Do you think of pneumatic equipment as only ever providing flow in one direction? In a majority of cases, you’ll usually see compressed air-driven equipment that’s designed to accept positive pressure and experience airflow moving forward but never backward. On the other hand, though, there’s a whole world of tools out there that are designed to work the other way.
Pneumatic vacuum generators use compressed air to generate a vacuum through what’s known as the venturi effect. This effect, which is named for an 18th and 19th-century Italian physicist, can do quite a bit of work for your organization. In certain circumstances, you could connect a vacuum generator in an extremely efficient manner
For instance, you could use a vacuum force to move powders to transfer different types of debris. This would keep a particular industrial process free of any contaminates. On the other hand, you might be interested in making use of any of a whole set of actuators and other parts that run on the vacuum force in addition to positive airflow.
Principle Workings Behind A Pneumatic Vacuum Generator
Giovanni Battista Venturi illustrated that a reduction in fluid pressure occurs when a fluid flows freely through an area that’s anything but free. This location is normally called a choke, and it is positioned inside of a pipe or other type of hose. Think of a pinched area that restricts the flow of an otherwise unfettered stream of air.
Technically, the principle would actually apply to almost any other gas as well. The consideration here involves nothing more than simple air. Mechanics could provide a source of air from any commercial-grade compressor or cylinder, which means you won’t need a great deal of specialized equipment to get this kind of generator functioning.
Consider the following numbers while you think about this fact. Depending on the specific type of equipment that you’re working with and the ambient temperature and air pressure around you, a module can theoretically generate vacuum levels down to approximately -27 inHG or so. This is more than enough to accomplish almost any light task you’re likely to run into that requires a negative degree of pressure to work.
There are special multiple stage units on the market as well that can output a 7 SCFM suction flow capable of moving 200 liters of air per minute. While you might start to think that this would create a great deal of excess noise in the process, the exact opposite might be true.
Specialized components have been developed over time that helps to assuage this problem so much that you might find that pneumatic vacuum generators are far quieter than their electrically powered counterparts. For instance, you can find silencers with muffled exhaust ports that make it so that you won’t have to listen to the extreme noises that are sometimes associated with this kind of technology.
This makes it attractive for those who have to deploy their vacuum valves in areas that play host to other personnel. As with many other types of pneumatic gear, these vacuum generators are capable of relatively quiet operation. You could use them in a situation where excess levels of sound would cause damage to a sensitive industrial process.
Best of all, these aren’t the only tricks that technicians have come up with to provide solutions for different problems that have come up in the midst of various manufacturing workflows.
In fact, these can often put up better numbers than you might expect as a result.
Analytics & Metrics of Pneumatic Vacuum Generators
Consider a compact component that can manage a positive operating pressure of 35-85 PSI coming out of an air compressor to power it. This is large enough to work with a huge range of different types of equipment and various installs.
At the same time, it can handle a maximum pressure of 100 PSI along with a temperature range of 40-140°F. These numbers speak quite loudly about how flexible this kind of pneumatic equipment actually is.
Think about some of the equipment that you’re currently using. Chances are that these numbers are very competitive compared to the gear that’s installed in your existing installation. For that matter, there’s a good chance that you could fit a convenient miniaturized pneumatic vacuum generator into some portion of your company’s workflow. This applies best if you’re already working with some other kind of method of generating a vacuum.
Several other technologies use other methods to generate vacuum pressure, though these generally do rely on the venturi effect or some other similar method of generating flow. Electrical generators sometimes use an impeller motor to generate suction, which resembles the methodology used in many consumer-grade cleaning devices.
Regardless, these technologies might not be able to put up the same numbers as this kind of gear. You’ll want to think over your different options before installing any single piece of equipment. The specific model matters.
Fortunately, we’ve made it easy to get all of the specifications of any component that we sell so you won’t have to go searching around if you want to see analytics for an individual module.
Find Specifications For Vacuum Generator Modules At SMC Pneumatics
People come to SMC Pneumatics to look for these parts. Simply pay a visit to our convenient online catalog and type in the part number that you’re looking for to replace any models. You shouldn’t have any difficulty getting exactly what you need. On the other hand, there are far more special use cases than one could have ever predicted.
What ifyou find yourself dealing with some unusual situations and need some help getting a vacuum generator that meets your needs? Get a hold of a representative from SMC Pneumatics. Contact us online and we’ll get a seasoned member of our team in touch with you to help you find all of the equipment for your business regardless of how big or small your needs might be.