High performance hydraulic lab for Indar submersible pumps and motors

High performance hydraulic lab for Indar submersible pumps and motors

Innovation and constant technological development have been the fundamental key to Ingeteam’s strategy throughout its history. They are essential to compete in a world in constant evolution. As a result of its efforts, Ingeteam offers electronic products, both power and control, rotating electrical machines, and Indar submersible pumps and motors in all the sectors in which it operates.

The role played by R&D in the company is clearly shown by the annual investment in this activity, which represents 5% of the turnover, developing new R&D projects that we turn into products that are used by our customers.

To carry out these developments we have pioneering laboratories located in our facilities in Zamudio and Beasain, Spain. Specifically, the latest Indar pumping solutions are validated in the Hydraulic Test Laboratory located in Beasain. These facilities make it possible to work with power and voltage levels equal to those existing in real applications, allowing to optimize the results achieved.

Innovation and constant technological development have been the fundamental key to Ingeteam’s strategy throughout its history. They are essential to compete in a world in constant evolution

We have the most advanced technology in the sector, including a hydraulic laboratory and test bench, which together with a highly qualified R+D+i department, allows us to develop our products with our own technology and to adapt in a flexible way to the needs of our customers.

The test bench consists of 4 different test circuits and a dry well, which makes it practically unique with these characteristics, since this high-performance laboratory is the test bench with the deepest wells (maximum 30m) and one of the largest in Spain. There are very few of its kind in the world that allow testing submersible pumps at such a depth.

It is intended for testing pumps and motors to ensure their correct operation and to make sure that they reach the expected working points. For this purpose, the tests are monitored and the necessary data and information are collected to know and complete the characteristic curves of the pumps (Q-H, Q-P, Q-η and Q-NPSH). These data are obtained thanks to the fact that the different circuits have monitoring and measurement systems, such as flow meters or pressure transducers. The type of pump to be tested conditions the circuit to be used and its configuration, as they may vary depending on the flow rate and head provided by the pump.

All the information obtained during the tests is centralized and managed by a computer system that collects the different parameters studied during the tests, so that real readings of the pump behaviour can be obtained instantly: flow/head, efficiency, consumption, maximum and minimum values, etc., allowing a thorough knowledge of the machine and its behaviour in all the operating regime.

The results obtained during the tests are the basis for a process of optimization, validation and adaptation of Indar products to different applications and working conditions. In addition, it should be noted that the validation of new custom designs, as well as standard ranges, is carried out in a systematized way in our Laboratory with the capacity to perform different tests, to several pieces of equipment, simultaneously.

Summary of main features:

  • Flow rate up to 21 000 m³/h (5 900 l/s).
  • Head up to 1000 m
  • Power: 5000 kW
  • Voltage: 13.8 kV
  • 50hz, 60hz, frequency converter
  • Maximum tare weight: 40 Tn