A disciplined pump-sizing workflow from process flow requirement through total dynamic head, NPSH check, power and motor selection. Each step lists the input data needed, the formula or method, the deliverable it produces and the engineering notes — a repeatable procedure for sizing centrifugal and positive-displacement pumps to a defensible duty point.
Pump sizing should start from the process duty, never from a pump catalogue. Get the duty point wrong and no amount of pump quality will fix it: an oversized pump runs throttled, far left of its best-efficiency point, wasting energy and chewing through seals and bearings, while an undersized pump simply cannot meet the process.
The workflow is the same every time. Establish the required flow, including future and turndown cases; calculate total dynamic head from static lift, pressure difference and friction losses across the worst-case system; build the system curve and find where it meets the pump curve; check that NPSH available beats NPSH required with margin; choose a pump whose best-efficiency point sits close to the duty; then size the driver with a sensible power margin and verify the motor, speed and any variable-speed control. The step-by-step table below gives the inputs, formula or method, deliverable and notes for each stage so the result is repeatable and auditable.
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