Velocities
Capacity problems, cavitation and higher power consumption in pumps, are often the result of conditions on the suction sides of the pumps.
In general - as a rule of thumb - for light oils, keep the suction fluid flow speed below the following values:
| Pipe bore | Light Oil Velocity | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| inches | mm | m/s | ft/s |
| 1 | 25 | 0.5 | 1.5 |
| 2 | 50 | 0.5 | 1.5 |
| 3 | 75 | 0.5 | 1.6 |
| 4 | 100 | 0.55 | 1.8 |
| 6 | 150 | 0.6 | 2 |
| 8 | 200 | 0.7 | 2.3 |
| 10 | 250 | 0.9 | 3 |
| 12 | 300 | 0.9 | 3 |
More about NPSH suction problems can be read here:
- Cavitation and NPSH - an introduction to cavitation and Net Positive Suction Head NPSH
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