A dry-well centrifugal pump cutaway connects a storage well to a rising main in this simulator. Level switches control the drive with separate start and stop levels, while the intersection of the pump and system curves determines flow. Change incoming water, pump speed, outlet elevation and pipe resistance, choose auto, hand or off, or isolate the discharge.
• A real-time 3D view with numbered, clickable parts: storage well and level switches; volute casing and impeller; motor, shaft and coupling guard; check valve and isolation valve; rising main and pressure gauge. Scene tools include home view, focus-selected-part, auto-rotate, expand and show/hide labels, and drag-to-orbit with pinch-to-zoom. • Experiment controls: incoming water (5–25 L/s); pump speed ratio (0.5–1.2 rated fraction); outlet elevation above well datum (8–25 m); pipe resistance coefficient (0.005–0.04 m/(L/s)²); control mode (auto / hand / off); discharge isolated, plus a show flow/process markers toggle, pause/resume, single-step buttons (0.1 s and 1 s), a playback-speed selector and a restart trial action. • Live readouts: well level; pump discharge; developed pump head; hydraulic / efficiency estimate; pump starts; overflow volume. A model response curve is drawn beside the 3D view and updates as you change controls. • A Curves & measurements tab with two live charts, the model equations as written in the simulator and snapshot readouts; an Experiments tab with 2 guided presets (blocked discharge; pump switched off) plus a model-verification bench, timestamped event log and copyable trial report. • A Learn & assess tab with 3 lessons (hysteresis avoids chatter; flow comes from intersecting curves; a closed valve does not imply a stopped motor), a 2-question knowledge check with reset, and a written model-scope statement.
In automatic mode the pump starts when the well reaches 3.2 m and stops at 1.0 m, with a low-level inhibit at 0.3 m. Separate start and stop levels prevent the chatter that a single setpoint would cause, and the simulator counts pump starts so you can see cycling.
When the well level is between those levels the pump keeps its previous state, so the well fills while the pump is off and drains while it is on. Overflow volume is tracked if inflow exceeds what the station can move.
The developed pump head falls with flow and rises with the square of speed, while the system head is the static lift plus a quadratic pipe-loss term. Flow is where the two curves meet, so both speed and pipe resistance influence it. A closed discharge valve produces zero delivery even though the motor may still run, and the pump then sits at its modeled shutoff head while the well rises.
Curves are illustrative. There is no cavitation, surge or motor-loss model, and the zero-flow power readout is hydraulic power divided by an assumed efficiency rather than true shutoff electrical consumption. One animation second represents one minute.
Hysteresis keeps the pump from cycling rapidly around a single setpoint. The gap between start and stop levels gives each run a meaningful duration and limits wear from frequent starts.
It solves for the flow where the pump head curve equals the system head, which is the static lift minus current level plus a pipe-loss term that grows with the square of flow.
Hydraulic delivery becomes zero. A running pump sits at shutoff head, the well level rises with inflow, and overflow occurs if the well fills.
No. Inflow continues whether or not the pump runs. Switching the pump off only removes the outflow, so the well rises until it overflows.