Rough Vac

Blower & Vacuum Best Practices interviewed Darigold’s Sunnyside Plant’s Technical Manager, Tom Rouleau.

Today, we manage one of the largest dairy co-ops in the United States. Our dairy farms and plants are truly awe-inspiring and efficient facilities. Our butter is made by one of America's only European-style vacuum churns, which makes butter with fewer air bubbles. Having the latest technology also helps Darigold produce less waste, fuel consumption and lower environmental impact.

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.

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.”

If you want to understand vacuum systems, you have to get out of the ruts, and slog through the mud and bounce over the rocks a bit.  If you’re a “compressed air person”, think outside the box for a few pages with me.  I am going to borrow some terms from the “pump people” to explain how vacuum systems are similar, yet different from compressed air systems. There are several ruts to get out of.  Remembering what changes and what doesn’t, what is controlled, and how to design systems for optimal energy consumption.

Vacuum pumps are used for a wide range of applications in a variety of industries, but not all vacuum pumps are created equal. Before selecting a vacuum pump, take a look at the following questions. Knowing the answers will not only help you streamline your purchasing timeline, it will also ensure you get the right vacuum pump for your application.

ADA Möbelfabrik, headquartered in Anger, Austria, is one of Europe’s largest manufacturers of furniture. Upholstered furniture, beds, mattresses and slatted frames are produced for the Austrian market and for many other European countries in two shifts, using modern manufacturing techniques. The vacuum supply required for securing items to the CNC machining centers is provided via a central vacuum plant produced by Busch. By opting for this vacuum system, ADA has integrated an extremely economical and reliable vacuum supply into the production process.

Vacuum chucks and holding devices have been used in many industries for a variety of purposes, from lifting packages to holding items for machining. With the introduction of CNC routing machine-tools for mass production (of wood furniture, plastics and other non-magnetic materials), there was a need to clamp-down large work pieces on the flat router tables. Mechanical clamping was not an option as it caused damage to the work pieces and didn’t satisfy the need to quickly place items on the table and clamp instantly.

Multiple vacuum pumps can be running mostly “dead-headed” in the many production systems that don’t require constant flow.  Any system that evacuates a small volume and then holds a product down while it is being machined, or sucks a bag shut to seal will spend the majority of its time not moving much mass of air.  This type of operation is found everywhere in secondary wood processing, machining, food packaging, and many other industries.  Anywhere vacuum is used as a motive force or to evacuate a small volume repeatedly.  This article will apply to any of these types of systems- and not apply to constant-flow vacuum applications in the process industries.

When it comes to industrial vacuum pumping applications, whatever material is involved in the process generally gets ingested into the vacuum pump. It’s an inherent issue with any industrial vacuum application, whether it’s simply moisture from inlet air, or something more tangible (i.e. dust, debris, etc.). Harsh vacuum applications — such as those that involve corrosive acids, excessive moisture, or dust particles — can wreak havoc on a vacuum pump’s reliability. This holds especially true for oil-sealed vacuum pumps, rotary vane pumps and piston vacuum pumps.

"The most impressive feature of this year’s PROCESS EXPO was the tremendous quality of customers in attendance," said Gil Williams, Chairman of the Food Processing Suppliers Association (FPSA) and President of Poly-clip System USA and Canada. “During the show we were able to meet with a number of important customers and sit down with prospects that we are confident will lead to new sales in the short to medium term, helping us close out 2015 on a strong note and jump start our sales efforts in 2016.”