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How Liquid Ring Vacuum Pump Works
How Liquid Ring Vacuum Pump Works
A liquid ring vacuum pump has an impeller with blades attached to a center hub, located in a
cylindrical body, but off-set from the center.
In Diagram 1A on the right you can see the blades near the top of the pump are closer to the
outside wall than at the side of the pump. They are furthest away at the bottom of the pump;
you can see this more clearly in Diagram 1B.
The impeller sits between two end plates (port plates) which have shaped holes cut into them
called ports.
The pump requires a liquid (also called the sealant) to create vacuum as follows. Prior to
starting the pump, it should be partially filled with the liquid sealant (typically to the center of
the body, although this can be plus or minus a couple of inches). The liquid can be water
(making it a water ring pump), oil or a solvent, depending upon the application. As you can
see in the Diagrams, when the pump is at rest, some of the impeller blades are immersed in
the sealant liquid.
When the pump starts, the impeller slings the liquid sealant by centrifugal force, to the
outside walls of the body, forming a ring of liquid at the outside walls of the body. Because
the impeller is off-set from the body, some of the blades are fully immersed in liquid, and
some are almost out of the liquid. The area of void space without liquid, is sealed off between
the liquid (and hence the term "sealant") and between the impeller blades, called an "impeller
cell". As we follow one impeller cell from the top of the pump, counter-clockwise, you can
see the liquid recedes from the center hub, acting as a liquid piston to create a larger cell. This
is the suction of the pump, drawing in air, gases, or vapors thru the "inlet port" at the sides of
the impeller. After impeller cell passes the inlet port and travels toward the discharge port, the
sealant liquid is forced back toward the center hub of the impeller, creating the compression
step. As the impeller cell passes the discharge port, the compression is at its highest, and the
gases, along with some of the liquid sealant are exhausted thru the discharge port to
atmosphere. Although the diagrams show a very smooth ring of liquid, in actuality, the liquid
sealant is highly turbulent, which is why some of the liquid sealant is discharged with the
gases.
A two-stage pump is also a much better choice if you are handling solvents at higher
vacuum levels (higher than 23"HgV). This has to do with the effect of sealant temperature
rise being spread across two stages and its relationship to the sealant vapor pressure in liquid
ring vacuum pumps.
Type
Once-thru-water water sealed (includes sealant flow controls and a discharge separator
tank). Typically used when water cost/use/disposal is not an issue. Water hardness would be
of concern for long term life in a water ring pump. Any process carryover is flushed out with
the sealant water.
Full recovery water sealed (includes larger separator, sealant controls and heat exchanger)
reuses the sealant water in a closed loop for the water ring pump, so that any process is not in
contact with the cooling water. This type of system is used when the facility has a cooling
tower or chiller for cooling water.
Full recovery oil-sealed (Vmax) this pre-designed package is a cross between an aircooled rotary vane pump and a full recovery liquid ring vacuum pump. The pump is available
as air or water cooled. It is used in relatively clean and moist applications with minimal
carry-over concerns.
Full recovery solvent sealed (includes larger separator, sealant controls and heat exchanger).
This package is custom designed to handle solvents, and may utilize a solvent as the sealant.
Any liquid solvent can be used to allow for solvent recovery provided the required operating
vacuum level and cooling water temperatures are appropriate.
Selecting the right size: for all the advantages and reliability of liquid ring vacuum pumps,
determining the correct size for an application is not very easy. Wintek is an expert in the
correct sizing/selection of liquid ring pumps and will help you through this step. Many
factors affect the operation of this pump, which can be both good and bad: Cooling/sealant
temperature, vapor temperatures, solvents handled, vapor loads (dry, saturated or partially
saturated), sealant viscosity, backpressure, etc.
Pump Data
Performance Characteristics, Single-Stage Liquid Ring Pumps
Single-stage
Nominal Maximum
Motor-Mounted capacity vacuum
Design
(CFM) (Inch Hg)
DV0020 B-MA
20
29
Motor
60Hz
(HP)
Speed
(RPM)
Noise
(at aft)
(dBA)
Weight
bare-shaft
(Lbs)
1.5
3450
68
53*
DV0035 B-MA
35
29
3450
70
57*
DV0060 B-MA
60
29
1750
73
148*
DV0080 B-MA
75
29
1750
72
205*
DV0100 B-MA
100
29
7.5
1750
72
231*
Motor
60Hz
(HP)
Speed
(RPM)
Noise
(at aft)
(dBA)
Weight
bare-shaft
(Lbs)
Single-stage
Monoblock
Design
Nominal Maximum
capacity vacuum
(CFM) (Inch Hg)
DV0020 B-KA
20
29
1.5
3500
68
48
DV0035 B-KA
35
29
3500
70
62
DV0080 B-KA
75
29
1750
72
121
DV0100 B-KA
100
29
7.5
1750
72
123
DV0150 B-KA
150
29
10
1750
72
178
DV0200 B-KA
200
29
15
1750
72
196
DV0300 B-KA
300
29
20
1750
72
242
Single-stage Bare-shaft
Design
DV045OA-KA
450
29
25
1750
76
455
DV055OA-KA
550
29
40
1750
78
517
DV075OA-KA
650
29
40
960
79
880
750
29
50
1200
79
880
DV1200A-KA
1200
29
60-100
1200
80
1023
DV2500K-K
2600
29
75-150
740
85
3080
DV3500K-K
3500
29
100-200
660
85
4400
DV4500K-K
4400
29
125-200
470
85
7700
DV6500K-K
6600
29
150-300
470
85
8360
DV9000K-K
9200
29
250-350
300
85
17600
Nominal Maximum
capacity vacuum
(CFM) (Inch Hg)
Motor
60Hz
(HP)
Speed
(RPM)
Noise
(at aft)
(dBA)
Weight
bare-shaft
(Lbs)
DV0015BDA
15
28.5
3500
66
50
DV0035BDA
35
28.5
3500
66
55
DV0040B-
40
29
3500
66
66
DA
DV0075BDA
75
29
1750
68
148
DV0100BDA
100
29
7.5
1750
68
154
DV0140BDA
140
29
10
1750
68
172
DV0200BDA
200
29
15
1750
73
290
DV0250BDA
250
29
20
1750
73
315
DV0300BDA
300
29
25
1750
74
330
DV0400BDA
400
29
40
1750
79
495
DV0500BDA
500
29
50
1750
79
539
DV0750DDA
750
29
50
950
82
1100
DV0950DDA
950
29
60
950
82
1200
DV1200CDA
1200
29
100
730
85
3000
DV1600CDA
1600
29
125
730
85
3250
DV2000CDA
2000
29
125
730
85
3600