Reciprocating Pumps

Reciprocating pump
• It is called positive displacement pump as it

sucks and raises the liquid by displacing it with a
piston.
• Reciprocating pumps are positive displacement
pumps, i.e. initially, a small quantity of liquid is
taken into a chamber and is physically displaced
and forced out with pressure by a moving
mechanical elements. So the pump is called a
reciprocating pump.
• Not commonly used in the industry these days
owing to its higher maintenance cost
• Small hand operated pumps are still in use that

include cycle pumps, football pumps, kerosene
pumps, and village well pumps
• Very common for oil drilling operations as it can

lift oil from a very greater depth
Classification
• According to the contact of water
– Single acting
– water in contact with one side of piston
– Double acting
– water in contact with both sides of piston
• According to number of cylinder
– Single cylinder pump
– Double cylinder pump (or two throw pump)
– Triple cylinder pump (three throw pump)
– Duplex double acting pump (four throw pump)
• In general pumps with more than one cylinder
are known as multi cylinder pumps.
Main components
• Cylinder
• Piston
• Suction valve
• Delivery valve
• Suction pipe
• Delivery pipe
• Crank and connecting rod mechanism operated
by a power source e.g electric motor
Working (single acting
reciprocating pump)
• Usually has one suction and one delivery pipe
• Each pipe has one controlling valve
• Piston moves backwards and forwards inside

the cylinder with the rotation of the crank.
• Suppose that the crank is at zero degree angle

and rotates in clockwise direction
• With the rotation of the crank, the piston moves
towards right creating a vacuum on the left side
of the piston
• This results in opening of the suction valve

forcing liquid to enter the suction pipe from the
sump.
• Suction stroke is completed when the crank is at

180 degree then left hand side of cylinder is full
of liquid.
• Piston moves towards left resulting in high build
up of pressure within the cylinder as the crank
turns from 180 to 360 or zero degree.
• This results in the opening of delivery valve and

the liquid is forced to the delivery pipe leading
water to overhead tank.
• Crank comes to zero angle at the end of delivery

stroke (extreme left position).
Working (double acting)
• Suction and delivery strokes occur
simultaneously.
• Vacuum is created on LH side of piston on

rotation of crank in clockwise direction from zero
to 180 degrees
• Consequently liquid is sucked in from sump

through suction valve.
Double acting reciprocating pump
• Liquid on the RHS of piston is pressed and a
high pressure causes the delivery valve to open,
forcing the liquid into the overhead tank through
the delivery pipe.
• This process continues till crank reaches again

to zero or 360 degrees.
• One cycle is completed when the crank reaches
zero angle
Discharge, work done and
power required
• Single acting pump
let
D = diameter of the cylinder
A = cross sectional area of piston
r = crank radius
N = crank speed (rpm)
L = stroke length (2r)
hs = height of centre of cylinder above the
liquid surface
hd = height to which the liquid is raised
above the centre of cylinder
Volume of liquid sucked in during the suction

stroke is given by
AxL
Discharge of pump per second
N
Q  A L 
60
Weight of water delivered per second
ALN
W  Q 
60
Work done per second = weight of water
lifted per second x total height through
which the liquid is lifted.
ALN
W hs  hd   hs  hd 
60
Power required to drive the pump
ALN
hs  hd  (kW)
60 1000
• Double acting pump gives more uniform
discharge because of continuous delivery
strokes.
• Double acting reciprocating pump
D = diameter of the piston

d = diameter of piston rod
Apr = cross sectional area of piston rod

 2
d
4
Area on one side of piston

A D 2
4
Area on other side where piston rod is
connected to piston

A  (D2  d 2 )
4
Discharge of the pump per second is given
by
 2  2
 4 D 
4
D d 
2  LN
 60
If ‘d’ is quite small compared to ‘D’, then ‘d’

can be neglected so discharge will be
given by
  2  2  LN
 4 D  4 D  60
Or
  2  LN
2 D 
 4  60
2ALN
60
Work done per second will be
2ALN
W hs  hd   hs  hd 
60
Power required will be
2ALN
hs  hd 
60 1000
Co efficient of discharge Cd
Actual discharge is always slightly different from
theoretical discharge due to
• leakeage through valves, piston packing

etc
• imperfect operation of valves
• partial filling of cylinder by liquid
Ratio of actual discharge to theoretical
discharge is coefficient of discharge Cd.
Cd expressed in percentage is known as

volumetric efficiency (85-98 %)
Slip
Difference between theoretical and actual
discharge is known as slip
slip  Qth  Qact

Often expressed in %age and given by
Qth  Qact
% slip   100
Qth
 Qact 
 1  100  1  Cd 100
 Qth 
Negative slip
• Occurs when actual discharge is more than
theoretical discharge
• Cd is greater than unity
• Happens when momentum of liquid in suction
pipe is large enough to open the delivery valve
before the delivery stroke
• Possible in pumps with long suction and short
delivery pipe
These pumps are also provided with air
vessels to regulate the flow (uniform rate)
and to minimise the frictional head loss.
EXAMPLE
A single-acting reciprocating pump discharge 0.018m 3 of water

per second when running at 60 rpm. Stroke length is 50 cm and
the diameter for the piston is 22 cm. If the total lift is 15 m,
determine:
(a) Theoratical discharge of the pump

(b) Slip and percentage slip of the pump
(c) Co-efficient of discharge
(d) Power required running the pump.
EXAMPLE
A three-throw reciprocating pump delivering 0.1 m3 /s of water

against a head of 100 m. Diameter and stroke of the cylinder are 25
cm and 50 cm respectively. Friction losses amount to 1 m in the
suction pipe and 16 m in the delivery pipe. If the velocity of water in
the delivery pipe is 1.4 m/s, pump efficiency 90% and slip 2%,
determine the speed of the pump and power required.

Reciprocating Pumps

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Reciprocating Pumps

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Reciprocating pump

• It is called positive displacement pump as it

• Small hand operated pumps are still in use that

• Very common for oil drilling operations as it can

• Each pipe has one controlling valve

• Piston moves backwards and forwards inside

• Suppose that the crank is at zero degree angle

• This results in opening of the suction valve

• Suction stroke is completed when the crank is at

• This results in the opening of delivery valve and

• Crank comes to zero angle at the end of delivery

• Vacuum is created on LH side of piston on

• Consequently liquid is sucked in from sump

• This process continues till crank reaches again

Volume of liquid sucked in during the suction

D = diameter of the piston

Apr = cross sectional area of piston rod

If ‘d’ is quite small compared to ‘D’, then ‘d’

• leakeage through valves, piston packing

Cd expressed in percentage is known as

slip  Qth  Qact

A single-acting reciprocating pump discharge 0.018m 3 of water

(a) Theoratical discharge of the pump

A three-throw reciprocating pump delivering 0.1 m3 /s of water

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