the friction is less than that of lift pumps, and the packing
round the plunger is easily accessible, whilst that round a lift
pump bucket is not. The flow is intermittent.
3. The Double-acting Force Pump is in principle a double plunger pump. The discharge fluctuates from zero to a maximum and back to zero each stroke, but is not arrested for any appreciable time.
4. Bucket and Plunger Pumps consist of a lift pump bucket combined with a plunger of half its area. The flow varies as in a double-acting pump.
5. Diaphragm Pumps have been used, in which the solid plunger is replaced by an elastic diaphragm, alternately depressed into and raised out of a cylinder.
As single-acting pumps give an intermittent discharge three are generally used on cranks at 120°. But with all pumps the variation of velocity of discharge would cause great waste of work in the delivery pipes when they are long, and even danger from the hydraulic ramming action of the long column of water. An air vessel is interposed between the pump and the delivery pipes, of a volume from 5 to 100 times the space described by the plunger per stroke. The air in this must be replenished from time to time, or continuously, by a special air-pump. At low speeds not exceeding 30 ft. per minute the delivery of a pump is about 90 to 95% of the volume described by the plunger or bucket, from 5 to 10% of the discharge being lost by leakage. At high speeds the quantity pumped occasionally exceeds the volume described by the plunger, the momentum of the water keeping the valves open after the turn of the stroke.
The velocity of large mining pumps is about 140 ft. per minute, the indoor or suction stroke being sometimes made at 250 ft. per minute. Rotative pumping engines of large size have a plunger speed of 90 ft. per minute. Small rotative pumps are run faster, but at some loss of efficiency. Fire-engine pumps have a speed of 180 to 220 ft. per minute.
The efficiency of reciprocating pumps varies very greatly. Small reciprocating pumps, with metal valves on lifts of 15 ft., were found by Morin to have an efficiency of 16 to 40%, or on the average 25%. When used to pump water at considerable pressure, through hose pipes, the efficiency rose to from 28 to 57%, or on the average, with 50 to 100 ft. of lift, about 50%. A large pump with barrels 18 in. diameter, at speeds under 60 ft. per minute, gave the following results:—
| Lift in feet | 1412 | 34 | 47 |
| Efficiency | .46 | .66 | .70 |
The very large steam-pumps employed for waterworks, with 150 ft. or more of lift, appear to reach an efficiency of 90%, not including the friction of the discharge pipes. Reckoned on the indicated work of the steam-engine the efficiency may be 80%.
Many small pumps are now driven electrically and are usually three-throw single-acting pumps driven from the electric motor by gearing. It is not convenient to vary the speed of the motor to accommodate it to the varying rate of pumping usually required. Messrs Hayward Tyler have introduced a mechanism for varying the stroke of the pumps (Sinclair’s patent) from full stroke to nil, without stopping the pumps.
§ 207. Centrifugal Pump.—For large volumes of water on lifts not exceeding about 60 ft. the most convenient pump is the centrifugal pump. Recent improvements have made it available also for very high lifts. It consists of a wheel or fan with curved vanes enclosed in an annular chamber. Water flows in at the centre and is discharged at the periphery. The fan may rotate in a vertical or horizontal plane and the water may enter on one or both sides of the fan. In the latter case there is no axial unbalanced pressure. The fan and its casing must be filled with water before it can start, so that if not drowned there must be a foot valve on the suction pipe. When no special attention needs to be paid to efficiency the water may have a velocity of 6 to 7 ft. in the suction and delivery pipes. The fan often has 6 to 12 vanes. For a double-inlet fan of diameter D, the diameter of the inlets is D/2. If Q is the discharge in cub. ft. per second D = about 0.6 √Q in average cases. The peripheral speed is a little greater than the velocity due to the lift. Ordinary centrifugal pumps will have an efficiency of 40 to 60%.
The first pump of this kind which attracted notice was one exhibited by J. G. Appold in 1851, and the special features of his pump have been retained in the best pumps since constructed. Appold’s pump raised continuously a volume of water equal to 1400 times its own capacity per minute. It had no valves, and it permitted the passage of solid bodies, such as walnuts and oranges, without obstruction to its working. Its efficiency was also found to be good.
Fig. 209.
Fig. 209 shows the ordinary form of a centrifugal pump. The pump disk and vanes B are cast in one, usually of bronze,
and the disk is keyed on the driving shaft C. The casing A has a spirally enlarging discharge passage into the discharge pipe K. A cover L gives access to the pump. S is the suction pipe which opens into the pump disk on both sides at D.
Fig. 210 shows a centrifugal pump differing from ordinary centrifugal pumps in one feature only. The water rises through a suction pipe S, which divides so as to enter the pump wheel W at the centre on each side. The pump disk or wheel is very similar to a turbine wheel. It is keyed on a shaft driven by a belt on a fast and loose pulley arrangement at P. The water rotating in the pump disk presses outwards, and if the speed is sufficient a continuous flow is maintained through the pump and into the discharge pipe D. The special feature in this pump is that the water, discharged by the pump disk with a whirling velocity of not inconsiderable magnitude, is allowed to continue rotation in a chamber somewhat larger than the pump. The use of this whirlpool chamber was first suggested by Professor James Thomson. It utilizes the energy due to the whirling velocity of the water which in most pumps is wasted in eddies in the discharge pipe. In the pump shown guide-blades are also added which have the direction of the stream lines in a free vortex. They do not therefore interfere with the action of the water when pumping the normal quantity, but only prevent irregular motion. At A is a plug by which the pump case is filled before starting. If the pump is above the water to be pumped, a foot valve is required to permit the pump to be filled. Sometimes instead of the foot valve a delivery valve is used, an air-pump or steam jet pump being employed to exhaust the air from the pump case.
Fig. 210.
§ 208. Design and Proportions of a Centrifugal Pump.—The design of the pump disk is very simple. Let ri , ro be the radii of the inlet and outlet surfaces of the pump disk, di , do the clear axial width at those radii. The velocity of flow through the pump may be taken
