1) The document discusses air leakage in vacuum vessels and how to measure it. Air leakage is determined by evacuating the vessel to a vacuum, isolating it from the pump, and measuring the pressure increase over time.
2) Typical air leakage rates for normal flanged connections are 200-400 g/hour per meter of seal length, but can be reduced to 50-100 g/hour with special seals.
3) The document provides a table with expected air leakage rates in kg/hour for vacuum vessels of different volumes, depending on whether the connections are mainly flanged, welded, or have special seals.
1) The document discusses air leakage in vacuum vessels and how to measure it. Air leakage is determined by evacuating the vessel to a vacuum, isolating it from the pump, and measuring the pressure increase over time.
2) Typical air leakage rates for normal flanged connections are 200-400 g/hour per meter of seal length, but can be reduced to 50-100 g/hour with special seals.
3) The document provides a table with expected air leakage rates in kg/hour for vacuum vessels of different volumes, depending on whether the connections are mainly flanged, welded, or have special seals.
1) The document discusses air leakage in vacuum vessels and how to measure it. Air leakage is determined by evacuating the vessel to a vacuum, isolating it from the pump, and measuring the pressure increase over time.
2) Typical air leakage rates for normal flanged connections are 200-400 g/hour per meter of seal length, but can be reduced to 50-100 g/hour with special seals.
3) The document provides a table with expected air leakage rates in kg/hour for vacuum vessels of different volumes, depending on whether the connections are mainly flanged, welded, or have special seals.
1) The document discusses air leakage in vacuum vessels and how to measure it. Air leakage is determined by evacuating the vessel to a vacuum, isolating it from the pump, and measuring the pressure increase over time.
2) Typical air leakage rates for normal flanged connections are 200-400 g/hour per meter of seal length, but can be reduced to 50-100 g/hour with special seals.
3) The document provides a table with expected air leakage rates in kg/hour for vacuum vessels of different volumes, depending on whether the connections are mainly flanged, welded, or have special seals.
How airtight is a vacuum plant? In the high-vacuum range the air leakage In case of normal flanged connections with Is the suction capacity of the vacuum rate or the quantities of gases and vapours large nominal diameter the assumed air pump large enough? are measured in mbar · liter/s. leakage amounts to 200 to 400 g per hour Why does it take so long for the plant to and meter of seal length. With specially reach the vacuum? designed flanged connections, e.g. with Must the vacuum pump extract leak air as groove and tongue or fine machined sealing well as gases from the product? surfaces and with the use of special seals the You can answer all these questions if you value can be reduced to 50 to 100 g/hm. know the air leakage in the vacuum tank. Budget values regarding air leakage The tightness of vacuum plant can vary, in vacuum units and plants depending on whether mainly welded units It is determined as follows: The following shall apply regarding the are concerned or whether units are con- Evacuate the vessel to a vacuum under requirement to the tightness of a plant cerned in which flanged connections, sight 500 mbar, e.g. 60 mbar. under vacuum: The lower the pressure to glasses, valves, gate valves, glands etc. have Isolate the vacuum pump from the vessel be maintained in the plant, the higher the to be taken into consideration. The table on and completely seal off the vessel. requirement to the tightness of the plant, page 20 shows values which are based on Measure the pressure increase in the ves- because the expenditure for generating and experience. Depending on the overall vol- sel and determine the corresponding maintaining vacuum increases with decreas- ume of the unit and of the type of connec- time. ing pressure. tions of units and ducts it shows the leakage The pressure increase in mbar divided by Through an opening of 1 mm² approx. air flow to be expected in kg/h. the time in minutes gives the vacuum loss 0.83 kg/h of air flow into a vacuum unit, in mbar/minute. independent of the amount of vacuum, if it With this value and the volume of the vessel is only < 530 mbar. In this case, just critical under vacuum the air leakage rate in kg/h conditions are prevailing. can be found in the chart, fig. 1. The chart, fig. 1, is calculated from the for- mula:
fig. 1
Whereby: V= Plant volume ØA Air leakage in Dp Change of pressure in mbar t Corresponing time in min V Plant volume in m3
* The exact value is 0.071289977, based on:
Universal gas constant
Absolute temperature
Mol mass for air
Example for air leakage
A vessel of 20 m³ volume is evacuated to 60 mbar and isolated. Within 10 minutes there is a vacuum loss to 120 mbar. The pressure change thus amounts to 60 mbar. Therefore, the vacuum loss is Air leakage in kg/h
With this value, the formula results in an
air leakage of
Vacuum loss in mbar/min
(The diagram is valid for pressures < _ 500 mbar and for air of 20 °C)
Some measurements were compared with determined that the measurements are Mark-ups of 1 to 2 kg/h of air leakage per recommended values according to “HEI according to those standards. Shaft through- shaft throughput are required with normal standards for steam jet ejectors”, and it was puts are not considered in the table values. gland seals.
Unit volume to be maintained under 0.2 1 3 5 10 25 50 100 200 500
vacuum in m³
Leakage air flow in kg/h
Unit and duct connections
with normal seals, mainly flanged 0.15-0.3 0.5-1 1-2 1.5-3 2-4 4-8 6-12 10-20 16-32 30-60
mainly welded or designed with special < 0.1 0.15-0.25 0.25-0.5 0.35-0.7 0.6-1.2 1-2 1.5-3 2.5-5 4-8 8-15 seals
Admissible flow velocity in vacuum ducts
The admissible velocity of flow in a vacuum Example 1 Example 2
pipeline depends on how high the pressure Calculation of the mass flow Equivalent duc t length if pipe bends and loss of this pipeline is allowed to be. High- Given : gate valves are installed in the duct: er pressure loss implies increased energy Duct DN 100 requirements for the vacuum pump. A pres- Duct length l = 10 m sure loss of up to 10 % of the total pressure Flow medium Air, 20 °C can generally be accepted. This is shown in Total pressure p = 10 mbar lE Equivalent duct length in m graph Fig. 1 and valid for air at 20 °C. It is Adm. pressure loss Dp = 1 mbar l Duct length in m calculated according to the formula: d Pipe diameter in mm Parameters to be found: z Resistance coefficients: 1) Admissible velocity Pipe bend D/d = 3.90° z = 0.16 Gate valve with restriction z = 1.0 2) Volume flow Admissible flow velocity Given : in m/s 3) Mass flow Duct DN 600 Admissible pressure loss as Pipe length l = 100 m portion of the total pressure Solution : Flowing medium air, 20 °C Total pressure p = 10 mbar Individual gas constant With the equation results in: Adm. pressure loss Dp = 1 mbar in J/kg K 4 tube bends 90°, 1 gate valve Universal gas constant 1) Parameters to be found:
ø Molecular mass in kg/mol
2) 1) Equivalent pipe length lE in m T Temperature in K 2) Admissible flow velocity 3) Formula and l Duct length in m d Duct diameter in mm 3) Volume flow with vA = Spec. volume of air at 20°C For reasons of simplification, the calculation and p = Pressure in mbar: 4) Mass flow is based on an average pipe friction coeffi- cient of l = 0.04 (this is max.) and on a free- of-loss acceleration from 0 to w m/s, i. e. Solution: The following results by way of with a well rounded duct inlet. calculation: 1) Range of application: 2 mbar # p # 1000 mbar With the equation results in: Furthermore, the graph contains lines for 2) constant volume flow in m³/h. The graph is meant for rapid, rough dimensioning of a 3) vacuum duct. An exact pressure loss calcu- lation can be made with the help of sheet 4) o | abl 9.
