High Speed Induced Flow Reciprocating Pumps

Abstract

Reciprocating pumps have been used for many years in conjunction with an air vessel or hydraulic accumulator placed between pump and discharge line, in order to control maximum cylinder pressures and to reduce the work done in overcoming friction. The air vessel and the discharge line are, in fact, capacitive and inductive components which together have some natural frequency generally different from the pump frequency. In this paper, it is shown that by matching the natural frequency of the discharge impedance to the pump frequency it is possible to obtain volumetric efficiencies of 200 per cent or more. This ‘induced flow principle’ was incorporated in a small high speed pump developed specifically to overcome the relative bulk and cost of conventional diaphragm pumps. Performance data for the new type of pump are compared with theoretical analogue computer solutions, and it appears that the induced flow principle may have a wider range of application than originally anticipated.