Abelin, who is Xylem’s marketing director, was chair of the committee that recently developed the Hydraulic Insitute's Rotodynamic Pumps for Hydraulic Performance Acceptance Tests, ANSI/HI 14.6-2011 standard which is destined to become the new global reference. Abelin also chaired the committee that completed a major revision of the ‘Rotodynamic Submersible Pumps for Hydraulic Performance, Hydrostatic Pressure, Mechanical, and Electrical Acceptance Tests, ANSI/HI 11.6-2011’ standard which now includes advances on the previous version including enabling the user to evaluate the power requirements for an entire pump unit. The new Rotodynamic Pumps for Hydraulic Performance Acceptance Tests, ANSI/HI 14.6-2011 standard, which supersedes the Centrifugal Pump Test Standard (ANSI/HI 1.6-2000) and the Vertical Pump Test Standard (ANSI/HI 2.6-2000), now includes six instead of two acceptance grades. New elements of the standard include:
- lower tolerance bands concerning energy efficiency have been developed
- acceptance grades with bilateral and unilateral tolerances have been defined
- tolerances for pumps with low horsepower input of up to 10kW (13 hp)
- new graphics and content that provide readers with insight into NPSH testing
- special test techniques relating to model testing to predict performance of pumps too large to test by conventional means.
The newly revised Rotodynamic Submersible Pumps for Hydraulic Performance, Hydrostatic Pressure, Mechanical, and Electrical Acceptance Tests, ANSI/HI 11.6-2011 standard represents a major departure from the previous version of the standard. Under the new revision the pump wire-to-water efficiency or electrical input power is guaranteed and tested, in addition to the mandatory flow and head test. This represents an improvement as wire-to-water testing was not a requirement of the previous submersible pump test. This enables the user to evaluate the power requirements for the entire pump unit.