Frequently Asked Questions
Thermancy equipment can be fitted to any type of pump configuration. In the case of variable speed pumps, a speed value is measured and recorded.
As standard, Thermancy equipment require 2 x 1/2” BSP tapping points on the pipework either side of the pump. If your pipework has different size tapping points, this is not an issue since we can provide suitable sensors for your fitting sizes.
Thermancy equipment allow you to measure with ease the present efficiency of the pump under test at the current operating point.
Because Thermancy equipment can measure with precision the pump performance parameters (pump head, power, pump efficiency and flow rate), it is possible to rank the pumps in most need of maintenance.
Thermancy thermodynamic products such as Acuity and Agile require a distance of 1 (or more) pipe diameters from the pump flange for sensor mountings, to allow the measurement of pump flow rate.
Thermancy equipment can be fitted to small or large pipe diameter sizes. Typically, as the pipe diameter increases in size, so does the price of a conventional flow meter. This is not the case with our equipment.
With Thermancy equipment, all the pump parameters can be monitored, not just the power consumed.
If the emphasis is on energy efficiency, then a more appropriate factor to measure is the power consumed divided by the flow pumped. Under certain circumstances a pump may be consuming more power but it may at the same time be pumping disproportionately more flow, and hence be more ‘efficient’ than another pump consuming less power.
If the emphasis is on pump mechanical condition i.e. urgency of maintenance to prevent premature failure, then Thermancy equipment can show the engineering staff the actual operating point of the pump in terms of head, power efficiency and flow compared graphically and visually with the ex-factory or benchmark condition curves, and also compare all the pumps so that informed decisions can be made as to the right time to invest in undertaking repair work and on which pump unit.
Usually, you can hear a pump cavitating, even in a noisy pumphouse, but yes, the rapid fall-off of head and efficiency with flow is detected with Thermancy equipment.
Thermancy can complete a pump performance test for almost any type of pump. Please contact us.
The efficiency of the pump can be measured to an accuracy of better than 0.5% and depending on the power analyser used, the flow rate can be measured to an accuracy of 1%.
The thermodynamic method allows the pump performance curve to be re-created in situ. The performance curve of each pump in the system can be re-created with minimal disruption to the other pumps or pumping system.
To re-create the pump curves. the discharge valve of the pump has to be throttled and for data to be recorded at different intervals along the curve. In the case of variable speed pumps, the speed is changed and data recorded.
Yes, this is an important area for pump stations where there is a flowmeter but often more than one pump is running so with the Thermancy equipment each pump performance is measured, whereas, using just the flowmeter gives the total performance, leaving the individual pump performances largely unknown.
Because Thermancy equipment can measure with precision the pump performance parameters (pump head, power, pump efficiency and flow rate), it is possible to select the least cost combination of pumps to run for a required demand profile.
There are no limitations. Our equipment can measure pump performance data for almost any size pipe diameter.
The tapping locations are usually a distance of 1 (or more) pipe diameters from the pump flange. The photo below shows a typical tapping point on the discharge pipework of the pump.
In general, the greater the power and pressure, the easier it is for Thermancy equipment to measure pump performance data.
We recommend using our equipment on pumping systems with a pump head greater than 10m however our equipment performs exceptionally well with pump heads below 10m.
With regards to variable speed pump operation, one point to stress is the relatively frequent instances of variable speed pumps being operated for long periods at speeds that are too low, so they pump little flow very inefficiently, or even no flow at all causing overheating of the water trapped in the pump and seal and bearing failure. The Thermancy equipment would clearly show this happening and can alert operators.
Beware of this case, there are often significant penalties in efficiency involved with crude impeller trimming, due to the extra mis-match of the impeller with the profile of the volute casing.
Our equipment can be used to measure with confidence the amount by which the impeller requires trimming. Also, once the impeller has been modified, the equipment can be used again to verify the changes.