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Pressure Booster Pump Hydraulic

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districtguy

Civil/Environmental
Feb 27, 2008
6
I have a municipal plant water system of 600 gpm with 10 distribution points at various elevations. I need to put a booster pump in for a belt press washing system. I need to go from about 105 psi to 130 psi at 100 gpm. What will the pressure booster pump do to the rest of the system pressure. I tend to think it will reduce the pressure to other distribution points, but then I think that I am adding energy to the system so I see a increase in pressure to the upstream system at other distribution points.
Second question: Do I just design for delta 25 to 30 psi at 100 gpm or do I have to design for some friction loss in the suction? Do I just put the pump inline and put a mnual bypass in? The belt press is just used 8 hours.
 
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It sounds like the pump will have to produce 130 psig at 100 gpm, if the booster is installed at the belt press station.

If you have to install the booster pump next to the existing pump feeding the system from some other location, you might want to install it in series, probably meaning 700 gpm at 25 psig capability, to give a total discharge pressure of 130.

What it will do to the system depends on how much flow and pressure in the system is increased and where the additional flow will be delivered within the system in relation to total length.

With what you have said so far, I can only say that I think you should expect to see at least a 25 psig increase in all the pressures you see now between where you install the booster pump to the point where you deliver the additional flow. Your suction pressures may change, change a little, or not at all. Can't tell much more without a whole lot more data.

It may make sense to install a booster at the belt drive location, with a tank if necessary, with a capacity to deliver 100 gpm at 130 psi and run your regular pump with a discharge valve opened a little more, or run the pump a little faster than normal for those 8 h, but I can't tell if you have those options.

We are really missing far too much data to say if this will work. I'm not even sure what the new total flowrate is, 600 or 700 and have no idea what this system looks like.

What would you be doing, if you knew that you could not fail?
 
You need to have a separate booster pump for the belt press. This would be a standalone booster pump station complete with controls that will operate independently of your water distribution system.

The water supply to the belt press should have a break tank or BFP so there is no possibility of cross contamination.


Order a complete package, pump and pump controller.

To answer your question:

The booster pump will have no effect on your water system. Your water distribution pumps should increase their output when the booster pump is operating.
 
If the belt press is an existing user than you just need to provide a higher pressure for then I'm with bimr, there's no impact on the existing system because you aren't changing the flows through it. For the booster pump, measure the current delivery pressure with the system in operation so you see the effect of the delivery system on the pressure at this point. Your new booster pump should be sized to boost that to 130 psig.

If it's a new user then your existing system could be impacted depending on the lengths and line sizes. If this is the case, we can't answer the question with the information you've provided.
 
I think that the booster pump would decrease the pressure in the system because the booster pump would naturally provide more flow because of the increased pressure. However,the discharge of the boosted pressure runs through nozzles that spray the belt press belt to clean it, The whole idea is to clan the belts better with the water spray. I am assuimng the the higher velocity may provide better cleaning, but I wonder if I provded larger nozzles, the increased water may do the job. But then again the higher velocity is probably better at cleaning.
This belt press is an existing system. This is non-potable water so there is no need for cross contamination prevention.
I think that the booster would at least have an interlock with the main PW pumps in case the larger pumps are turned off.
If the booster pump fails the sludge would build up on the press fabric and an alarm would go on. The booster pump would need to go back to the regular non-boosted mode when the pumps are turned off after 8 hours. I think pump fail mode should also open the bypass valve.
 
OK. You have a 600 gpm onsite non-potable water distribution system that includes a 100 gpm booster pump at 105 psig.

Now, you want to increase the 100 gpm booster pump pressure to 130 psig

This will not change the pressure in the water system at all. Water is an incompressible fluid. You will not be using more water, just water at a higher pressure.

A higher water volume is a poor substitution for a water spray. What works better when you clean concrete, a 1500 psig water spray at low volume or a garden hose at high volume and low pressure?

You can buy these booster pump packages complete with control system that will automatically control the water pressure, alarm, VFD, etc. Talk to the local Grundfos rep.
 
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