Attribute Schema Library
Attribute schemapump, valve & process equipment

Centrifugal Pump Attributes

A centrifugal pump moves liquid by accelerating it through a rotating impeller. Distributors sell them into water and wastewater, chemical process, HVAC, food and beverage, and general industry. Two buyers show up: the MRO buyer replacing a failed unit who needs an exact dimensional match, and the project buyer working from a duty point handed down by a specifying engineer.

The data is hard because a pump is not a point spec — it is a curve. Flow and head trade against each other, and the same casing ships with impellers trimmed anywhere between minimum and maximum diameter, so one model number covers dozens of hydraulic variants. Catalogs flatten that curve into "max flow" and "max head," which sit at opposite ends of it and never occur together.

The rest is buried in PDFs. NPSHr is a line on a graph, not a field. Materials arrive as 316SS from one supplier and CF8M from the next. Scope of supply — bare pump, close-coupled, or baseplate set with coupling and guard — often exists only in the model-code key.

Core

Every SKU needs these. Without them the record is not a product, it is a row.

Pump Configuration
enum
End suction, frame-mounted (ESFM)

Determines footprint, mounting, and whether it drops into an existing base. Also sets the DOE equipment family for covered clean water pumps.

Pump Size Designation
identifier
2x3-8

The trade's shorthand: discharge x suction x nominal max impeller diameter. Buyers replacing a pump search this string before anything else.

Suction / Discharge Nozzle Size
text · in
3 in suction x 2 in discharge

First filter on a replacement job. The line is already in the ground; the pump has to bolt to it.

Nozzle Flange Rating & Facing
enum
ASME Class 150, raised face

Class 150 and PN16 do not bolt together, and the rating caps casing pressure. A missing facing becomes a gasket problem at startup.

Rated Flow
number · gpm
350 gpm

Half the duty point. Meaningless unless tied to a head value at a stated impeller diameter and speed.

Rated Head
number · ft
150 ft

The other half. Publish it at the same flow and trim as the rated flow, not as the max-diameter shutoff figure.

Nominal Speed
enum · rpm
3550 rpm

1750 vs 3550 rpm changes head, NPSHr, wear, and noise. Also part of the DOE equipment class designation.

Motor Power
number · hp
30 hp

Filtered on every MRO site. The motor must cover maximum power at the fitted impeller, not just at the duty point.

Casing Material
enum
316 SS (CF8M)

Sets corrosion service and pressure/temperature limits. Cast iron, bronze, and 316 SS are different products to a chemical buyer.

Impeller Material
enum
CD4MCu

Often differs from the casing — bronze-fitted iron pumps are standard in water. Abrasive and acid-service buyers filter on this alone.

Manufacturer Part Number
identifier
3196MTX2X3-8

The join key to the supplier's curve, IOM, and parts list. Carry GTIN/UPC alongside it for marketplace channels.

Differentiating

What buyers actually compare on. This is where catalogs win or lose the filter.

Impeller Diameter & Trim Range
range · in
6.5–8.0 in (rated 7.25 in)

One casing covers every trim between min and max. Without the range and the rated trim, published head is a number the shipped pump will not make.

NPSH Required at Rated Flow
number · ft
12 ft

Decides whether the pump cavitates on suction lift or hot liquid. Compared directly against the system's NPSHa before anyone buys.

Maximum Allowable Working Pressure
number · psig
375 psig at 100 °F

The casing limit, and it falls as temperature rises. Publish it with its reference temperature or it is not usable.

Maximum Liquid Temperature
number · °F
700 °F

Gates hot-oil, condensate, and jacketed services, and drives seal and gasket selection.

Shaft Sealing Arrangement
enum
Cartridge seal, API 682 Arrangement 1

Packing, single cartridge seal, or dual seal is a price and emissions decision. Faces and elastomers must match the liquid.

Compliance & identifiers

Standards, regulatory data, and the identifiers channels reject you for missing.

Design Standard
enum
ASME B73.1

Dimensional interchangeability. B73.1 pumps swap with B73.1 pumps; ISO 5199 and EN 733 units do not drop into an ANSI baseplate.

Country of Origin
identifier
United States

Drives tariff classification and Buy American eligibility on municipal water and federal work, where it is a bid disqualifier.

The fields that aren't in the schema at all

What most centrifugal pumps catalogs are missing.

The table above is the schema most catalogs already have. These are the attributes that usually aren't in it — each one surfaced by a signal from the live market rather than by an audit of what's already there. This is what Anglera's Schema Foundry does on a real catalog, in this category.

Competitor signal
+ DOE Pump Energy Index (PEI) and equipment class

Manufacturer nameplates and submittals have carried PEI and a class string like ESFM.3600.CL since the 2020 DOE rule. Distributor catalogs publish neither, so 'PEI ≤ 1.00' cannot be filtered.

Engineers on efficiency-driven or utility-rebate jobs cannot confirm compliance from the listing and go to whoever publishes it. Rebate paperwork stalls.

Search signal
+ Impeller trim range and rated impeller diameter

Listings publish one max head taken off the full-diameter curve, but the pump ships trimmed. Buyers search '3196 2x3-8 7.25' and get zero results because the trim exists only on a curve sheet.

The quoted duty point cannot be met with the shipped trim. Pump gets returned, re-trimmed on site, or the install window is lost.

Supplier signal
+ NPSH Required (NPSHr)

NPSHr is on every manufacturer curve, but as a graph line inside a PDF rather than a field. Competitor rails expose flow, head, and hp; none expose NPSHr.

Buyer selects a pump that cavitates on suction lift or hot service. Failed startup, damaged impeller, and a warranty argument over misapplication.

Supplier signal
+ Seal flush plan and seal chamber configuration

The ASME B73 data sheet has dedicated fields for the API 682 piping plan, seal chamber bore, and arrangement. Catalog records stop at 'mechanical seal'.

Pump ships without the Plan 11 tap or Plan 32 connection the service needs. Field rework, delayed commissioning, or a returned unit.

Review signal
+ Scope of supply (bare pump vs. pump-motor unit)

One model number covers a bare shaft pump, a close-coupled unit, and a baseplate set with coupling and guard. Product Q&A and returns turn on 'does this include the motor?'

Customer orders expecting a motor and receives a bare pump. Return, restock, and a missed shutdown window on a planned outage.

How Schema Foundry finds these

Messy in, governed out.

The same value, spelled every way pump, valve & process equipment suppliers spell it. A filter only works once they agree.

Casing Material
316SS316 S.S.SS316CF8MStainless Steel 316A743 CF8M
316 SS (CF8M)

CF8M is the cast equivalent of wrought 316. Suppliers send either name for the same casting, so one alloy lands in two facet buckets.

Nozzle Flange Rating
150#Class 150ANSI 150150 lb RFPN16B16.5 Cl.150
ASME Class 150 RF

Class 150 and PN16 differ in rating and bolt circle. They do not bolt together; collapsing both to '150' hides a real mismatch.

Pump Configuration
End SuctionESFMFrame MountedBack Pull OutHorizontal End SuctionEnd-suction, frame mtd
End suction, frame-mounted (ESFM)

'Back pull-out' is maintenance access, not mounting. Suppliers send it as a configuration value; it collides with ESFM and ESCC.

Impeller Type
OpenFully OpenSemi-OpenSemi OpenEnclosedClosed
Semi-open

ASME B73 recognises closed, open, and semi-open only. Suppliers label the same vane geometry 'open' or 'semi-open' by house style.

What buyers ask

Every one of these should be answerable from the attributes above. If it isn't, that's a gap.

  • Will it make 350 gpm at 150 ft, or is that off the full-diameter curve?
  • What impeller trim is in the pump you're actually shipping?
  • What's the NPSHr at my duty point? I only have 14 ft available.
  • Does the price include the motor and baseplate, or is this a bare pump?
  • Is this a drop-in for a Goulds 3196 2x3-8 — same nozzles, same baseplate?
  • Will the casing hold 200 psi at 300 °F?
  • Is the 316 SS the whole wet end, or just the casing? What's the impeller?
  • Class 150 or PN16 flanges?

What channels require

The same SKU, different mandatory fields per destination.

Distributor's own site and pump selection tool
Pump ConfigurationRated FlowRated HeadNominal SpeedImpeller Diameter & Trim RangeNPSH Required at Rated Flow
Amazon Business
Manufacturer Part NumberGTIN/UPCMotor PowerSuction / Discharge Nozzle SizeCasing MaterialCountry of Origin
Grainger / national MRO reseller feed
Manufacturer Part NumberRated Flow at stated headRated HeadMotor PowerSuction / Discharge Nozzle SizeCasing Material
MEP and municipal submittal package
Design StandardDOE Pump Energy IndexMaximum Allowable Working PressureCurve numberShaft Sealing ArrangementCountry of Origin

Centrifugal Pumps data, in practice

Why isn't 'max flow' plus 'max head' enough?

Because they sit at opposite ends of one curve and never happen together. Max head is shutoff — zero flow. Max flow is the right-hand end of the curve — near-zero head. A buyer with a 350 gpm at 150 ft duty point cannot tell from those two numbers whether the pump does the job. Publish a rated point (flow, head, trim, speed) and, where you have it, BEP flow. Grainger's filter rail hints at the workaround: they facet 'Flow Rate @ 100 ft of Head', which pins one axis so the other means something. Carry the curve number so the full curve is one click away.

Does every pump need a DOE Pump Energy Index?

Only pumps inside the rule's scope. 10 CFR 431 covers clean water pumps in five equipment families — ESCC (end suction close-coupled), ESFM (end suction frame-mounted), IL (in-line), RSV (radially split, multi-stage, vertical), and ST (submersible turbine) — at nominal 1800 or 3600 rpm, with bounds on BEP flow, head, stage count, and design temperature. Check the scope tests in 10 CFR 431.462 before asserting coverage. In scope, the record should carry the PEI value, whether it is PEI_CL or PEI_VL, and the full class string such as ESFM.3600.CL. A PEI at or below the standard is compliant; above 1.00 is not.

ASME B73.1 or ISO 5199 — do we need both fields?

They are different products, so yes. B73.1 is the North American 60 Hz chemical process standard. ISO 5199 (with ISO 2858 hydraulics and ISO 3661 envelopes, or EN 733 — formerly DIN 24255 — for the general-purpose line) is the 50 Hz equivalent. An ISO 5199 pump generally meets or exceeds B73.1 on reliability, but it is not a bolt-in substitute: mounting bolt layouts, shaft diameters, and nozzle locations differ even for equivalent sizes, and so do the flanges — B73.1 calls for ASME Class 150 as a minimum, ISO 5199 for PN16. If you sell both, design standard has to be a filterable field, not a line in the description.

How do we carry impeller trim without exploding SKU count?

Model the pump as the casing/size family, then carry three fields: the trim range (min to max diameter), the rated diameter for the configured item, and the curve number. The family stays one record on the filter rail; the orderable item carries its own trim. Publish rated flow and head against the rated diameter, never against the maximum. This also fixes search — buyers type '3196 2x3-8 7.25' and get nothing today, because the trim exists only as a number pencilled on a curve sheet inside a PDF.

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