Study on the Performance Characteristics of Centrifugal Pump with Drag-reducing Surfactant Additives

The performance characteristics of centrifugal pump were measured experimentally when running with tap water and drag-reducing surfactant (Octadecyl dimethyl amine oxide (OB-8)) solutions. Tests have been performed on five cases of surfactant solutions with different concentrations (0ppm (tap water), 200ppm, 500ppm, 900ppm and 1500ppm) and four different rotating speeds of pump (1500rpm, 2000rpm, 2500rpm and 2900rpm). Compared with tap water case, the experimental results show that the total pump heads for surfactant solution cases are higher. And the pump efficiency with surfactant solutions also increases, but the shaft power for surfactant solutions cases decreases compared to t hat for tap water. There exists an optimal temperature for surfactant solutions, which maximizes the pump efficiency.