Improving Reliability and Energy Efficiency of Three Parallel Pumps by Selecting Trade-Off Operating Points

• Main Authors: Safarbek Oshurbekov, Vadim Kazakbaev, Vladimir Prakht, Vladimir Dmitrievskii
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-06-01
• Series: Mathematics
• Subjects: centrifugal pump; energy efficiency; induction motor; parallel pumps; throttling; variable speed pump
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7390/9/11/1297

Reliability, along with energy efficiency, is an important characteristic of pump units in various applications. In practical pump applications, it is important to strike a balance between reliability and energy efficiency. These indicators strongly depend on the applied control method of the pump unit. This study analyzes a trade-off method for regulating a system with three parallel pumps equipped with only one frequency converter (multi-pump single-drive system). A typical operating cycle of a pumping system with variable flow rate requirements is considered. The proposed trade-off method is compared with the traditional regulation, when a change in the operating point of the pump is achieved only by changing the rotation speed, and with the method for maximum reliability. It is shown that the proposed trade-off method makes it possible to ensure sufficient reliability of the multi-pump system operation without a significant increase in energy consumption.