Centrifugal Pumps Design and Application 2nd ed - Val S. Lobanoff, Robert R. Ross (Butterworth-Heinemann, 1992)

190 Centrifugal Pumps: Design and Application
cavitation resistance and a given level of hydraulic sophistication may
well pay dividends in excess of their added cost.
The trends associated with the performance and cavitation criteria for
inducers are shown in Figure 11-6. The ideal inducer size lies at the intersection
of the curves, where maximized performance is provided
within cavitation limitations. By limiting consideration to flow coefficients
of $ < .2 and combining the Brumfield and cavitation limit criteria,
the following expression results, providing means of estimating the
optimum inducer diameter
Exact parity between the performance and cavitation criteria is, of
course, not essential in each inducer application. The challenge in designing
a family of inducers is to provide the most useful combinations of
characteristics within a reasonable family size.
This section has presented a superficial overview of a complex subject:
inducer design and application. A few closing remarks are in order,
Brumfield does not represent an ideal inducer such as with paper thin
Figure 11-6. Trends of performance vs. inducer diameter.