Maintenance and Reliability
Rotating Equipment
Principles and Operation of Centrifugal Pumps
Operating a pump where the system curve actually puts it, which is usually not where it was selected for.
- Duration
- 5 days
- Contact hours
- 30
- Level
- Intermediate
- Fee from
- On enquiry
Overview
Most pump problems are system problems. A pump selected for a duty it never sees runs off its curve, and the symptoms arrive as cavitation, seal failure, high vibration or a bearing life measured in months. Throttling a discharge valve to control flow, running two pumps in parallel without checking the curve, and a suction arrangement that never had the NPSH available are the usual causes, and none of them is fixed by replacing the pump. This week works from the curve outward: what the pump will do, what the system is asking of it, and what the gap does.
Who should attend
Operators and operations engineers responsible for pumped systems, maintenance and rotating equipment technicians and engineers, and reliability staff investigating repeat failures.
What you will be able to do
- Read a pump curve and locate the actual operating point on it.
- Calculate NPSH available and compare it against required, with margin.
- Diagnose cavitation, recirculation and dry running from their symptoms.
- Assess a control method against throttling, recirculation and speed change.
- Trace a repeat seal or bearing failure to the operating point that causes it.
How it is taught
Short input, then work, across 5 days of roughly 6 teaching hours each. Exercises run on situations delegates bring rather than on a case study written for a different organisation. Cohorts are capped so that everybody is asked something.
Available as classroom, live online, in house.
Programme outline
Day 1
How a centrifugal pump behaves
- Head, flow and the curve, and what the impeller sets
- Efficiency, best efficiency point, and the cost of running away from it
- Affinity laws, and what changes with speed and diameter
- Power, and the duty at which the motor is sized
Day 2
The system decides the duty
- Static and friction head, and building the system curve
- Where curve meets curve, and why it moves
- Series and parallel operation, checked rather than assumed
- Valves, strainers and the resistance nobody counted
Day 3
Suction and cavitation
- NPSH available, calculated from the actual arrangement
- NPSH required, and the margin to hold
- Cavitation and suction recirculation, told apart
- Vapour pressure, temperature and the fluid being pumped
Day 4
Mechanical consequences
- Seals, and the operating conditions that destroy them
- Bearings, lubrication and load from off curve running
- Axial and radial thrust, and where it goes
- Vibration as a symptom of a hydraulic cause
Day 5
Operating and controlling
- Throttling, recirculation and variable speed, compared on cost
- Minimum flow, and what happens below it
- Starting, stopping and switching duty
- Monitoring that would show the duty point drifting
What you leave with
- A system curve for one of the delegate's own pumped systems, with the duty point marked.
- An NPSH assessment with the available margin calculated.
- A failure analysis linking one repeat failure to its operating cause.
Dates and fees
| Dates | Location | Format | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| 23 to 27 November 2026 | Nairobi, Kenya | Classroom | US$1,500 |
| 30 November 2026 to 4 December 2026 | Kampala, Uganda | Classroom | US$1,500 |
| 7 to 11 December 2026 | Gaborone, Botswana | Classroom | R15,000 |
| 14 to 18 December 2026 | Dubai, United Arab Emirates | Classroom | US$1,500 |
Fees are per delegate and cover tuition, all programme materials and the certificate. Travel, accommodation and visas are arranged by the delegate. Registration closes two weeks before a programme starts.
Certificate
A GATI certificate recording what was attended, issued after the programme has run and attendance has been taken. Attending at least 80 per cent of the days earns a certificate of completion; attending less earns a certificate of attendance stating exactly what was attended. Every certificate carries a code that anybody can check against GATI's own record.
It records participation. and GATI does not claim one it does not hold.