Cavitation

Cavitation
Cavitation means that cavities or bubbles are forming in the liquid that we're pumping. These cavities form at the low pressure or suction side of the pump, causing several things to happen all at once: The cavities or bubbles will collapse when they pass into the higher regions of pressure, causing noise, vibration, and damage to many of the components. We experience a loss in capacity. The pump can no longer build the same head (pressure) The pump's efficiency drops.
The cavities form basic reasons and it's common practice to lump all of them into the general classification of cavitation. This is an error because we'll learn that to correct each of these conditions, we must understand why they occur and how to fix them. Here they are in no particular order : Vaporization Air ingestion (Not really cavitation, but has similar symptoms) Internal recirculation Flow turbulence
Vaporization .
A fluid vaporizes when its pressure becomes too low, or its temperature too high. All centrifugal pumps have a required head (pressure) at the suction side of the pump to prevent this vaporization. This head requirement is supplied to us by the pump manufacturer and is calculated with the assumption that fresh water at 68 degrees Fahrenheit (Twenty degrees Centigrade) is the fluid being pumped.
To cure vaporization problems you must either increase the suction head, lower the fluid temperature, or decrease the N.P.S.H. Required. We shall look at each possibility: Increase the suction head Raise the liquid level in the tank Raise the tank Pressurize the tank Reduce the piping losses.
Lower the pumping fluid temperature
Injecting a small amount of cooler fluid at the suction is often practical. Insulate the piping from the sun's rays. Be careful of discharge recirculation lines. They can heat the suction fluid.
Reduce the N.P.S.H. Required

Use a double suction pump. This can reduce the N.P.S.H.R. by as much as 25%, or in some cases it will allow you to raise the pump speed by 40% Use a slower speed pump. Use a pump with a larger, impeller eye opening. Use several smaller pumps. Three half capacity pumps can be cheaper than one large pump plus a spare. This will also conserve energy at lighter loads
Air ingestion (Not really cavitation, but acts like it) A centrifugal pump can handle 0.5% air by volume. At 6% air the results can be disastrous. Air gets into as system in several ways that include : Through the packing stuffing box. This occurs in any packed pump that lifts liquid, pumps from a condenser, evaporator, or any piece of equipment that runs in vacuum. Valves located above the water line. Through leaking flanges. Pulling air through a vortexing fluid.
If a bypass line has been installed too close to the suction, it will increase the temperature of the incoming fluid.
Any time the suction inlet pipe looses fluid. This can occur when the level gets too low, or there is a false reading on the gauge because the float is stuck on a corroded rod.
Both vaporization and air ingestion have an adverse affect on the pump. The bubbles collapse as they pass from the eye of the pump to the higher pressure side of the impeller. Air ingestion seldom causes damage to the impeller or casing. The main effect of air ingestion is loss of capacity. Although air ingestion and vaporization can both occur, they have separate solutions. Air ingestion is not as severe as vaporization and seldom causes damage, but it does lower the capacity of the pump.
Internal Recirculation This condition is visible on the leading edge of the impeller, close to the outside diameter, working its way back to the middle of the vane. It can also be found at the suction eye of the pump. As the name implies, the fluid recirculates increasing its velocity until it vaporizes and then collapses in the surrounding higher pressure. This has always been a problem with low NPSH pumps and the term Suction Specific Speed to guide you in determining how close you have to operate to the B.E.P. of a pump to prevent the problem.
Head= Net positive suction head required (feet or meters) at that rpm For a double suction pump the flow is divided by 2 since there are 2 impeller eyes Try to buy pumps with a suction specific speed number lower than 8500.(5200 metric ) forget those over 12000 (8000 metric) except for extreme circumstances. Mixed hydrocarbons and hot water at 9000 to 12000 (5500 to 7300 metric) or higher, can probably operate satisfactorily. High specific speed indicates the impeller eye is larger than normal, and efficiency may be compromised to obtain a low NPSH required. Higher values of specific speed may require special designs, and operate with some cavitation. Normally a pump operating 50% below its best efficiency point (B.E.P.) is less reliable.
With an open impeller pump you can usually correct the internal recirculation problem by adjusting the impeller clearance to the manufacturers specifications. Closed impeller pumps present a bigger problem and the most practical solution seems to be to contact the manufacturer for an evaluation of the impeller design and a possible change in the design of the impeller or the wear ring clearances.
Turbulence We always prefer to have liquid flowing through the piping at a constant velocity. Corrosion or obstructions can change the velocity of this liquid, and any time you change the velocity of a liquid, you change its pressure.
Good piping layouts would include :

The upstream conditions should have a minimum straight run of ten pipe diameters to provide uniform flow to the suction Each pump capacity must be less than 15,000 gpm Back wall clearance distance to the centerline of the pump must be at least 0.75 of the suction diameter. Bottom clearance should be approximately 0.30 (30%) of the suction diameter
The minimum submergence should be as follows:

FLOW 4,500 M3/HR 22,500 M3/HR 40,000 M3/HR 45,000 M3/HR 55,000 M3/HR MINIMUM SUBMERGENCE 1.2 METERS 2.5 METERS 3.0 METERS 3.4 METERS 3.7 METERS
Cavitation Damage
Cavitation can destroy pumps and valves, and cavitation causes a loss of efficiency in pumps immediately, and also a continuously increasing loss of efficiency as the equipment degrades due to erosion of the pump components by cavitation. Therefore It is important to understand the phenomena sufficiently to predict and therefore reduce cavitation and damage from cavitation, and also to diagnose and find practical solutions to cavitation problems.
Cavitation Enhanced Chemical Erosion Pumps operating under cavitation conditions become more vulnerable to corrosion and chemical attack. Metals commonly develop an oxide layer or passivated layer which protects the metal from further corrosion.
Cavitation can remove this oxide or passive layer on a continuous basis and expose unprotected metal to further oxidation.
The two processes (cavitation & oxidation) then work together to rapidly remove metal from the pump casing and impeller. Stainless steels are not invulnerable to this process.
Materials Selection There is no metal, plastic, or any other material known to man, that can withstand the high levels of energy released by cavitation in the forms of heat and pressure. In practice however, materials can be selected that result in longer life and customer value in their ability to withstand cavitation energies, so that attention to pump construction materials is valuable and productive.
There are millions of cast iron and bronze pumps that work fine for 20 years or more without any problem even though many of those pumps experience some

Cavitation

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Cavitation

Lower the pumping fluid temperature

Reduce the N.P.S.H. Required

Good piping layouts would include :

The minimum submergence should be as follows:

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