Vacuum Systems

7 Best Practices for Leak Detection in Vacuum Systems

By Sinja W. Stentoft, Editor Communications, Busch Vacuum Solutions

Leaks in vacuum systems can cause considerable damage to sensitive industrial processes. The vacuum pump’s ability to generate and maintain the desired vacuum level is compromised as the process gas escapes the pump or contaminants – such as air, dust and debris – enter. This leads to accelerated wear and tear of internal components such as seals and gaskets, and the vacuum pump may fail or require more frequent servicing. As a result, energy bills and overall operating costs increase drastically, while output quality suffers. 

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Zorn Compressor Vacuum Audit at Midland Plastics

By Troy Dreier, Senior Editor, Blower & Vacuum Best Practices

The 105,000-square-foot Midland Plastics plant in New Berlin, WI, employs 100 people and manufactures a variety of custom plastic materials, including dashboard and door panels for the automotive industry, created with thermoforming. The plant has three thermoforming machines that operate nearly around the clock. Plastic comes in large sheets, which the plant heats and vacuums into a mold. 
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Centralized vs. Point of Use Vacuum Filtration

By Jamie Stebbins, Solberg Manufacturing

In this article, we will isolate and review one system common to many plants and industries: the vacuum system. Within this system, we will further drill down to the filtration required to maintain a healthy process, which contributes directly to the bottom line. The vacuum system does not exist in many production process lines without filtration. Throughput and quality of the end product are closely tied to the necessary vacuum levels achieved when filtration is properly deployed.
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pdblowers Soars in Aerospace Vacuum System Installation

By Blower & Vacuum Best Practices Magazine

The aerospace division of a large industrial manufacturer, uses a large altitude simulation chamber to test aircraft parts at different atmospheric conditions. It was based on this application, that the pdblowers team created what the facility needed: a multi-stage vacuum system that could manage varying mass flows at different vacuum levels. 
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Six Summer Maintenance Tips for Your Vacuum Pump

By Busch Vacuum Solutions

By following these summer-specific maintenance tips, you can help extend the lifespan of your vacuum pump, improve its performance and reduce the risk of costly repairs or replacements. Regular maintenance during the hot months not only keeps your equipment running smoothly, but also ensures it operates safely and efficiently under challenging conditions.
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When to Repair vs. Replace Your Vacuum Pump: A Guide

By Mary MacGregor Velhinho, Busch Vacuum Solutions

If your vacuum pump is malfunctioning, you are faced with a choice: repair or replacement. Our guide will take you through both options and provide recommendations on when it makes sense to repair vacuum pumps and when to replace them. We will also take a look at how to spot and diagnose common issues before they lead to system failure. Whatever the path of action, the decision to repair or replace always begins with testing and diagnosis. A factory-trained service technician who specializes in vacuum pump services inspects the equipment and identifies the problem.
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The Future of Vacuum Automation for AMRs and AGVs

By Markus Schmider, Industry Segment and Key Account Manager Robotics & Composites, Schmalz

Autonomous Mobile Robots and Automated Guided Vehicles can automate receiving and unloading, picking, stacking, storing and even inventory management. However, there are challenges to powering these vehicles and their attachments. Because they are smaller and lighter, the size of components and the power they need to operate matters. Most AMRs and AGVs are battery operated, so it’s important to balance the need for high efficiency with also providing high levels of torque.
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Six Steps to a Tailor-Made Vacuum Solution

By Fabian Falbusch, Head of Content Marketing, Busch Vacuum Solutions

Building a vacuum system solution is always a joint undertaking. Each solution aims to be compliant with location regulations, as well as to be reliable, energy-saving, sustainable and economical. An essential part of the process is including the customer and their requests during the planning process. There are six steps to find the optimum vacuum solution for the respective application.
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Hygienic Vacuum Packaging for Cheese

By Busch Vacuum Solutions

Vacuum and protective gas both reduce the activity of oxygen-dependent microorganisms inside the packaging. This way, vacuum-packaged foodstuffs have a longer shelf life, even without preservatives. There are different types of vacuum packaging. When it comes to cheese, the type of vacuum packaging depends heavily on the specific type of cheese.
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Boosting Process Vacuum Performance at a High-Tech Electronics Plant

By Bryan Jensen, Corporate Projects Manager, Rogers Machinery Company

Electronics applications typically run their tooling requiring Process Vacuum based on differential pressure from barometric; that is, they control their PVAC pumps to “Inches of Mercury Vacuum”. This is because the parts and pieces being manipulated by vacuum are of certain sizes, shapes, and weights. If the differential pressure across the part is not great enough, then the tooling will fail and result in a loss of product, adverse impact to quality, and production downtime. 
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Vacuum Upgrades Improve Operations at SupremeX

By Ron Marshall, Marshall Compressed Air Consulting

SupremeX, a Canadian based envelope and packaging manufacturer, with 11 facilities across six provinces, as well as five facilities in the United States, recently upgraded the vacuum system in their Winnipeg based plant. This article discusses the system before and after the changes, and the significant energy savings, plus improved system reliability that resulted. The company also captured a significant utility incentive to help with the cost of a new cutting-edge variable speed vacuum pump.
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Fresh Food and Clay Extrusion Vacuum System Case Studies

By Uli Merkle, Busch Vacuum Solutions

Vacuuming fresh food using chamber machines is often a daily activity in butcher shops, at fresh food counters for meat, sausage, and cheese products, as well as in the foodservice industry. All fresh foods contain more or less unbound water, which partially evaporates during vacuum packaging. This can influence the quality of the product. Furthermore, if the packaging machine is not permanently in operation, the packaging result may deteriorate, or the packaging process may take too long.
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Centralized Vacuum System Evaluations: Part 2 Audit Measures

By Hank van Ormer, APenergy

Operating the vacuum system at higher levels (then necessary) affects the needed volumetric flow to compensate for leaks. This required compensation of volume (ACFM) must be added to the nominal production flow demand. The ambient air leak into the system will expand to the highest vacuum level, which is known as the “Expansion Ratio.”
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Centralized Vacuum System Evaluations: Part 1 Measurement

By Hank van Ormer, Technical Director, Air Power USA

What is vacuum as used in the manufacturing/industrial sector? The clearest answer is – a contained space with gaseous pressures much less than surrounding atmospheric pressure. Atmospheric pressure (ATM) is expressed in many units of measure. At room temperature a cubic foot of contained air at sea level – the random movement and molecular impact on the walls of the containment vessel equal a force of 14.7 psia for every square inch of the walls.
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Visual Leak Detection on Vacuum Systems

By Ron Marshall, Marshall Compressed Air Consulting

An envelope manufacturer is upgrading their vacuum system to include a new VSD controlled pump. As part of the preparation for the installation, an energy baseline was developed, and leakage survey conducted. The auditor used a newly developed acoustic imaging camera as well as a basic ultrasonic leak detector gun. This article describes what was found and some of the challenges faced in detecting leaks in a busy plant.
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Paper Machine Vacuum Systems: Liquid Rings vs. Blowers

By Andrew Smiltneek, Growth Solutions Consultants

A paper machine carefully removes water from the paper sheet. Some of this water removal is done by passing air through the sheet, thus moving the water from the sheet to the wire. Air is moved by creating a pressure differential across the sheet. This is normally done by putting the sheet on a wire and then putting a box under the wire and then evacuating the air from the box. The resistance of the air movement through the sheet and wire causes the pressure drop from the machine room to the box. 
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Considerations for Sizing Vacuum Pumps in High Humidity Applications

By Antonio Mantilla, Product & Applications Marketing Manager, Atlas Copco

Many of us are familiar with sizing vacuum pumps based on throughput, process pressure requirements, chamber size, pump down times, conductance and leakage. In a lot of cases, humidity becomes an afterthought and unexpected things happen. Some of these unexpected things we learn to live with, like emulsified oil. In other cases, the unexpected things prevent the pump from performing the job it was intended for. 
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Engineered Vacuum Solution Saves Oregon Brewer 5,000 Gallons of Water Per Day

By Atlas Copco Vacuum

When Craft Brew Alliance (CBA) set a goal to dramatically reduce water consumption at its Widmer Brothers Brewery in Portland, Oregon, it focused its efforts on its bottling process – and implemented a solution engineered by Atlas Copco that saves 5,000 gallons of water per day. In addition, it saves the craft brewer $39,000 per year, thanks to the elimination of water treatment costs and reduced energy use.
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Central Vacuum Supply for Efficient Cheese Packaging

By Uli Merkle, Busch Dienste GmbH

DMK Deutsches Milchkontor GmbH produces sliced cheese and Mozzarella at its production facility in Georgsmarienhütte, Germany. The various types of sliced cheese and Mozzarella blocks are vacuum packed after processing in several packaging lines. The vacuum supply for the packaging machines is provided by a Busch centralized vacuum system, which supplies both the packaging lines and the thermoforming machines.
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Less Maintenance Thanks to the Centralization of the Vacuum Supply

By Jasmin Markanic, Coordinator Global Press & Media Relations, Busch Dienste GmbH

Choosing the right vacuum supply can lead to huge cost savings in plastics processing. Mar-Bal, Incorporated has undertaken a critical review of the existing vacuum supply for injection molding when moving to a new plant and has collaborated with Busch, LLC to find a solution that will achieve savings in energy, maintenance and production times.
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Reducing Demand in Industrial Vacuum Systems

By Tim Dugan, P.E., President, Compression Engineering Corporation

This article will focus on optimizing the demand-side so the centralized “supply-side” (the vacuum pumps and controls) can then run at a lower energy and maintenance cost. First, I will start with a simplified model of a vacuum pump system demands. See Figure 1 for a one-pump/one-demand simplified system. See Figures 2-6 for some typical controlled and uncontrolled demands. The symbol with the three lines is an orifice, a hole essentially. I am defining three types of system demands adding up to the total demand on the vacuum pump.
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When Planning Efficiency Upgrades, Don’t Ignore Vacuum - Reduced Power Consumption and Utility Incentives Drive Cost Savings

By Scott A. Williams, Contributing Editor

Electric utility incentive programs encourage industrial and manufacturing companies to reduce power consumption by paying part of the cost to upgrade to more efficient equipment. It’s a great concept, but many customers only go after low-hanging fruit, such as upgrades for lighting or air compressors, and go no further.
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Suttero Bazenheid Advances Meat Processing to Energy-Efficient Centralized Vacuum System

By Uli Merkle, Busch Vacuum Pumps and Systems

Energy for the entire Ernst Sutter AG company – and consequently the Suttero Bazenheid premises as well – is generated via hydropower. In addition, around 75% of the energy from refrigeration is also used to generate hot water. When creating vacuum for packaging, Suttero Bazenheid relies on a centralized vacuum system from Busch. This is significantly more energy-efficient in operation than decentralized vacuum supplies on individual packaging machines. As a result, Ernst Sutter AG has created a production plant that corresponds to the latest standards, both from a technical and ecological perspective. 
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Rotary Screw Vacuum Pumps Benefit Meat Packaging Plants

By Jerry Geenen, Atlas Copco Industrial Vacuum Division

Meat packaging plants have long used vacuum pumps as a way to remove air and reduce the amount of oxygen in their products’ plastic packaging. Vacuum packaging extends the meat’s shelf life while protecting its flavor and exposure to outside elements, such as freezer burn and bacteria.
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Modern Woodcrafts Automates with Robotic Arms and Intelligent VSD Vacuum Pumps

By Andy Nezelek and Todd Galpin, Atlas Copco Compressors, Industrial Vacuum Division

The integrated process that leads to perfectly finished components begins in the plant’s new material store. “One way we’re staying at the leading edge in our market is by researching the latest innovations and choosing the best machine for each process,” Legere explains. “Our new material store, operational in June 2017, is one example. It combines a physical data base of sheet goods with a robotic arm that handles materials and presents them to a cutting machine for processing. After a few minutes, a finished part emerges. All of this occurs with zero human interaction.”
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