A rotary vane pump uses vanes on a rotating disk to push liquids or gases, making it a displacement pump. It’s best for low viscosity materials and has good gas performance. Maintenance is simple, but abrasive materials can damage the vanes. It’s used in compressing hydraulic fluid, air pumps, beverage dispensers, medical pumps, and vacuum systems.
A rotary vane pump is a positive displacement pump that uses a series of vanes installed in a rotating disk or drum to push liquids or gases in smaller volumes, resulting in increased pressure. This device is considered a displacement pump because each vane separates a specific volume of gas or liquid and then moves the material into a smaller and smaller space, resulting in flow and pressurization. A rotary vane pump is best suited for low viscosity liquids and gases and can be useful as a vacuum pump.
The advantages of a rotary vane pump include good vane wear characteristics if the material being pumped is non-abrasive and a low parts count because a gear drive or reduction may not be required. This type of pump also has good gas performance and low vibration due to its low operating speed. Disadvantages of a rotary van pump include poor life with abrasive materials and the possibility of vane damage or breakage with thicker materials.
The vanes of a rotary vane pump travel in and out of the rotor as they move around the inner walls of the pump. Centrifugal force or springs can be used to hold the vanes against the outside wall of the pump. A good seal is required to maintain pump efficiency, and rotary pump vanes will improve in clearance as they wear against the outside wall of the pump. Variable pump capacity can also be engineered into a rotary vane pump by changing the orientation of the rotor in the pump body, which results in a different compression ratio from pump inlet to pump outlet.
Common uses for a rotary vane pump include compressing hydraulic fluid and air pumps in airplanes or trucks. Small rotary vane pumps can be used for beverage dispensers, medical dispensing pumps, and water pumps on marine engines. The materials used to make the pump and vanes can be modified for high temperature industrial applications such as furnace air injection or engine turbocharging. Rotary vane pumps work well as vacuum pumps for aviation applications, laboratory vacuum systems, medical applications and to evacuate and recover refrigerants from air conditioning systems.
Maintaining a rotary vane pump is relatively simple. Many of these pumps are direct drive pumps without gears or transmissions to reduce operating speeds. Periodic inspection of vanes for vane wear and damage is necessary for optimum performance. A shaft seal between the pump and motor may require periodic maintenance but in some cases can be eliminated through the use of a magnetic coupling which uses a magnet sealed within the pump body driven by a matched magnet on the motor shaft.
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