Performance Fluids - Vacuum Pumps

Pressure control is critical in a wide variety of industrial processes and manufacturing across nearly every industry. Vacuum pumps help create, control & maintain vacuum chambers and provide the ability to remove molecules from a desired location & volume.  There are a vast range of different vacuum pump models and design that help facilitate vacuum creation but generally can be sorted into two over-arching categores; Transfer & Trapping and further designated a "Wet Pump" or a "Dry Pump" depending on the exposure of the gas to a liquid during the process.

As in all cases with equipment failure, there are several variables to take into consideration. Outside of mechanical or miscellaneous root causes, the one we can address most fully here is failure caused by lubrication or lubricant selection.  There are a few ways that improper lubrication can lead to pump failure, some of the most common are highlighted below:  

 
Contamination – Build-up of deposits, particles or chemical contamination can lead to seal degradation and leakage, premature wear on metal surfaces and eventual seizure or ultimately total pump failure.
 
Thermal Degradation – Improper lubricant selection can lead to thermal breakdown and the formation of an oily-sludge that can inhibit proper pump operation and lead to costly damages.
 
Chemical Breakdown – Improper lubricant selection when exposed to harsh chemicals and gases can lead to pH excursions of the base fluid.  This change in pH can lead to premature corrosion of metal surfaces and pump parts and eventual outgassing of process gases.