Multistage Centrifugal Pumps

A centrifugal pump converts external rotational mechanical energy into kinetic energy within a liquid. In the most common design of the centrifugal pump, a single impeller spins within a case called a volute. There is an economical limit to the pressure increase that can be achieved with a single impeller. Placing multiple impeller-and-volute stages in a case creates a single centrifugal pump unit capable of continuously delivering much higher discharge pressures than can be created by a single stage pump. This type of pump is called a multistage centrifugal pump. This course discusses some of the mechanical considerations and different designs of multistage centrifugal pumps.