Reliable & Durable Rotary Vane Vacuum Pumps

Rotary Vane Vacuum Pumps by Kinney

Kinney rotary vane vacuum pumps are appreciated for their versatility and ability to deliver high-end vacuum. They stand out through their ease of maintenance and long service life, as well as low noise and vibration levels. Our models are oil-lubricated to tighten clearances and to ensure optimized oil-water separation and high water vapor tolerance. Kinney rotary vane vacuum pumps provide you with the right design features and performance capabilities that will help your vacuum system meet all of your demanding process requirements. Our pumps:

• Use oil to act as a filter, which protects the pump and pulls unwanted elements from the process.
• Address vacuum range requirements in the rough and medium vacuum markets and offer a wide range of pumping speeds.
• Can be used in a large number of industrial applications.
• Are suitable for continuous duty applications and can handle varying amounts of process carry-over.
• Offer reliable performance. Even in worst-case scenarios when a vane breaks affecting pump performance, it can still operate until the next repair when the vane is replaced.

Industries/Applications

Oil-sealed rotary vane vacuum pumps are simple, quiet, and efficient, and offer a very attractive $/CFM ratio when compared to other vacuum technologies. Rotary vane vacuum pumps are used in a wide variety of end markets and applications in which vacuum is used to pull a given product. They include:

• Transformer drying that is used for oil purification. Vacuum is applied to pull impurities and water from oil so that it can be reused.
  
  
• Thermoforming or injection molding where plastic is formed into the desired shape by heating and pulling vacuum on a mold. This technology allows smooth uniform product free of air bubbles and impurities. The plastic is then cooled, holds the shape, and is ready for use. Molded plastics are used in the automotive (dashboards) and food and beverage (packaging) industries, among others.
  
  
• Plastics extrusion which uses heated plastic pellets to form a desired shape, which is then formed and cooled through an extruder. Rotary vane pumps provide the vacuum needed to allow the product to hold its shape during the process. The technology is used to produce products such as plastic pipes for the construction industry.
  
  
• Food packaging where rotary vane pumps are used to remove air from products while they are being packaged and sealed. This allows meat and other food products to remain fresh for a longer amount of time.
  
  
• Freeze drying is another vacuum application used in food packaging. Rotary vane pumps are used here to pull moisture out of various food products such as freeze dried fruits and vegetables before they are packaged.
  
  
• Central vacuum systems that provide vacuum to numerous inlets installed in a building’s walls. Such systems can be used for vacuum cleaning. When installed in hospitals, they support various medical vacuum applications including the operation of surgical beds, the dosing of anesthesia and the aspiration of liquids, gasses and residues.

Rotary Vane Pump Operating Principle

A rotary vane vacuum pump works on a positive displacement principle. It uses volumetric change to build vacuum.

A typical rotary vane pump design includes a motor, a cylindrical housing with an inlet and an outlet, as well as a rotor and vanes contained in the pump’s working chamber.

The rotor has three slots machined into it, in which the vanes are placed. It is mounted eccentrically, which allows for a large sweeping motion of the vanes. Centrifugal force flings the vanes to the outside of the chamber when the rotor is turning.

As the rotor and the vanes rotate, process air is pulled into the pump, becoming trapped between the rotor and the vanes. The rotating vanes effectively divide the chamber into three separate areas with varying gas volumes depending on the position of the vanes.

When two vanes are farther apart, the air trapped between them and the rotor expands thus generating vacuum. By contrast, the reduction of the gas volume leads to gas compression.

On oil sealed vanes, there is a bead of oil between the chamber wall and the vane that acts as a seal. Oil is also used as a lubricant and a filter. The former reduces wear, increasing longevity of the pump. The latter draws unwanted particles from the pump internals.

The lubrication of the vanes, the rotor and the housing prevents wear. It also ensures a reduced operating temperature and provides protection against corrosion. As the process gas is transported through the chamber, lubrication oil is sucked out and returned to a special reservoir.