Croll Reynolds Co., Inc.

Process-powered Vacuum System

Process-powered Vacuum System

Process-powered vacuum systems offers a reliable and economical means of handling and compressing process vapor at different vacuum levels (high, medium, and low) while recovering valuable process components which can’t be contaminated with steam/water. A process-powered vacuum system is commonly driven by motive fluids such as mono-chlorobenzene, phenols, glycols, ethylene, and hexane. This type of vacuum system normally consists of ejectors, vaporizing systems, piping, condensers, pumps, instrumentation, and controls.

The most critical component of this type of vacuum system, like all other vacuum systems is ejectors. The most common type of heat exchanger used in process-powered vacuum systems is Surface condenser (also known as non-mixing or shell and tube) which avoids contamination of the products intended to be recovered.  Like single and multi-stage steam ejector system the number of stages in each design can vary from one to six and is mostly determined by the level of vacuum for ejectors and the maximum coolant’s operating temperature for condensers. Most process-powered systems can be designed as Ejector or Hybrid Ejector (which utilizes Liquid Ring Vacuum pumps as last stage of the vacuum package).

Advantages

• Reliable, consistent service and output
• Reduces energy consumption and overall cost of plant operations
• Handles high volumes of gases and vapors at low, medium, and high pressures
• Captures condensable valuable products without contamination
• No moving parts
• Low initial cost (compared to mechanical pumps)
• Minimal maintenance cost (compared to mechanical pumps)
• Easy to install and maintain
• Easy to retrofit or upgrade
• Can be constructed from a wide variety of steel, alloy, and composite materials including thermoplastics such as PP, PTFE, and PVDF.