Determination of Vacuum Pump Operational Efficiency.pptVIP

Determination of Vacuum Pump Operational Efficiency By: D K Singhal Chandpur Enterprises Ltd. deveshksinghal@ * Why to Check Is vacuum pump sufficient for our need? Do we need to change the vacuum pump, or relocation may be tried? * Existing Trends No standard available information on efficiency determination on operational conditions. Standard methods use standard conditions, which generally are entirely different than the mill environment. * Wet Dry Operation Routine tests account only for dry air. The air is sucked in at 100% RH with some entrained water. When the pressure of the same increases in the vacuum pump, some of the water vapor (moisture) condenses. So, at exhaust side, you get lesser airflow. Also, at inlet, due to water evaporation, you get lower gauge reading. * Points to Remember Exhaust airflow reduces with increase in vacuum. An old vacuum may give (almost) same airflow as rated at low vacuum levels, but at high vacuum levels, capacity reduces rapidly. Seal water consumption may be high at such conditions. * Typical Pump Data Take a look at a typical data supplied by a manufacturer. * mmHg Inlet Flow Capacity Loss 0 3000 0.0 50 2990 10.0 100 2970 30.0 200 2940 60.0 300 2900 100.0 400 2800 200.0 500 2700 300.0 600 2400 600.0 660 2040 960.0 De-rating at Increased Vacuum For normal operating ranges between 200mmHG and 500mmHg, the capacity drop can be linearly correlated with vacuum level. * Why does the vacuum reduce? The drop of capacity is mainly due to two reasons- At higher vacuum level, some part of exhaust air gets short circuited to inlet air, no matter how good is sealing. This process increases as the vacuum pump gets older. At higher vacuum levels, there is a lot of moisture in process air to be handled. This moisture condenses in vacuum pump, and exhaust volume is lower than expected. Due to this, dry checking of vacuum pump is generally not satisfactory to process persons. * What to Check? Obtain existing performance data on vacu