Vac Generation

A Guide to Vacuum Pump Sizing

By Michael Ruff, Business Development & Technology Director, Becker Pumps Corporation

  • Know Your Vacuum Pump Application
  • Key Vacuum Pump Sizing Terms
  • Moving Different Gasses with a Vacuum Pump
  • Vacuum Pump Size and Total Volume
  • Tips to Consider When Choosing a Vacuum Pump
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Vacuum Generation Source Selection for Robotic Gripping Systems

By Kyle Kopac, Supervisor, Product Management, Vacuum Automation, Schmalz

Suction rate, nozzle diameter, degree of evacuation, generator intelligence and air or energy consumption! These are only a few of the factors engineers need to consider when determining the best vacuum generation source for a custom-engineered gripping system.
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Vacuum Generators and Pneumatics Power Robotics at Automate 2025

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

Automate 2025, showed attendees how to make their industrial plants more efficient with robotics. Throughout the conference, robotic arms shuttled packages, burgers and even macarons with speed and accuracy. Driving this new technology was a complex network of pneumatic cylinders and pick-and-place automation powered by pneumatic vacuum generation. Innovation makes these proven technologies more efficient than ever.
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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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Positive Displacement Blower and Vacuum Booster Lubricants

By MD-Kinney

You have your equipment, everything is set up and ready to run, but what about your lubricants? Too often, lubricants receive little attention with respect to their use in rotating equipment. Even the most reliable cars in the world will encounter problems on a short commute if the wrong transmission fluid is used during a flush. The same is true with your Positive Displacement (PD) blower or vacuum booster that operates around the clock. In our experience, approximately 80% of all bearing and gear failures are the result of improper lubrication.
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Utilizing Venturi Vacuum Generators Efficiently

By Hank van Ormer, Air Power USA

Air-driven Venturi vacuum generators have long been a viable option for fast-response, localized, vacuum-powered systems. Through the last decade, they were considered convenient and flexible solutions with quick response time. However, they were not regarded as energy efficient, probably due to their use of compressed air. Extensive product development with this equipment — particularly the crucial system accessories — often makes the selection of the most energy-efficient items difficult for many localized operations.
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Optimizing Vacuum Generators in Case Packers and Palletizers

By Don van Ormer, Air Power USA

This was a complete supply and demand-side system assessment. The supply-side audit involved shutting off old air compressors and purchasing newer more efficient air compressors and dryers. The demand-side audit involved finding ways to improve the piping and reduce compressed air consumption. Annual plant electric costs for compressed air production, as operating today, are $3,050,625 per year. If the electric costs of $27,811 associated with operating ancillary equipment such as dryers are included the total electric costs for operating the air system are $3,078,436 per year.
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Handling Corrugated Cardboard with Optimized Pressure-Regulation of Air-Driven Vacuum Pumps

By Josef Karbassi, Division Manager Automation, PIAB AB

Using suction cups and air-driven vacuum pumps is a preferable gripping and handling method of corrugated cardboard materials and boxes in carton-machines like case/carton erectors and rotary cartoners. Robot based applications, like palletizing and de-palletizing, are other examples where the best practice technology for gripping and handling is by suction cups and air-driven vacuum pumps.
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Food Industry Factory Saves $154,000 in Annual Energy Costs

By Hank Van Ormer, Air Power USA

This food industry factory, located in California, was spending $386,533 annually on energy to operate their compressed air system. This system assessment detailed eleven (11) project areas where yearly energy savings totaling $154,372 could be found with a investment of $289,540. A local utility energy incentive, paying 9 cents/kWh, provided the factory with an incentive award of $159,778. This reduced the investment to $129,762 and provided a simple ROI of ten months on the project.
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The Ins and Outs of Vacuum Generators

"Dr. Vacuum" with "Dan Bott"

There is an enormous population of vacuum generators being used successfully by industry. Applications range from pick & place to vapor extraction to bulk material handling and the number of installations is growing. Before proceeding with an installation utilizing these devices, there are two general issues to consider: efficiency and appropriateness.
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Reducing Packaging Cycle Times

By Phil O’Neill, Standard Products Manager, Bosch Rexroth Pneumatics

Swiss brush company Ebnat-Kappel uses non contact transfer technology from Bosch Rexroth to automate a problematic section of its packaging production process.
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Chrysler Finds Vacuum Savings of $400,000 per Plant

By Josef Karbassi, PIAB

A recent comparative vacuum technology study performed by Dr. Kingman Yee, as part of a Chrysler Summer Intern Professors Program, found that air consumption could be reduced by 98% when equipping a robot’s end-of-arm tooling with COAXÆ technology and a Vacustat™ check valve.
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