Cooling Tower Suction Piping Guidelines

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Cooling Tower Suction Piping Guidelines

When designing cooling tower suction piping, it is absolutely critical that engineers have sufficient NPSH to the condenser water pump and avoid any piping design errors that could cause air to come out of the pumping solution.  If either of these becomes a problem…

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Steam Basics Part 17: Condensate Pump Discharge Balance Valves

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Steam Basics Part 17: Condensate Pump Discharge Balance Valves

Last week we talked about the critical relationship between the steam condensate return temperature and proper pump NPSHR. This week we'll look at the role the discharge balance plays in assuring....

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Steam Basics Part 16: Return Temperature & Condensate Pumps

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Steam Basics Part 16: Return Temperature & Condensate Pumps

One challenge to selecting a steam condensate return unit is the return temperature of the condensate after leaving the steam heat exchanger. This week we'll offer some suggestions to assist the engineer or designer...

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How To Read A Pump Curve - Part 2

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One of the most important lines on a pump performance curve is the Net Positive Suction Head (NPSH) curve.  Discreetly applied either below or above the pump performance and efficiency curves, this single plotted line is the key to avoiding cavitation. Required NPSH or NPSHR for a given pump increases with flow.  So, using the pump curve shown in Figure 1, we can see that the NPSHR for this Model 1510 B & G pump with a 8” impeller and 800 GPM and 33 Feet of Total Head is 12 feet of head. 
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