How detailed does a request for a quote have to be? Do you need more than inlet pressure, head and cubic meters per minute or gallons per minute to size a pump?
Kurt Grossman, Inventor, CEO
Genergy, LLC,
Newport Beach, Calif.
Kurt, if you do not have a fairly good idea of the piping and valves and also the layout details, it may be difficult for you to assume total system head. This may put you in a very approximate selection of parameters, and you may not be able to buy the most suitable pump for your requirements.
JK Saraswat, President-Operations & Technical
Maxflow Pumps India Limited
Gurgaon, India
The quote should indicate the medium; the temperature of the medium; the viscosity, if it is not sea/freshwater; and the kind of drive (electric, hydraulic, gas-diesel-engine, etc.).
Ralf Lange
Eastern European Sales Manager
Xylem Inc.
Hamburg Area, Germany
My dilemma is that I am trying to design a new system. Without the general size and footprint, I cannot provide a great degree of specific detail. It will need to be a step-by-step process. I know that I am looking for a 100,000-gallonper-minute system pumping seawater and another pumping fresh water. The temperature is about 50 F. The inlet pressureis about 220 psi and the head is about 670 feet. I don’t have a good idea of the valves or the storage tanks yet. I don’t know if they will be operating in series or parallel, how many bendsin the piping, what size of piping we will be using and other details that will ultimately make quite a difference.
However, the brochures and pump curves say that they can handle 100,000 gallons per minute and 670 feet of head. When I call the company, they ask me about everything under the sun, and it is very rare for me to even get a brochure or technical specifications. My biggest concern at the outset isenergy consumption. Before anything else, I would like to get the pump efficiency so that I can start estimating the footprint of the motor. Does this seem like “mission impossible”?
Kurt Grossman
Another detail will be whether to expect solids in the seawater. If expected, this can have a significant influence upon design considerations. A high efficiency water pump may not tolerate solids very well so efficiency could be seriously impacted by even minimal wear.
Robert Warrender, V.P.
American Process Equipment, Inc.
Greater Chicago Area
Tell us what you think. Comment below.