The non-intrusive detection of incipient cavitation in centrifugal pumps

This thesis investigates methods for the detection of incipient cavitation in centrifugal pumps. The thesis begins by describing the working of the centrifugal pump which makes this type of pump particularly prone to cavitation. The basic mechanisms of cavitation are described, which explain why this phenomenon is so damaging. The thesis reports the results of experiments to predict the onset cavitation using a range of statistical parameters derived from: the vibration signal obtained from an accelerometer on the pump casing, the airborne acoustic signal from a microphone close to the outlet of the pump and the waterborne acoustic signal from a hydrophone in the outlet pipe close to the pump. An assessment of the relative merits of the three methods for the detection of incipient cavitation is given based on a systematic investigation of a range of statistical parameters from time and frequency domain analysis of the signals. It is shown that is the trends in the features extracted are more than their absolute values in detecting the onset of cavitation. A number of recommendations are made as to which features are most useful, and how future work incorporating these suggestions could give a powerful method for detecting incipient cavitation. A major contribution of this research programme is the development of a novel capacitive method for the detection of cavitation. Some basic theory is presented to show the principles of the device and then the details of its construction and placement in the test rig built for the purpose. The data for the tests using the capacitive sensor are given and we can say definitely that it has been confirmed as a method of detecting cavitation in a pipe system, and that it is a promising method for the detection of the onset of cavitation.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Diagnosis of Centrifugal Pump Faults Using Vibration Methods

Pumps are the largest single consumer of power in industry. This means that faulty pumps cause a high rate of energy loss with associated performance degradation, high vibration levels and significant noise radiation. This paper investigates the correlations between pump performance parameters including head, flow rate and energy consumption and surface vibration for the purpose of both pump condition monitoring and performance assessment. Using an in-house pump system, a number of experiments have been carried out on a centrifugal pump system using five impellers: one in good condition and four others with different defects, and at different flow rates for the comparison purposes. The results have shown that each defective impeller performance curve (showing flow, head, efficiency and NPSH (Net Positive Suction Head) is different from the benchmark curve showing the performance of the impeller in good condition. The exterior vibration responses were investigated to extract several key features to represent the healthy pump condition, pump operating condition and pump energy consumption. In combination, these parameter allow an optimal decision for pump overhaul to be made [1]

Exploration of the possibility of acoustic emission technique in detection and diagnosis of bubble formation and collapse in valves

The application of acoustic emission (AE) technique in detection and monitoring of bubble formation and collapse in valves are presented in this review. The generation of AE signals and the basic compositions of AE detection system are briefly explained. The applications of AE technique in valves are focused on condition monitoring and detection bubble formation (bubble cavitation), and leakage of water through valves. All results prove that the AE technique works well for detection and diagnosis of failures during valves

A vibration cavitation sensitivity parameter based on spectral and statistical methods

Cavitation is one of the main problems reducing the longevity of centrifugal pumps in industry today. If the pump operation is unable to maintain operating conditions around the best efficiency point, it can be subject to conditions that may lead to vaporisation or flashing in the pipes upstream of the pump. The implosion of these vapour bubbles in the impeller or volute causes damaging effects to the pump. A new method of vibration cavitation detection is proposed in this paper, based on adaptive octave band analysis, principal component analysis and statistical metrics. Full scale industrial pump efficiency testing data was used to determine the initial cavitation parameters for the analysis. The method was then tested using vibration measured from a number of industry pumps used in the water industry. Results were compared to knowledge known about the state of the pump, and the classification of the pump according to ISO 10816

Investigation of the influence of flow rate on bubble formation and collapse in ball values at various opening percentages using an AE technique

Ball valves are popularly used in many different industrial processes and hydraulic systems because of their light weight and simple structure. However, they are susceptible to cavitation phenomena and the growth and collapse of the bubbles formed lead to erosion and pitting of the metal surfaces. This paper presents the monitoring and detection of bubble formation at an early stage in a ball valve using acoustic emission (AE). It is shown that AE will detect incipient cavitation and that there is a clear correlation between AE signal level and the flow rate through the ball valve at a constant opening percentage

Fault Diagnosis of Centrifugal Pumps based on the Intrinsic Time-scale Decomposition of Motor Current Signals

Centrifugal pumps are widely used in various manufacturing processes, such as power plants, and chemistry. However, pump problems are responsible for large amount of the maintenance budget. An early detection of such problems would provide timely information to take appropriate preventive actions. This paper investigates the application of Machine Learning Techniques (MLT) in monitoring and diagnosing fault in centrifugal pump. In particular, the focus is on utilising motor current signals since they can be measured remotely for easy and low-cost deployment. Moreover, because the signals are usually produced by a nonlinear process and contaminated by various noises, it is difficult to obtain accurate diagnostic features with conventional signal processing methods such as Fourier spectrum and wavelet transforms as they rely heavily on standard basis functions and often capture limited nonlinear weak fault signatures. Therefore, a data-driven method: Intrinsic Time-scale Decomposition (ITD) is adopted in this study to process motor current signals from different pump fault cases. The results indicate that the proposed ITD technique is an effective method for extracting useful diagnostic information, leading to accurate diagnosis by combining the RMS values of the first Proper Rotation Component (PRC) with the raw signal RMS values

Identifying bubble occurance during pool boiling employing acoustic emission technique

This paper reports the results of a study for the early detection of bubble formation during the boiling process using acoustic emission. The feasibility of using AE technology to detect and monitor early bubble formation during pool boiling is assessed, and the results show that AE technology is an affective tool for this purpose. There is a clear correlation between the AE signal levels and height of the water level above the heated surface during the boiling process. The different types of heated fluid influence AE energy levels during the bubble formation process. Statistically, it was found that the best AE parameters to indicate bubble formation were AE-RMS, AE-Energy and AE-Amplitude

A control system for preventing cavitation of centrifugal pumps

Cavitation is a well-known phenomenon that may occur, among other turbo-machines, in centrifugal pumps and can result in severe damage of both the pump and the whole hydraulic system. There are situations in which, in principle, the cavitation could be avoided by detecting the condition of incipient cavitation, and changing slightly the working point of the whole system in order to move away from that condition. In the present paper two simple closed-loop control strategies are implemented, acting on the pump's rotational speed and fed by the measurements of a set of inertial sensors. In particular, the research is focused on a centrifugal pump normally employed in hydraulic systems. The pump operates in a dedicated test rig, where cavitation can be induced by acting on a reservoir's pressure. Three accelerometers are installed in the pump body along three orthogonal axes. An extensive set of experiments has been carried out at different flow rates and a number of signals' features both in the time domain and in the frequency domain have been considered as indicators of incipient cavitation. The amount of energy of the signal captured by the accelerometer in the component orthogonal to the flow direction, in the band from 10 to 12.8 kHz, demonstrated to be effective in detecting the incipient cavitation, by selecting a proper (condition-dependent) threshold. Therefore, two simple controllers have been designed: the first regulates the speed of the pump, to recover from cavitation, bringing the indicator back to the nominal value, while the second allows to reduce the pump's rotational speed when the cavitation detector indicates the incipient cavitation and restoring the nominal speed when possible. The latter approach is rather general, because the threshold-based detector can be substituted by any detector providing binary output. Experimental results are reported that demonstrate the effectiveness of the approach

Cavitation Detection and Prevention in Professional Warewashing Machines

Cavitation is a phenomenon characterised by the presence of vapour bubbles in the fluid led by a local drop in pressure. In literature it is well known the impact on cavitation of pressure and temperature of pure water, but there are only few studies analysing how the presence of certain components of detergents and additives can influence the phenomenon. The impact of detergents and additives could be explained by the modified viscosity and rheology of the solution but also by the variation in the vapour tension. Most of these effects are due to the presence of surfactants and polymers in the solution. Cavitation in dynamic pumps is an important aspect that needs to be monitored and prevented, because it can cause damages affecting pump performances and inducing an increment in the level of vibration and noise. In professional warewashing machines, as for example the models of Electrolux Rack Type, this phenomenon can affect the operating functionalities of the machine. An experimental pump test rig has been realized with the aim of studying and monitoring the influence of these parameters on cavitation inception. This test rig permits measuring the pump performances at various operating conditions, in order to obtain its characteristic curves, and also forcing cavitation to measure its Net Positive Suction Head required (NPSHr) at different flow rates. The pump test rig allows also testing various configurations of the pump at different cavitation conditions, obtained by changing not only the suction pressure and temperature of the fluid but also its properties, adding detergents and additives. Cavitation inception can be detected measuring both the corresponding prevalence decrease and the change of vibration and noise level

Detection of Cavitation through Acoustic Generation in Centrifugal Pump Impeller

The most common device which transport fluid in industries, agriculture as well as domestic water supply is the centrifugal pump. Based on fluid transfer conditions, several let-downs are occur in the centrifugal pump, cavitation is one among them. The flow pattern at the eye of impeller deviates from the ideal case with the occurrence of cavitation. Due to cavitation, vibration occurs on blades that generates noise in pump. In this study, the acoustics generated in centrifugal pump impeller due to cavitation is detected with the sound pressure by using 3-Dimensional, steady and unsteady state computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis of an industrial centrifugal pump impeller. Harmonic force analysis with blade row model helps in finding the sound pressure. The acoustics generated with unsteady-state is compared with cavitation at steady-state CFD analysis. The Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes equations model as well as Shear Stress Transport (SST) turbulence model are used for the CFD simulation. The results show that the sound pressure calculated increases with the increase in cavitation (i.e. formation of vapour bubbles and sudden drop in head) which shows that high noises are generated by centrifugal pump impeller at lower net positive suction head (NPSH) at a particular discharge