Newbie asking why a centrifugal pump gets clogged
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A beginner is asking why a centrifugal pump stops working once it reaches vacuum – can’t it continue to pump liquid?
If there is no liquid inside the pump and only air is present, the centrifugal force generated by the impeller as it rotates the air is very low; consequently, the low pressure created at the inlet of the impeller is extremely low. As a result, liquid cannot continuously flow into the impeller under the effect of external atmospheric pressure to fill up the low-pressure area at the center of the impeller’s inlet. The pump can no longer operate continuously.
Gases have a low density, resulting in a low centrifugal force