Centrifugal-Pump Performance as Affected by Design Features

This paper presents some of the results of a study of Grand Coulee pumping-plant characteristics. The research program was conducted for the Bureau of Reclamation by the California Institute of Technology in its hydraulic machinery laboratory (1) and has been in progress since January, 1938. While the principal object was to determine the operating features for pumping units to be installed at the Grand Coulee project, the results obtained are somewhat more generally applicable than might be expected. It is believed by the author that investigations of a somewhat similar nature offer the most reliable means for securing the characteristics desired in hydraulic units, both pump and turbine, for practically any given set of conditions.