Criteria for Selecting Pumps – Specific Speed

We had a great week last week with our Steam and Gas Turbine Design workshop and we thank all of our participants who joined us in Boston and Zug, Switzerland! But like any rotating turbomachinery company, we’re rotating right along into another topic, pumps.

As with any turbomachine, when you’re in the process of selection, you should take into account a few factors depending on the application.

The specific speed should be the first parameter to take into account when designing and installing a new pump.

Pump selection based on specific speed

If you take a look at this graph you’ll see a comparison between different kinds of pumps as a function of the specific speed. In the case of multistage pumps, the specific speed should not be higher than 1 because this kind of pump design yields better efficiencies below that value.

What are some other factors for selecting pumps?