Generation and control of pressure pulsations emitted from centrifugal pumps: A review

Pressure pulsations emitted by centrifugal pumps may strongly interact with a piping system, leading to excessive vibration and alternating stresses beyond endurance limits. Several cases of this nature were reported, especially in chemical, petro-chemical and power generation industries, causing costly repairs and loss of power. In the past, research attention was primary focused on corrective actions involving the design and installation of piping elements to absorb acoustic energy emitted by pumps. Currently, more emphasis is placed on developing analytical tools to predict piping system acoustics and avoid undesirable resonance effects. Little attention has been directed towards preventive actions, leading to a better understanding of pumps as an acoustic source. This paper provides an overview of the underlying excitation mechanisms and modelling techniques, and explores the role of pump design parameters in controlling pressure pulsations. The application here is to primary heat transport system of CANDU reactor