Vacuum System Analysis

Charles H. Wunner
A. Hardy Russell

Vooner Vacuum Pumps, Inc.

Inglês / English
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Vacuum System Analysis

Charles H. Wunner, A. Hardy Russell

Vooner Vacuum Pumps, Inc.
Charlotte, NC
United States of America

Summary
To meet ever-increasing production requirements, paper machines are continuously evolving with
advanced technology. Modern press fabrics and other technology improvements place constantly
increasing demands on peripheral systems.

Vacuum systems are an integral part of the paper making process. Poor performing or undersized
vacuum systems can cause other support systems to be stretched to the maximum to compensate.
Vacuum pump performance degrades slowly over time as pumps wear. Small, seemingly unrelated,
system adjustments are made over time to compensate as airflow to the process declines.

These process changes such as increased steam and chemical consumption, along with wasted costs
associated with poorly performing vacuum pumps, can gradually add production costs that are not
readily noticeable. By ensuring that proper process flow requirements are known and then testing and
trending vacuum pump performance, production and maintenance teams can optimize system
performance while keeping production high and vacuum related production costs at a minimum. Mill
personnel should be aware of original paper machine production to understand the original design,
current production requirements and any planned machine modifications when analyzing their vacuum
system.

This document describes methods of determining airflow requirements for paper machine press
section vacuum boxes and piping, sizing vacuum pumps for Uhle box applications, field test methods
for determining actual pump airflow and formulas for quantifying operational losses due to worn
vacuum pumps. Mill personnel can utilize the test data to calculate the cost savings and production
gains achieved by replacing poorly performing pumps with new, higher capacity vacuum pumps.

Keywords: Vacuum system analysis, airflow capacity, pump testing, Vaneslip, wasted costs, earnings
potential
Palavras-chave: análise do sistema de vácuo, capacidade do fluxo de ar, teste de bomba, Vaneslip,
redução de custos

Content

Many paper machines have been in service for decades. The original vacuum system design has not
always kept pace with the demands currently being placed upon it by modern press fabrics and
increased machine speeds. In some cases, the vacuum system can be the bottleneck preventing full
utilization of recent modifications. A thorough analysis of the press section vacuum system including
the required flow rates for felts, suction boxes, interconnecting piping, separators and vacuum pumps
can help the Machine Supervisor ensure the best performance is being returned from available
resources. It can also indicate areas in need of upgrades or modifications to maximize production.
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Vacuum pump airflow capacity test results will enable the Machine Supervisor to determine which
pumps need to be relocated, rebuilt or replaced. Test results will also allow the Machine Supervisor to
determine what the wasted costs or potential increased earnings are associated with the vacuum
pumps. In mills where utilization of existing piping is of interest, a pump that has increased capacity
than an existing pump of the same physical size can be a great opportunity to improve earnings.

System Analysis and Design

Vacuum Pump Sizing

Vacuum pump sizing for Uhle box applications is critical. Undersized pumps will leave moisture and
contaminants in the felt. The excess moisture will cause increased steam loads in the dryer section
and the contaminants will cause premature wear of the felts. The best source of flow rate information
3 2
(m /hr/cm ) to size vacuum pumps for uhle box applications is available from the felt manufacturer
based on the specific felts in use. For other pump sizing standards, please consult TAPPI technical
paper TIP 0502-01, “Paper machine vacuum selection factors (fourdrinier machines only).”

Process Configuration
Once airflow rates and vacuum levels have been determined for each application, process piping must
be sized based on the flow rates. Too small piping will cause excessive line losses, erosive wear, and
waste vacuum pump resources. Too large piping will cause water to separate prior to the inlet
separator and possibly cause surging and fluctuating vacuum at the process. All diameters calculated
in the following sections reference nominal size and are based on normally accepted flow and velocity
limits for optimal performance.

Component Sizing
With the continued advances in manmade fibers, felt manufacturers have developed felts that are able
to remove more moisture from the sheet. Therefore, they require more airflow for dewatering. Proper
sizing of the Suction (Uhle) Boxes is crucial to proper felt performance. The following steps define
how to properly size everything from the Uhle Box slot width at the process through the pump
discharge separator silencer.

Uhle Box Slot Width: Uhle box slot width should be sized for a dwell time of 2 to 4 milliseconds. This
is the optimal time for dewatering of the felt to occur. If the felt was to stay in the slot longer than 4
milliseconds, increased drag results and premature felt wear can occur. Correct slot width (mm) can
be calculated using Equation 1.

Dwell time (ms) x machine speed (m/min.)

Equation 1: Slot Width (mm) =
60

Slot widths should not be less than 13mm or more than 25 mm. If a slot width is calculated at greater
than 25mm, multiple slots should be used.

Uhle Box Diameter: Uhle boxes are sized to keep the saturated air velocity below 1067 meters/min.
3
With a known pump flow rate (m /hr), minimum box diameter can be calculated using Equation 2.

Equation 2: Minimum box diameter (mm) = Flow (m 3 /hr) x 19.89

Process Piping from Uhle box to pre-separator: The air before the inlet separator is carrying a large
volume of water. The large amount of entrained water requires this piping to be horizontal or downhill
into the separator to promote adequate drainage. Uphill runs will cause pooling and vacuum
fluctuations at the process. Velocity in this section of piping should remain below 1067 m/min to
prevent separation of the water and erosion of the piping from high velocities. Equation 3 will calculate
a recommended diameter.

Equation 3: Minimum pipe diameter (mm) = Flow (m 3 /hr) x 19.89

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Pre-separators: Pre-separators are recommended to prevent process liquids and chemicals from
entering the pump. The carryover will cause the pump to surge and can cause premature pump wear.
Inlet separator air velocities should be kept below 228 m/min to reduce wear and obtain maximum fluid
separation. Equation 4 will verify proper pre-separator diameter.

Equation 4: Minimum separator diameter (mm) = Flow (m 3 /hr) x 92.83

An accepted method of determining separator height is: height > 2 x diameter. These dimensions
should be verified with your separator supplier to ensure that your separator will adequately separate
and drain the water volume removed from the process.

Barometric drop-leg: Once the water has been removed from the process, it must be removed from
the separator with either a barometric drop-leg or a water removal pump. The length of the drop-leg
must be great enough to generate the static head required to overcome the vacuum applied to the
process. If static head cannot overcome the vacuum, the separator will fill with water and the water
will surge into the vacuum pump. This will cause vacuum fluctuations to the process. Barometric
drop-leg length can be calculated using Equation 5.

Equation 5: Minimum barometric drop-leg length (meters) = (Vacuum x 0.0136 meters) + 0.9 meters
where Vacuum = mm Hg vacuum.

The drop-leg length is the length from the bottom of the separator to the overflow drain in the seal pit.

The drop-leg diameter should be sized maintain a water velocity below 2.44 m/sec. Equation 6 will
calculate the proper drop-leg diameter.

Equation 6: Minimum drop - leg diameter (mm) = Flow (l/min) x 8.7

Seal Pit Design: The seal pit holds water from the drop-leg and drains it to the sewer through gravity.
If there is insufficient seal pit volume, the vacuum pump will pull the water into the separator on start-
up, expose the drop-leg to atmosphere and vacuum will be lost. Following are some standard
guidelines to be used when designing a seal pit.

1. Seal pit volume = 2.5 x drop-leg volume

2. Height used in volume calculation is bottom of drop-leg to overflow drain
3. Length from drop-leg to bottom of seal pit ≥ 152mm

Process Piping from pre-separator to vacuum pump: The air after the inlet separator is saturated but
does not have the entrained water that was present prior to separation. Uphill runs are not as much of
a concern but are still not recommended because water can eventually collect in the low spots.
Because of the nature of the air stream, the velocity in this section of piping can increase to a
maximum of 1676 m/min. Equation 7 will calculate a recommended diameter.

Equation 7: Minimum pipe diameter (mm) = Flow (m 3 /hr) x 19.89

Vacuum pump discharge piping: The discharge piping should be sized equal to or greater than the
discharge connection from the pump whether that is the pump discharge flange or a manifold flange.
Piping should run in a horizontal or downhill direction to promote water drainage. Uphill runs of piping
will cause backpressure on the pump. Backpressure reduces pump performance and causes
unnecessary flex loading on the pump shaft.
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Discharge separator/silencers: Discharge separator/silencers are necessary to separate the water

from the discharge air stream and to reduce pump discharge noise by as much as 40dB. As with the
pre-separators, air velocity should be kept below 228 m/min. Equation 8 will help verify proper
separator diameter.

Equation 8:
3
Minimum Discharge Separator Diameter (mm) = Flow(m /hr) x ((1000 − Vacuum) ÷ 1000) x 92.83
Vacuum = mm Hg

As before, the standard technique for determining separator/silencer height is: height > 2 x diameter

Discharge separator silencers are available in a variety of water/air separation efficiency levels as well
as noise suppression levels. Please contact your separator supplier for more information about what
fits your specific needs.

System Testing

This is intended to be an overview of the pump testing procedure. For more detail, please see TAPPI
Technical Information Paper TIP 0420-12, “Guidelines for measurement of vacuum pump airflow.”

Liquid ring vacuum pumps lose airflow capacity due to wear of the critical rotor and cone clearance at
the seal segment of the cone. This wear is caused by many factors, with process carryover and use of
contaminated mill water as sealing liquid being the major two. Vaneslip is defined as high-pressure air
from the discharge segment leaking under vanes and “slipping” back into the inlet segment. The
volume recirculated by Vaneslip prevents process air from entering the pump, therefore decreasing
the total useful capacity of the vacuum pump.

Because liquid ring vacuum pumps are such an integral part of a paper machine a decrease in their
useful capacity can seriously impact overall machine productivity. There is no better way to monitor
vacuum pump useful capacity than testing. Orifice plate testing is an accepted method of verifying
useful capacity of cone ported, single stage, liquid ring vacuum pumps over the entire vacuum range
of the pump. Paper machines do not normally shut down often or for very long, so a quick and
accurate method of verifying pump useful capacity without removing the pump from the process is
necessary. Mill testing can usually be performed in couple of hours per pump. This fits well with the
normal one day or less shutdowns that occur for felt changes and other periodic maintenance.

Mill orifice plate testing involves removing the inlet piping from the pump and placing a precision drilled
orifice plate over one or both inlets of the vacuum pump. The number and size of holes in the test
plate is based on pump flow rate with smaller holes being used to test smaller size pumps. Vacuum
gauges are placed in the test ports on the inlet of the pump to measure vacuum level achieved by the
pump. Once seal water flow is established the pump is started and the liquid ring is allowed to
stabilize before data collection begins. Rubber stoppers are added to the holes in the plate to
increase vacuum and data is collected after each stopper is added. Sometime during the data
collection an RPM reading is taken on the pump shaft to allow a comparison to an original pump
curve. To complete the data collection, the barometer level at the site and sealing liquid temperature
are also measured during the test.

Once the data is collected, the information is corrected to standard conditions (760mm Hg pressure,
15.6°C sealing liquid temperature) and the airflow capacity calculated. This data can then be
compared to a manufacturers pump curve to get an idea of how the pump is performing compared to
when the pump was new. The data collected from this test cannot be used as an absolute indication
of pump performance because the data collection method does not met HEI (Heat Exchanger
Institute) standards. It gives a very strong benchmark indication of airflow capacity and can be used to
determine any trends in pump capacity.

Vacuum Pump Operating Costs

This section will give guidance in calculating the operating costs of the vacuum pump. Once pump
useful capacity has been evaluated from testing you can determine what amount of the operating
costs are being wasted due to vaneslip.
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The primary costs in operating a liquid ring vacuum pump are energy and seal water. Vacuum pump
power and water consumption remains constant even as pump capacity declines, leading to a waste
of horsepower and water. For more detail about how to calculate these costs please consult “The Full
Operating Costs of Liquid Ring Vacuum Pumps” located in the 1995 TAPPI Engineering Conference
Proceedings.

To calculate the annual energy costs for operating a liquid ring vacuum pump, use Equation 9.

Equation 9: $Ea = kW x $UR x hr x day

where:
$Ea = Annual energy cost
kW = pump kilowatts from curve
$UR = utility rate at mill in kW•hr
hr = operating hours per day
day = operating days per year

Use Equation 10 to calculate the annual sealing liquid costs per year.

Equation 10: $SW a = l/min x 60 x $SW x hr x day

where:
$SW a = Annual sealing liquid cost
l/min = sealing liquid flow rate
$SW f = seal water cost rate, $ per 1000 liters
hr = operating hours per day
day = operating days per year

Once these values have been calculated they can be summed to give an annual operating cost.

To calculate the wasted operating costs for the pump you will use Equations 11 and 12.

Equation 11: $Ewa = $Ea x (1-Eff)

where:
$Ewa = annual wasted energy cost
$Ea = annual energy costs from Equation 9
Eff = vacuum pump % Original Capacity from pump test

Equation 12: $SWwa = $SW a x (1-Eff)

where:
$SWwa = annual wasted sealing liquid cost
$Ea = annual sealing liquid costs from Equation 10
Eff = vacuum pump % Original Capacity from pump test

Once these values have been calculated they can be summed to give annual wasted costs.

Conclusions

Liquid ring vacuum pumps are an integral part

of any paper machine. If they are have lost
capacity or the technology has outpaced their
capacity, they can be causing hidden costs
such as increased steam and chemical usage
that can drive product costs up. The paper
mill personnel have to know how to analyze
and optimize the vacuum system to ensure it
will provide adequate flow for current as well
as future needs. Please see the conceptual
diagram at the right. This optimization will
bring other associated costs down as well. To
be able to complete this task of optimizing the
system they have to have the knowledge to
determine what the actual airflow
requirements are from a system analysis and
determine if the existing pumps can provide
the flow. If the pumps cannot provide the flow,
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the need exists to determine how to achieve the required airflow at the process. Should pump
positions be switched to put pumps where they will provide the required airflow? Should they rebuild
or replace pumps? If the existing pumps cannot meet the airflow demands through swapping or
rebuilding and replacement becomes the only option, wasted operating costs or earnings potential can
be used to present an economic justification to management to upgrade or replace existing equipment.

If system modification costs for upgrading to a larger sized pump are not justifiable, the engineer
needs to research how to obtain more airflow from a pump of the same footprint. This will only require
a motor upgrade to provide the larger flow rate that is now required.

For this process to work properly, the mill personnel need to work closely with their vacuum pump,
Uhle box, and felt manufacturers. These suppliers can assist them in determining what flow rates are
required and provide them with the latest technology to ensure their vacuum system is running as
efficiently as possible. Pumps are now available that can provide more airflow than older pumps from
a standard dimension footprint. This will allow increased flow rates with minimal modifications and will
allow the mill to keep capital improvement costs to a minimum

Bibliography

1. “Practical Methods for Modernizing Paper Machine Vacuum Systems”, Douglas F. Sweet,
P.E., 1988 TAPPI Papermakers Conference
2. TAPPI technical paper TIP 0502-01, “Paper machine vacuum selection factors (fourdrinier
machines only)”, revised 1998
3. “The Vooner VaneGard Vacuum Pump”, Technical Bulletin 9601, 1996
4. TAPPI technical paper TIP 0420-12, “Guidelines for measurement of vacuum pump air flow”,
Issued 1999
5. “The Full Operating Costs of Liquid Ring Vacuum Pumps”, J A Pappalardo, 1995 TAPPI
Engineering Conference Proceedings.