A pumping system assessment tool provides preliminary assessments of how efficiently pumping systems are operating.

A newly developed pumping system assessment tool (PSAT) has been designed and made available to engineers. Developed as a collaborative effort by Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, and the Department of Energy's Motor Challenge Program, the PSAT will assist engineers and facility operators in preliminary assessments of how efficiently pumping systems, including those used on heat processing operations, are operating. The tool also is suitable for performing plant energy surveys by consultants or plant engineers. It is available to Hydraulic Institute members as a part of the Parsippany, NJ-based institute's Allied Partner Agreement with the Department of Energy (DOE), Washington, and from DOE's Office of Industrial Technologies (OIT) clearinghouse.

"For many industrial facilities, the energy consumed in pumping fluids comprises a large fraction of their total energy consumption, and operators often are unaware of how effectively energy is being consumed in their pumping systems," explained Robert Asdal, executive director of Hydraulic Institute. "The PSAT provides a relatively simple indication of effectiveness by estimating the work done by the pumping system and compares that to the estimated energy input into the system."