Performance Conversion of Centrifugal Oil Pumps Used for Transporting Viscous Oil in China

Researchers in University of Petroleum of China (UPC) have done extensive lab studies to understand how the centrifugal pumps used in China perform in various conditions when being used for transporting viscous oil. Measurement errors of fluid rate are corrected online, while oil viscosity is also accurately recorded. Using these lab data and based on the most updated hydraulic models for centrifugal pumps in China, a set of performance conversion charts for different pump head, rate, efficiency, and net positive suction head are generated. In addition, the authors converted these curves to mathematical functions using statistical regression. It is found that the results calculated from the regressed functions are as accurate as those looked-up from the performance conversion charts, with total error within 0.4%. This approach has an advantage over the traditional graphical lookup approach in that the functions can be easily be coded in software applications. The authors have also converted the performance curves used in U.S., Russia and German to mathematical functions and noted that similar accuracies are achieved.