Centrifugal Pumps in Parallel - Fluid Flow

Fluid Flow Table of Contents
Hydraulic and Pneumatic Knowledge

Centrifugal Pumps in Parallel

If the inlet and the outlet of each pump are at identical points in the system, each pump must produce the same pump head. The total flow rate in the system, however, is the sum of the individual flow rates for each pump.

When the system characteristic curve is considered with the curve for pumps in parallel, the operating point at the intersection of the two curves represents a higher volumetric flow rate than for a single pump and a greater system head loss. As shown in Figure 12, a greater system head loss occurs with the increased fluid velocity resulting from the increased volumetric flow rate. Because of the greater system head, the volumetric flow rate is actually less than twice the flow rate achieved by using a single pump.