What Is A Multistage Centrifugal Pump Used For?

Author: Janey

Sep. 01, 2025

What Is A Multistage Centrifugal Pump(es,it,hi) Used For?

Multistage centrifugal pumps have been one of the most popular types of pumps in recent years. Their ability to provide engineers with a flexible range of flow and head, along with their high degree of energy efficiency makes them a great choice for many applications. Could they be right for yours?

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About Multistage Centrifugal Pumps

Multistage centrifugal pumps have multiple liquid chambers (or stages) that are connected in series. Fluid enters the first chamber at suction line pressure and leaves at some elevated pressure. Upon leaving the first stage, the fluid enters the second stage where the pressure is increased further.

The more stages the pump has, the higher the final discharge pressure. These pumps have the unique ability to produce higher and higher pressures with the addition of every stage, but flow range always remains constant for a given rpm.

There are a couple different types of multistage pumps. Those with a horizontal shaft, and those with a vertical shaft.

Horizontal Multistage Centrifugal Pumps

This type of pump has a segmented casing with modular interstage components. The rotating assembly is held between bearing housings, making the assembly more balanced for high pressures.

They typically handle higher flow rates than vertical multistage pumps (with the exception of vertical turbine pumps).

The horizontal configuration of multistage pumps is best applied in applications like these:

For more information, please visit horizontal multistage centrifugal pump.

  • Reverse Osmosis
  • Boiler Feed
  • Shower
  • Spray
  • Cogeneration
  • Pressure Boosting
  • High Pressure Cleaning
  • Snow making
  • Condensate
  • Mine dewatering

This type of pump is pretty maintenance intensive, however. It takes a high skill set to work on these pumps and ensure they are put back together properly. They can also be quite costly upfront, depending on the degree of specification required and the materials of construction.

Vertical Multistage Centrifugal Pumps

Vertical multistage centrifugal pumps have a vertical shaft, where stages are stacked one on top of the next. (Disclaimer: Although vertical turbines are technically multistage pumps, these are not the types of pumps we're discussing here. )

Clearances are small in these pumps, therefore, clean water applications are best for this pump:

  • High pressure shower systems
  • Boiler feedwater
  • Desuperheater feed

Vertical multistage pumps are great for areas that don't have much footprint to spare. Its ability to deliver high pressure output with a single pump body and motor combo is also a plus.

It is important to keep in mind, however, that this type of pump does not tolerate debris or significant solids, and is also vulnerable to deadhead conditions.

Multistage pumps provide many key benefits, from energy savings, to ability to operate in a wide range of flow/head scenarios. If you think it might be right for your application, be sure to discuss with a qualified engineer first. They'll make sure the right pump is selected specifically for your purpose.

Multistage pump - KSB

Multistage pumps are defined as pumps in which the fluid flows through several impellers fitted in series.The head of a single-stage centrifugal pump is largely governed by the type of impeller and the circumferential speed. If the rotational speed cannot be increased due to other operating conditions and a larger impeller diameter would lead to very low specific speeds resulting in uneconomical efficiencies, fitting several stages in series (also see Series operation) can be an economic option of increasing the head. If the number of stages is altered at unchanged dimensions and speeds, the flow rate of such a multistage pump remains constant while the power input and head increase proportionally to the number of stages.An example of a pump with several stage casings of the same type fitted in tandem arrangement is the ring-section pump. This type of pump is often used in power station applications, e.g. as a boiler feed pump and in industrial applications requiring high pressures.The individual stages of a multistage pump do not necessarily have to be arranged in tandem. The balancing of axial thrust can be enhanced by arranging the stages back to back in pairs or groups (see Back-to-back impeller pump). A typical example would be the pipeline pump. Multistage pumps are an economic means of covering the higher pressure ranges of pump series selection charts. Further advantages are that multistage pumps can easily be tapped downstream of a stage or that dummy stages can be fitted for future pressure increases.A disadvantage of very large numbers of stages is the increasing sensitivity of the pump rotor to external or natural vibrations. Each stage consists of an impeller, adiffuser and return guide vanes), (usually combined with the diffuser), which are all located within one and the same stage casing.Irrespective of the number of stages an inlet casing with radial or axial inlet nozzle is arranged upstream of the first stage, and the last stage is fitted in the discharge casing containing the balancing device and a shaft seal. Only the common pump shaft, tie bolts and baseplate have to be adjusted to accommodate the required number of stages. See Fig. 1 Multistage pump

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