The centrifugal pump, by merit of its principle and construction, offers one of the best means for pumping liquids containing relatively high concentrations of suspended material, as is evidenced by its wide use in dredging and mining operations and various industrial processes. However, the assumption has often been made that the total head developed by a centrifugal pump at a given discharge is independent of the concentration of foreign material carried by the liquid · being pumped. Tests have proved that this assumption is erroneous, but no methods have been developed to predict this change in head. The design and choice of a pump to meet the conditions of any particular job are based upon the past performance of· other pumps, operating under similar conditions, and quite frequently on the clear-water characteristics of a standard pump; this latter method, however, amounts to nothing more than a very rough estimate.
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Leigh C. Fairbank (1942) studied this question.