A vacuum pump is a pump that removes gas molecules from a sealed or closed volume in order to leave behind a partial vacuum.
How does a Vacuum Pump work?
Vacuum pumps operate by different mechanisms. A single application may employ more than one of them. There are techniques available to achieve a more perfect vacuum. When the pressure is lower in the gaseous chamber than the atmospheric pressure, then a vacuum is said to exist in the closed chamber. The easiest way to create a vacuum is to expand the volume of a closed container. By repeatedly closing off a compartment of the vacuum and exhausting it, air is pumped out of the closed chamber. Most mechanical pumps operate under this principle.
Types of Vacuum Pump:
- Molecular Pump
- Entrapment Pump
Applications of Vacuum Pump:
Vacuum pumps and vacuum generators provide sub-atmospheric pressure for a variety of industrial and scientific applications:
- General Purpose
- Semiconductor Manufacturing
- Electron Microscopy
- Medical and Laboratory
- Vacuum Engineering
- Power Generation
- Gasoline Powered Automobiles
- Industrial Gripping and Chucking
- Laboratory Degassing
- Chemical and Corrosive Gas Processing
- Pharmaceutical and Sanitary
- Food Processing
- Agricultural Applications
- Packaging
Features of Vacuum Pump:
- Vacuum specifications for vacuum pumps include ultimate vacuum range, pumping speed or displacement, vacuum pump stages, and lubrication style.
- There are other terms and standards used such as medium vacuum and ultra high vacuum.
- The pumping speed is the air volume capacity of the vacuum pump.
- Vacuum pumps are flow rated according to the volume of air exhausted with no pressure differential across the pump. Some vacuum pumps may be used for compression of air or other gases.
