Empirical Analysis and Prediction of Performance Parameters of Single Stage Overhung Centrifugal Pump for Waxy Flare Knockout Drum

Abstract

The study involves experimental evaluation and modeling of the main effects and interaction among the operational parameters of a single stage overhung centrifugal pump for waxy flare knockout drum to enable its performance prediction. Completely randomized single replicate Box-Wilson central composite circumscribed block design which comprises thirty-two factorial points, ten centre points and twelve axial points constitutes experimental plan applied Operational and process data of onshore applications of the pump at different Oil and Gas fields located in Rivers state of Nigeria were sampled in this investigation. This study revealed the pump efficiency, flow rate and head as the key performance parameters of a single stage overhung centrifugal pump for waxy flare knockout drum. A performance test of this pump shows that the fluid density and the configuration of the impeller profiles (which comprises number of impeller blades, blade length, blade discharge width, impeller discharge diameter and impeller blade discharge angle) are related to the three main performance parameters of the pump in such a way that improving one will affect other. This caused high energy consumption and cost of pump operation. Multi-response multi-factor mathematical models were developed and optimized using response surface based desirability function approach after the adequacy of the models to approximate the measured data well had been established at 95% confidence interval.