Air Compressors
Vacuum Pumps
Rotary Vanes
Pneumofore designs and produces rotary vane machines used in industrial plants throughout the world. Pneumofore’s rotary vane air compressors and rotary vane vacuum pumps are turnkey systems that efficiently centralize vacuum and air supply in a wide range of industries, including hollow glass, cans, food, beverage, electronics, degassing, drying, ceramics, bricks, tiles, EPS, aerospace, pick and place, surface coatings, and others.
Yes, this really is the world’s largest, single-stage, air-cooled rotary vane vacuum pump. Pneumofore’s legendary UV Series models currently installed in industrial plants worldwide evacuate a monstruous billion+ m3 each year. And not only more reliably, but also more efficiently than any other vacuum pump.
These pumps cover a wide vacuum range and offer single stage 250 to 3.240 m3/h [148 to 1908 cfm] with the residual pressure of 0,5 to 450 mbar(a) [29,90 to 16,62 inHg V]. Capacity and residual pressure are extended with multiple stage machines. The family of UV pumps includes several Series described below fo reintegration into a wide variety of applications.
Suction volumes from 250 m3/h to 3240 m3/h (Single-stage). 99.95% maximum vacuum degree
(0.5 mbar residual absolute pressure) with performance curves constant up to 95%.
Reduced electric energy consumption when compared to liquid ring pumps with same nominal capacity. Up to 70% savings on replacements.
“Plug and play” pumps, easy to install and integrate.
Air cooling through an aluminium radiator and a temperature controlled fan. Water-free cooling prevents problems related to limestone, ambient temperature and unstable vacuum degree.
Special aluminum alloy vanesprovide active sealing, avoiding efficiency loss and minimizing cost of operation and maintenance.
“Closed-loop” lubrication circuit ensures negligible coolant consumption.
UV Series Rotary Vane Vacuum Pumps
Adapted Versions
UV – THE CORE SERIES: Models from UV4 to UV50 with a capacity range of 250 to 3240 m3/h and up to 0.5 mbar residual pressure. All components on board, ready-to-go.
UV G – for continuous operation of pump at 1 to 300 mbar(a) [29,88 to 21 inHg V], reduced electrical motor size.
UV H – Water vapor suction capability, machine temperature 110° C [230° F] for drying processes. Unique feature, exclusively by Pneumofore.
UV VS – Variable speed drive from 35 to 60 Hz to optimize the power consumption, for a constant pressure at the process.
UV W – Water-cooled version for installation in closed areas or for heat recovery purposes.
UV B – Double stage vacuum system with a roots blower as second vacuum stage. Can be combined with any other UV version. Frequently applied in pipeline drying.
UV S – Special versions of UV pumps for tailored dimensions, ethernet, skid mounted, stainless steel, weather proof construction or extra heavy duty frame.
UV HC – Hot climate version of air cooled pumps for ambient temperature up to 55° C [131° F]. Extra large heat exchangers and fans for tropical climates.
UV EX – Explosion-proof. Installation in explosive areas with dedicated electrical components, not suitable for suction of hazardous gases.
Case study: Meat Packaging of Sliced Bacon
Centralized UV vacuum system
In food packaging, vacuum determines the shelf life of the final products and the speed of packing during the production process
Increasingly in demand for the packaging of sliced meats and other highly perishable foods, centralized vacuum systems replace systems with multiple small vacuum pumps to reduce coolant exhaust and noise levels in the production facilities.
The Swedish group KREATINA chose Pneumofore as their vacuum solution for their latest and most high-tech production site in Swinnoujscie, Poland. The plant relies on a double-stage system featuring a UV16 combined with a roots pump and one additional UV16 back-up pump. Thanks to the silent operation and the extraordinarily clean exhaust of the UV pump as well as the use of H2 class food lubricant according to the NSF classification, this installation has become another success story. Because of the strong impact on the application’s requirements, the customer’s expectations were more than satisfied. The installation was commissioned in August 2005.
Other European companies in this sector have also chosen Pneumofore systems to assist their packaging process, most of which takes place in cooling rooms with much potential for improvement. Located in Northern Italy near Venice, the manufacturer Franzin Carni aimed at improving packaging speed, eliminating coolant mist, and reducing heat generation as well as excessive noise. Previously, their system comprised four units of 250 m3/h each and two of 170 m3/h, all installed inside the 2 °C cooling room. Pneumofore replaced this with a system consisting of one UV16 and one roots blower as a double-stage unit generating 4 mbar(a) pressure and raising packaging speed from 20 to 24 packs per minute. This corresponds to 20% higher efficiency at reduced operational costs. The cooling room’s operators are as happy as the company management.
Situations like this exist but are unusual, where solution provider and customer interact based on a full analysis of the application and the improvement of one parameter doesn’t require the sacrifice of another performance or part of the system.
Relying on decades of experience with vacuum systems, Pneumofore is rapidly gaining a reputation as a leading solution provider in food packaging, where different vacuum levels for higher packaging speed and highly specific humidity and vacuum values are maintained constant, with air as the only cooling medium.
The combined operation of UV16 with roots pump on top, with absolute pressure level of 0,05 mbar(a) installed at the Kreatina plant in Swinnoujscie, Poland.
Engineering for Sustainability
Today, many inkjet printers cost less than their cartridges, and within a few years they will end up buried in a landfill or polluting the atmosphere as toxic smoke. Industrial equipment is increasingly designed and produced the same way: as a disposable commodity. The user buys a cheap machine, but then overspends on everything else: assembly, power usage, parts, service, waste byproducts. When it breaks, it is thrown away because it was designed to be unfixable within reasonable cost. A cheaper machine is available in the meantime – one even more compromised in quality. Who will clean up the mess and pay for the damage?
Pneumofore stands for exactly the opposite approach. Since 1923, it has manufactured nearly 40.000 air compressors and vacuum pumps designed to operate for decades, to use less energy than other machines, and to be transparent for the owner. After several hundreds of thousands of hours running at their first site, Pneumofore units usually come back to their factory, where they are easily overhauled for re-use. Others are resold across the world by traders on the second-hand market. Pneumofore machines new and old are especially desirable in more remote areas with harsher conditions, where independent users value their sturdiness, ease of repair, ease of integration, low maintenance, and continuous efficiency.
Pneumofore has constantly maintained the core value of its founding generation: respect. Literally, “respect” means looking back and taking into account one’s position vis-a-vis someone or something else. In this context, it means defending better technology, replenishing the resources that are consumed, reducing environmental impact, and leaving a better place for those who will come after. Pneumofore manifests this respect by building durable and reliable machines that result in a far smaller carbon footprint than the industry standard.
First, Pneumofore designs its systems without obsolescence: nearly every non-consumable part is engineered to outlast a generation. Placing a long-lived machine in service saves energy and reduces waste by eliminating the entire environmental impact of a replacement: disposal of the old, production of the new, and transportation of both. Further, by not breaking down, reliable equipment benefits not only the owner, but also saves energy otherwise spent on moving technicians or parts, or the whole machine, even.
More importantly, Pneumofore compressors and pumps use only a fraction of the operating energy consumed by most competing machines. Generally, the cost of adsorbed power throughout a compressor or pump’s operating life is in the order of 5-10 times the equipment purchase price and makes up 60-80% of the total life cycle cost. With Pneumofore systems, the slightly higher purchase price is recuperated multiple times within the first decade through energy savings alone.
A typical scenario: To supply its IS machines with vacuum, a mid-size hollow glass plant has used one 90 kW liquid ring pump (LRP) with a chiller and additional circulating pumps for water cooling. After ten years, this system has come to its functional end as a result of fatal wear and tear on its many components. Over the course of its operation, the LRP has consumed close to 7620 mWh, caused 10 system flushes, and contaminated over 250.000 liters of water. Now, one air-cooled 75 kW Pneumofore rotary vane vacuum pump is dropped in to do the same job. Over the course of 10 years, it will consume around 30% less energy, use no water, require an oil change once a year (140 liters total) and perhaps a one-time routine service inspection. The operational savings alone are on the order of 5,4 times the cost of purchasing the system. The ROI is below 19 months. The emissions savings on CO2 are close to 1.140.000 Kg. In a similar instance, another glass plant replaces three 60 kW liquid ring pumps with two air-cooled 75 kW Pneumofore rotary vane vacuum pumps that consume around 40% less energy and save around 3.360.000 Kg of CO2 emissions. Both plants can continue in this manner with the same Pneumofore units for several more ten-year cycles. Far down the line, they may each need 2 new bearings and a few other minor parts.
The key to this efficiency is Pneumofore’s core technology, the rotary vane air end, which has been continuously improved through R&D and engineering over nearly a century of applied experience. The high compression ratio of the rotary vane principle and direct-coupling to the motor use far less operating energy than most other compressor and pump designs, such as screw, piston, or liquid ring.
Other Pneumofore innovations further boost energy efficiency, like the intensive oil injection and tangential vanes. By using air cooling through vertical radiators instead of water cooling, Pneumofore machines eliminate not only the extra power use of water circulation, but also the consumption or contamination of water, which may in turn cost further energy for disposal or cleanup.
The high durability of rotary vane machines also results from the simplicity of this design. The air end itself and the axial layout have few moving parts and turn at relatively low rotation speeds, compared to 3-4x higher with rotary screw units. Low speed keeps friction, vibration, and temperature low throughout the system, which means less cooling and less material degradation or stress.
Pneumofore’s environmentally friendly stance is also reflected by its turnkey delivery. Encased in a sound-proof cabin with a compact footprint and all components on board, the units are shipped ready-to-use, require no foundations, and lend themselves well to heat recovery. Their ease of operation and low maintenance additionally relieves plant personnel.
And finally, Pneumofore’s own manufacturing process complies since 2002 with the strict ISO 14001:04 Environmental Quality Certification. The company strives to reduce waste and use resources as efficiently as possible across the board, from compact documentation with minimal paper to high-efficiency fleet vehicles.
From cradle to cradle, Pneumofore systems reduce environmental impact across multiple levels: less material and labor spent on installation, no water use, less resources spent on spare parts and repairs, double or more the longevity than other systems – and therefore less disposal and replacement impact – but most crucially, minimal consumption of operating energy, which, over the machine’s lifetime, makes the largest contribution towards reducing CO2 emissions.