Pumps play a significant role in industrial plants and need continuous
monitoring to minimise loss of production. To date, there is limited published
information on the application of acoustic emission (AE) to incipient pump
cavitation. This paper presents a case study where AE has been applied for
detecting incipient cavitation and determining the best efficiency point (BEP)
of a 60 kW centrifugal pump. Results presented are based on net positive suction
head (NPSH) and performance tests. In conclusion, the AE technique was shown to
offer early detection of incipient cavitation, furthermore, the technique has
demonstrated the ability to determine the BEP of a pump.