Light Oil Suction - Flow Velocities
Recommended max. suction flow velocities when pumping light oils.
Capacity problems, cavitation and higher power consumption in pumps, are often the result of conditions on the suction sides of the pumps.
In general - as a rule of thumb - for light oils, keep the suction fluid flow speed below the following values:
| Pipe bore | Light Oil Velocity | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| inches | mm | m/s | ft/s |
| 1 | 25 | 0.5 | 1.5 |
| 2 | 50 | 0.5 | 1.5 |
| 3 | 75 | 0.5 | 1.6 |
| 4 | 100 | 0.55 | 1.8 |
| 6 | 150 | 0.6 | 2 |
| 8 | 200 | 0.7 | 2.3 |
| 10 | 250 | 0.9 | 3 |
| 12 | 300 | 0.9 | 3 |
More about NPSH suction problems can be read here:
- Cavitation and NPSH - an introduction to cavitation and Net Positive Suction Head NPSH
