🔍 Key Concepts

• High-head vs low-head pumps – which pumps are meant to produce high pressure vs high volume at low pressure • How the discharge piping from each pump is arranged in the SP-SW-01 drawing (length of run, number of coolers/valves it must push through) • Typical roles of main sea water circulating pumps versus sea water service pumps in a steam plant

💭 Think About

• Trace the discharge line from each type of pump on the drawing: which one feeds the most distant/complex header and multiple coolers, and which ones discharge almost directly to a condenser? • Ask yourself: which pump must overcome the greatest system resistance (elevation, long runs, many coolers and valves) to deliver adequate flow? • Consider normal plant design: which pumps are described in textbooks as high volume/low pressure and which as lower volume/higher pressure in sea water systems?

✅ Before You Answer

• Verify which pumps discharge directly to a nearby main condenser with relatively large piping and few restrictions – these are usually not high-head. • Verify which pumps supply a sea water service header feeding many different coolers and systems throughout the plant – these usually require the highest discharge pressure. • Double-check the labels next to each pump symbol on SP-SW-01 (single-speed main circ, two-speed main circ, aux circ, sea water service) and confirm which group is used for general service, not just condenser cooling.