A centrifugal pump spins an "impeller" that is mounted on a shaft and is driven by an electric motor or an engine. This impeller is inside of a casing. The drive is either direct through a shaft that penetrates the pump casing or through a drive that is only connected to the motor through a magnetic field (mag drive) or the motor is enclosed in the same casing (canned motor) as the pump. In the first case, the penetrating shaft must be sealed.

ANSI B73.1 and API 610 are two standards that are broadly used in industrial centrifugal pump applications. These standards define many quality and compatibility requirements for centrifugal pumps.