The affinity laws, also known as “Pump Laws”, for pumps are used to express the relationship between variables involved in pump performance (such as head, flow rate, shaft speed) and power.
According to the affinity laws, the following relationships exist between the actual speed of the centrifugal pump and its most important performance parameters:
- The flow rate of a pump changes directly proportional to its operating speed.
- The head developed by the pump changes proportionally to the square of the speed.
- The brake horsepower required to drive the pump changes proportionally to the cube of the speed.
- The efficiency of the pump does not change with speed changes.
