Available online www.ejaet.com European Journal of Advances in Engineering and Technology, 2016, 3(10): 1-4 Research Article ISSN: 2394 - 658X 1 Efficiency Enhancement of Centrifugal Water Pump by Using Inlet Guided Vanes Syed Amjad Ahmed, Abdul Muiz, Mohammad Mubashir and Wasif Ahmed NFC Institute of Engineering and Fertilizer Research Jaranwala Road, Faisalabad, Pakistan hod.mech@iefr.edu.pk _____________________________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACT The demand of national economy is energy. Centrifugal water pumps are being used in several applications from household usage to the industrial operations so efficiency enhancement is the major concern in the developing re- search. The efficiency of the centrifugal water pump is enhanced by using inlet guided vanes (IGV) in its suction pipe which generates the pre-whirling of water before entering into the centrifugal pump. Numerically and experi- mentally examined its performance at different angles of (IGV) and done experiments having a variety of flow rates. The results obtained from experiments evinced that head can be altered by using (IGV). Efficiencies are observed at different angles 0, 30, 45, 60of pre-whirling of water. The performance curves were obtained at different condi- tions of operations. Experimental results revealed that (IGV) decline the cavitation in centrifugal water pump and augment the efficiency of centrifugal water pump at the 30 best angle of pre-whirling. Keywords: Centrifugal pump, IGV, Inlet guided vanes section IGVS, Pre-whirl regulation _____________________________________________________________________________________ INTRODUCTION The fortune of national economy based on energy. Energy saving and efficient technologies are becoming important due to the developing of economy. As centrifugal pumps have higher consumption so they are having higher capa- bility towards less saving of energy. Inlet guided vanes are used in centrifugal compressors to control the mass flow and pressure ratio at constant rpm. From several decades the centrifugal compressors having (IGV) are being exam- ined sufficiently. The review of literature of (IGV) for compressors lie in categories of impact of inlet guided vanes on centrifugal compressors, [1-2] interpretation of energy [3-4]; methods of design and parameters of structure of (IGV) [5-6]. Comparing with the centrifugal pumps it seems to be uncommon for centrifugal pump but installation of IGV reduces the losses being generated due to the sudden impact of water on impellers eye and pre-whirling tends to reduce the cavitation. Cavitation tends to fluctuate pressure and irregular distribution of load which mini- mizes the efficiency of the centrifugal pump and makes it unstable. Many researchers performed their work on the problem of cavitation [7]. There is also some research on the pre-whirling effect in pumps [8]. 3D design of IGV and introductory study of pre-whirl regulation mechanism in centrifugal pumps is proposed. Their conclusions show that IGV has an impact on the efficiency and head of centrifugal water pump. This paper examines the impact of different pre-whirling angles on the efficiency and head of the pump and the performance curves were obtained at different conditions of operations as to nurture study of the work by Tan et al [9]. EXPERIMENTAL APPARATUS The parameters of centrifugal water pump are shown in Table -1. In Inlet guided vanes section (IGVS) the installed guided vanes which had 3D shape were designed having the method given by Tan et al [8]. The arrangement of guided vanes was uniform along the circumference as shown in the fig 1. The movement of guided vanes were aided with planetary hypoid bevel gears. The sun gear installed on the inlet pipe rotates the planetary gears which rotates the vanes inside the pipe. Thus pre-whirling is controlled by the angle adjuster which moves on the angle scale from 0  to 90. The most suited axial distance was maintained at 101.6 mm according to tan et al [9]. The angles of guid- ed vanes with the reference axis are shown in the fig. 2 where different angle planes are shown to ease the under- standing. The (IGVS) shown is having a reference plane and all the angle planes that were calibrated from this plane. The impact of (IGV) on centrifugal water pump is examined by the test apparatus shown in the fig 3. The