Centrifugal Pumps Flow Classifications

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Centrifugal Pumps Flow Classification

Centrifugal pumps can be classified based on the manner in which fluid flows through the pump. The manner in which fluid flows through the pump is determined by the design of the pump casing and the impeller.

The three types of flow through a centrifugal pump are:

• Radial flow
• axial flow
• mixed flow

Other methods of classification re whether the pump is single or multi-stage.

A single-stage pump will only have one impeller where a multistage pump has two or more impellers housed together in one casing. In a multistage pumps, each impeller may be mechanically driven separately or driven by a common shaft, discharging to the low pressure inlet of the next - stage impeller.

Centrifugal pumps may also classified as horizontal or vertical, depending on the position of the pump shaft. Impellers used in centrifugal pumps may be classified as single-suction or double-suction, depending on the way in which liquid enters the eye of the impeller.