Troubleshooting in

vacuum Pump
Presented by : Nisarg
J.Rana
Guided by : Nitin V. Bhate

Overview of
Presentation
Introduction
Working of Various Vacuum pumps
Problem & Troubleshooting
Conclusions

Introduction

Vacuum pumps and system are one of the widely

used equipment in process plant.
Hence, it is very important to correctly analyse
common problem that occurs in the process plant
and to deal with it.
This presentation highlights working and
various troubleshooting guidelines for some of
the most commonly use vacuum machines likes
Liquid ring , rotary piston , rotary vane, dry

Working of vacuum
pump
Liquid ring vacuum pump :
The aspirated gas enters the pump
chambers via the pump suction
flange. The gas is trapped between
2 impeller vanes. The impeller
rotates eccentrically in relation to
the centre line of the liquid ring
that by centrifugal force. Assuming
the shape of the impeller casing.
The progressive change of the
volume between the 2 vanes. The
impeller hub and the liquid ring
creates a vacuum and the
compression of the gas till the gas
is discharge with the portion of
liquid through discharge port.
Chemical industry digest vol-xx.9/september 2007

Rotary vane vacuum pump

1)Air or fluid move through
the inlet.
2) vane can rotate either
clock wise or anti clock
wise & seal the media
between vanes and the
hosing wall. Due to the
fluid this volume should
remains constants through
out the entire cycling
process.
3)Then in is move to the
outlet. The rotor blades
are positioned to enable
them to contain a specific

BY Daniel pascoe/fluid power journal

Rotary piston vacuum

1) Rotary piston vacuumpump
pump
doesnt spin on its axis. It moves
2)
3)
4)

5)
6)

in circular path within the

pumping chamber.
As it passes top dead centre, it
creates constantly increasing
internal space on the suction side.
And constantly decreasing
internal space on the pressure or
discharge side.
A high integrity seal is maintained
between the suction & pressure
side by a film of oil that is capture
between the piston and cylinder.
There is no contact between
piston and cylinder.
The oil film is maintained by all
dragged into the clearance by the
moving piston which creates
hydrodynamic wedge.

Tuthill vacuum system/kinney single

stage rotary piston vacuum pump/page
no.5

Dry screw vacuum pump

Screw pumps carry gas in the spaces
between the screw threads. The gas is
displaced axially as the screws mesh.
Single screw pumps are commonly
called progressive cavity pumps. They
have a rotor with external threads and
a stator with internal threads. The
rotor threads are eccentric to the axis
of rotation.
Multiple screw pumps have multiple
external screw threads.

KINNEY/ KDPH-120 DRY SCREW VACUUM PUMP

Steam jet ejector

Steam jet ejectors are often used
to pull vacuum on surface
condensers, evaporators, etc. A
high pressure, motive, fluid
(usually steam) enters the ejector
chest through a nozzle and then
expands. This converts its
pressure energy to velocity.
The increased velocity causes
reduced pressure, which sucks in
and entrains gas from the suction.
The diffuser section then
recompresses the mixed steam/gas
stream to some intermediate
pressure.
The exhaust is then sent to a
cheresources/questions/thermodynamic
condenser which quickly
s-182
condenses the steam at a low

Problems occuring in
vacuum pumps
Liquid ring vacuum pump
Problems :

Leakage : leakage could be occur in 4 area

1) Gland packing area 2) Leakage at body gasket 3)
Leakage at the body plugs 4) Leakage through
castings
Noisy Pump Operation :
1)Foreign object trapped into the pump 2) Pump
severely overloaded with water 3) Cavitations 4)
Bearing noise
Vibration Problems : classified into two categories
1) Intermittent vibration 2) Continuous chronic
Vibration
Vacuum problem
chemical industry digest vol Continuous chronic
xx.9/september
2007
Vibration

Rotary vane vacuum

pump
Problems :
Pump does not start

Pump does not Reach Ultimate Pressure

Pumping Speed is too Low

After Switching off Pump under Vacuum, Pressure in

System Rises too Fast

Chemical industry digest volume-xx 9

Rotary piston vacuum

pumps
Problems :

Excessively High System/Pump Ultimate Pressure

Excessive Pump Noise at Low Pressure
Pump Stalls
Pumps does not Start
Oil Discharged from Oil Mist Eliminator

Dry screw vacuum pump

Problems :
Insufficient Pumping Capacity
Overload on Electric Motor
Overheat
Knocking
Damaged Bearing or Gear
Chemical industry digest volume xx 9/september 2007

Steam Ejector
Problems :
Poor ejector performance, unstable operation, pressure
swings
Reduced ejector capacity and an increase in suction
pressure
Poor ejector performance, unstable operation, pressure
swings
Low ejector discharge temperature
Higher than design discharge pressure
Higher than design suction pressure (assuming motive
steam pressure and quality are normal and discharge
pressure is equal to or less than design)

Graham corporation /2010

Conclusions

A step by step procedure, adopted in troubleshooting

vacuum pump and ejectors helps in easily locating the
problem and in finding appropriate solution. In general,
the first step is to compare the original design condition
with the existing conditions.
Any change in design conditions including utilities may
have a direct impact on the performance of the unit. Once
it is ascertained that external factors are not responsible
for malfunctioning of vacuum system, troubleshooting of
the equipment should be done .

Thank You