A Rotary Vane Vacuum Pump is a type of vacuum pump where there is an evacuation chamber containing a mineral oi, specially designed to act as a lubricant and a sealant between the vacuum pump chamber housing and the vanes. Rotary vane vacuum pumps are used widely in different industries and as such there are a number of factors you should consider before buying a model, such as chemical resistance, dry or wet operation, free air displacement, final vacuum depth, etc.

Let us look at some of the things you should know about before buying a rotary vane vacuum pump.

Vacuum Depth          

Depending on your application, you need to choose a proper vacuum depth for your vacuum pump. If your application involves glassware liquids or if you need to move some liquid substance through filters, you should choose a low vacuum. If you need to recover solvents, you should probably go for a medium vacuum.

Pumps with medium to high vacuum depth find more wide usage as in plant extracts and for lowering the boiling point of certain compounds. In the semiconductor industry and in optical devices, they often use high vacuum pumps while the ultra-high vacuum is used for scientific purposes.

For residential uses, the vacuum pump may be of low power and the large speed and power are required for the industrial or commercial areas.

Pumping Speed

This is the volumetric rate of flow of gas given in m3/s, ft3/min, gal/min, or L/min. The rated pumping speed of a rotary vane vacuum pump holds the highest capacity of rotation and working at a high rate. Manufacturers always refer to standard pressure and temperature while listing the pumping speeds of their products.

You need to consider the process gas load, desorption, and the chamber volume of our system to select a proper pumping speed that will suit your needs. For a rotary vane pump, the pumping speed lies somewhere between 1 and 650 ft3/min.

Power Source

You will find either AC or DC electric sources for rotary vane vacuum pumps. The most found source in AC power. If you wish for more efficiency and want to save some space, you can go for a three-phase AC motor.  Single-phase AC motors are a cheaper option.

Dry or Oil Sealed

Based on the design, a vacuum pump can either be oil-sealed or dry. Oil has several purposes, like sealing the outlet valve, lubricating all the moving parts, and making sure the temperature balance remains balanced.

Oil-less rotary vane pumps use an isolation technology like permanently sealed bearings the eliminate the oil present in the fluid train. Although the moving parts need oil to function, it is not used for sealing places or valves inside the working chamber. This way you can reduce the chances of fluid contamination happening. Oil-sealed pumps are comparatively cheaper than dry pumps.

Lubrication Style

You will find three different lubrication styles for rotary vane pumps. The oil-flooded lubrication style uses a large amount of oil to lubricate the moving parts of the pump. But if you want to avoid oil contamination, you should avoid this style.

You can go for the splash lubrication style instead. This uses an oil bath to splash oil on the different machine components. Lesser-known lubrication for the rotary vane vacuum pump is the positive pressure style which achieves a lot of lubrication by keeping the oil pressure constant.

Selecting the wrong kind of rotary vane pump can be disastrous as it is possible you will not be able to use it with your system and your money will be wasted. So, you should consider the above-mentioned factors before making a purchase.