American Journal of Mechanical Engineering, 2013, Vol. 1, No. 5, 113-118 Available online at http://pubs.sciepub.com/ajme/1/5/2 © Science and Education Publishing DOI:10.12691/ajme-1-5-2 Empirical Correlations for the Performance of Hydraulic System Handling Water Hyacinth Mohamed F. Khalil 1,2 , Sadek Z. Kassab 2 , Ahmed A. Abdel Naby 2,3 , Aly Azouz 2,4,* 1 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Lebanese International University, Beirut, Lebanon 2 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University Alexandria, Egypt 3 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Beirut Arab University Beirut, Lebanon 4 The Petroleum Projects and Technical Consultation Co (PETROJET), Egypt *Corresponding author: azouz19680409@yahoo.com Received May 04, 2013; Revised May 29, 2013; Accepted June 23, 2013 Abstract The present study is predicting, by deducing empirical correlations, the effect of varying the operating parameters on the performance of a pumping system handling water hyacinth. Pump suction inclination angle, water height above pump inlet, inlet suction cone diameter, pump flow rate, number of cutter blades, with/without scrapper, plant parts and water hyacinth concentration are the operating parameters. The recovery rate and the effectiveness of pumping system the two most important parameters displayed the performance of the pumping system, are predicted by empirical correlations as function of these operating parameters. Sets of published experimental data in the open literature were used to obtain these empirical correlations. Three different cases are studied. In each case two equations are deduced, one for The recovery rate and the other for the effectiveness of pumping system. These cases covered the pumping system working conditions. The empirical correlations are obtained by using the least squares method (Regression analysis). Comparisons are performed between the results obtained, for The recovery rate and the effectiveness of pumping system, using the deduced empirical correlations and the used experimental data. Finally, general empirical correlations, cover practical operating pumping system ranges, are obtained and show reasonable agreement with the experimental data. Keywords: empirical correlations, pumping system, performance, water hyacinth Cite This Article: Khalil, Mohamed F., Sadek Z. Kassab, Ahmed A. Abdel Naby, and Aly Azouz, “Empirical Correlations for the Performance of Hydraulic System Handling Water Hyacinth.” American Journal of Mechanical Engineering 1, no. 5 (2013): 113-118. doi: 10.12691/ajme-1-5-2. 1. Introduction Water Hyacinth originating from the Amazon Basin in South America is a free-floating aquatic weed that is found worldwide. Water Hyacinth is considered the world’s worst aquatic weed [1]. It causes global annual losses in excess of US$ 100 million for hydro-electricity plants, irrigation schemes, fisheries, riparian communities and activities relying on water transit [2]. Tremendous progress has been made technologically in the last few years in the area of bio-fuel production, fuelled by ever increasing price and shortage of fossil fuel. There are also concerns about global climate change and severe food shortage. Biomass is the least expensive and most globally available resource. Therefore, priority should be shifted towards utilizing biomass, leaving aside food for human consumption. New methodologies of fermentation and hydrolysis of biomass have become available, along with development of transgenic varieties amenable for bio-fuel production. Now is the time to look for new material sources of bio-fuels, which are naturally amenable to processing during extraction of bio-fuel, thus reducing costs drastically and substituting fossil fuels in all aspects. Water hyacinth has long been seen as an invasive species all over the globe and considerable amount of resources have been spent for their control. However, they have certain qualities which can be utilized to produce bio-fuels (both bio-ethanol to power vehicles and motors, biogas to generate electricity) as the plants are low in lignin content and have rapid growth rate. They tend to grow well in water bodies even with low nutrient regime and can be easily mechanically harvested. There are so many alternative uses of these plant species and time has come to look at the plant from a different viewpoint and utilize their potential as much as possible. This tends to generate ample employment particularly in developing world [3]. There have been many discussions regarding substitute materials to replace petroleum and other decreasing natural fuel resources. These can be derived from plants that is, biomass can be converted into hydrocarbons and bio-fuels. It would be of course beneficial to obtain energy from inedible biomass like water hyacinth containing metallic pollutants. Water hyacinth contains large quantity of cellulose that can be converted into bio-ethanol by enzymes. The conversion of biomass into hydrocarbons like methane utilizes a complex but reasonably well understood biochemical route. Digestion of water hyacinth