A Rotary Vane Vacuum Pump is a positive-displacement pump that consists of both housing and vanes. Those vanes are strategically mounted onto a rotor, which then rotates inside of a circular casing. The center of the circular casings are offset which causes eccentricity. This is the distance between the centers of two cylindrical objects one of which surrounds the other. Vanes slide into and out of the rotor and seal on all edges. This creates vane chambers that do the pumping work. As the rotor turns, gas flows into the enlarging suctions chamber until it is sealed off by the second vane. The enclosed gas is compressed until the outlet valve opens against the atmospheric pressure.
Many industries use rotary vane vacuum pumps, including the automotive field. They use the rotary pumps for testing and manufacturing, braking, power steering, automatic transmission and supercharging systems. Aircraft is another industry that uses rotary vane vacuum pumps. Other uses for this type of vacuum pump include air conditioning and refrigeration industries, microelectronic manufacturing, medical and dental labs, physics departments and more. Because it’s a vacuum pump, it also has many useful uses in industrial and laboratory settings.
The Advantages of Rotary Vane Vacuum Pumps
There are many different advantages when it comes to using a vane pump. Vane pumps are self-priming, robust and supply constant delivery at a given speed. They give uniform discharge with minor pulsations. Another advantage is that the vanes can be replaced easily. There are many repair kits offered or you can easily get a professional to repair it for you. They are cost-effective and are fairly inexpensive. A really good heavy-duty vacuum pump can be purchased for around $2,000. And if you need to go cheap, you can purchase one of those low quality, low duty vacuum pumps for as little as $80. Vane pumps have good airflow and can handle gas loads containing vapors and gasses and their volumetric and overall efficiencies are high. Another great benefit is the vane pumps can run dry for short periods of time. Lastly, rotary vane pumps develop a good vacuum!
The Disadvantages of Rotary Vane Vacuum Pumps
The first disadvantage is the occurrence of low vapor pressure oil. The rotary vane vacuum pump cannot operate without oil. This means that the oil has to be constantly watched, refilled and replaced. When this happens it puts the vacuum pump at risk of getting contaminated with high vapor pressure gases. This decreases the vacuum pump performance and can damage its components. The last disadvantage is the oil mist exhaust. After a period of time, a single rotary vane vacuum pump can smoke up a closed room to a point where it becomes hazardous. This disqualifies these vacuum pumps from being used in clean rooms or closed environments. However, the oil mist emissions can be minimized by installing an oil mist eliminator which can decrease it by 99.95%.
The rotary vacuum vane pumps are unique in operation and design while delivering many advantages!