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Water ring pumps

a better solution for your
wet vacuum process?
by Frank Moerman, MSc., EHEDG Belgium and Nico Desanghere, MSc., SIHI

centrifugal force creates a water ring

which is concentric to the casing. At
the top dead center, the ring of water
completely fills the voids between the
blades of the impeller. However, as
the impeller rotates, the water seal is
peeled away from the space between
the blades, creating voids between the
impeller blades that increase in size at
the inlet, drawing gas in. At the bottom
dead center, the voids between the
impeller blades and water ring are at a
maximum, while the blad tips remain
immersed in the water ring for seal-
ing. As the impeller continues to rotate
back up from bottom dead center to

Figure 1: wet pump type,

multi-bladed rotating assembly.

A wet vacuum source is a device wherein a fluid aids in the generation

of a vacuum; the removal of friction, compression and condensation
heat; and in the elimination of contaminants. Wet systems are
commonly applied as vacuum source in wet processes, such as
wet product evacuation, cleaning and rinsing. Typical wet vacuum
sources are steam jet ejectors (discussed in a former article), water
ring pumps, and oil ring pump and oil-lubricated rotary vane pumps
(discussed in a latter article). Table 1 gives an overview of the different
advantages and disadvantages of a water ring pump.

I
n this wet pump type (Fig. 1), a multi-bladed
rotating assembly (one or two impellers)
is positioned eccentrically in a cylindrical
pump casing, in such a way that at the top dead
center the clearance between impeller blade tip
and housing is at a minimum, and at the bottom
dead center the clearance is at a maximum,
resulting in a relatively large void. This assem-
bly is driven by an external
source, normally an electric
motor. A sealant liquid, typi-
cally water, is used to seal between the
impeller blade tips and housing. As the Photo 1 (above): The gas-liquid exhaust
impeller rotates, the seal water is thrown of the water ring pump is discharged in
by the impeller against the inside walls the liquid separator, where the water is
of the pump housing, and the exerted separated from the gas.

pumps & process MAGAZINE - juni 2011 23

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Water ring pump
Advantages
- Minimum achievable vacuum level mounts 33 mbar
absolute
- Modest gas flows
- Excellent to handle condensable loads and slugs of
liquid
- Excellent to handle contaminated loads, that can be
diluted and washed through the pump by the seal
water
- Can be fabricated from any castable metal and all-
stainless steel
- Appropriate for 6-10 start/stop cycles per hour
- Simple design
- Contact free
- Long life-span
- Trouble-free operation
- Simple repair & maintenance
- Variable frequency drive regulation is possible
- Low operation cost
- Little increase in temperature of the discharged gas
- Minimal noise & vibration
Table 1: water ring pumps: advantages and disadvantages.
the top dead center and towards the dis-
charge port, the ring water begins to refill
the volume between the blades, the voids
between the impeller blades decrease in
size, compressing the gas isothermal with
the aid of the water ring. The compressed
gas, along with the water from the pump, is
then discharged through the outlet nozzle.
The gas-liquid exhaust of the water ring
Fig. 2: end-vacuum and capacity correction factors in function of the seal-water
temperature.
24 pumps & process MAGAZINE - juni 2011
Disadvantages
- Achievable vacuum is limited by the vapour pressure
of the seal water at the operating temperature
- Good water quality (soft water) is critical to avoid pre-
mature failures due to scale build-up
- Risk of cavitation, which requires that a portion of
the process load must be non-condensable under
the pump operating conditions
- Inevitable mixing of the evacuated gas with seal water
- Changes in liquid seal temperature makes vacuum
system unstable
- Cost of running a closed loop recirculating water
circuit can be significant (cooling towers require fan
and pump electricity, water make-up and water treat-
ment chemicals)
- Waste water
- Water and sewage operating costs
- Bacteria build-up associated with seal water recircu-
lated systems
- High power consumption, energy inefficient, as most
of the power is lost in friction losses
pump is discharged in the liquid separator,
where the water is separated from the gas
(photo1) (Aglitz et al., 1995; Aliasso, 1999;
Vibert, 2004).
Impact of seal temperature
The liquid seal temperature is critical to the
performance of the water ring pump. An
increase of a few degrees can reduce the pump
capacity by 30% or more, and can lower the
maximum suction pressure the pump can
deliver (Fig. 2). At 25°C, the vapour pres-
sure of water is only 31.6 mbar; at 30°C the
vapour pressure of water is already 42.4 mbar.
In the later case, this means that no absolute
vacuum lower than 42.4 mbar can be obtained.
The higher the temperature of the water seal,
the less absolute vacuum that the water ring
pump can generate. Moreover, if the seal fluid
vapour pressure is near the operating inlet
pressure of the vacuum pump, the seal liquid
can start to boil. Bubbles form in the liquid
at the inlet side; but at the compression side,
these bubbles are subjected to higher pres-
sures and collapse. This phenomenon leads
to extensive erosion or pitting of the pump
internals. By allowing air or nitrogen (ATEX-
environment) to enter the vacuum pump, the
inlet operating pressure (if this pressure will
be tolerated by the process) can increase,
stopping the water ring pump from cavitating
(Aliasso, 2005).
The maximum attainable end-vacuum
and capacity correction factors can be
derived from a diagram (Fig. 2), where
the performance data are expressed rela-
tive to a vacuum pump using 15 °C water
as the sealing liquid. With a seal-water
temperature of approx. 25°C, the maximum
attainable end-vacuum is 55 mbar absolute
for a single-stage water ring vacuum pump.
At that end-vacuum, the capacity correc-
tion factor is 0.58, which means that the
pump capacity at that temperature and
end-vacuum is only 58% of the published
capacity of a given pump.
To attain lower end-vacuums (down
to 7 mbar absolute), a gas ejector can be
used. Normally, the gas ejector is mounted
directly onto the suction branch of the
pump. In a restricted area and in special
conditions, however, mounting the gas
ejector in the suction pipework is also pos-
sible. Inert gas or air (from a ring-liquid
tank or atmosphere) is used as motive gas
to operate the ejector. Even if the inlet side
of the gas ejector is closed, a minimum
amount of air or inert gas is always supplied
to protect the water ring pump from cavita-
tion. To obtain a higher suction capacity
and an end-vacuum below 1 mbar absolute,
a roots blower upstream of the water ring
vacuum pump can be used. Roots blowers
are volumetric vacuum pumps provided
with two lobes in the shape of an “8”,
that rotate in opposite directions without
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touching each other. The gas is transported

vertically downwards through the pump.

Once-through sealing water

arrangements
The disadvantage of a water ring pump is
that it requires a continuous supply of water
to operate, and to extract friction, compres-
sion and condensation heat loads. That water
is wasted to a drain if a recirculated cooling
water supply is not available (once-through
system). Options are available to reduce the
quantity of water used, by re-circulating the
seal water and replacing only the amount
necessary to maintain proper pump tempe-
rature. Seal water circulating pumps and a
heat-exchanger are common part of that total
recovery systems.
The water ring pump typically has sup-
port heat exchangers to remove heat from
and cool down the recirculated seal water,
minimizing its vapour pressure. For proper

Fig. 3: seal water piping arrangements (Frankel, 2002).

cooling, it is recommended to regularly
check the re-circulating heat exchanger
for any fouling. It is also common prac-
tice to check the seal liquid’s temperature
rise across the pump (Aglitz et al., 1995;
Aliasso, 1999; Sterling Fluids System
Group, 2010).
A water ring pump may not act as a con-
densor as such. If large amounts of water
vapours condense within the water ring
pump, the temperature of the water seal
will rise. An increase in condensable load
may negatively affect the vacuum system
pressure. The heat exchanger of the re-
circulation system does not have sufficient
cooling capacity to remove that condensa-
tion heat load. The only good solution is a
cold wall condenser ahead of the vacuum
pump so as to prevent water vapour from
entering and fouling the pump. Further,
provisions should be made to prevent the
pump of being full of water when starting vapour pressure, the gas solubility of the
the water ring pump, because damage to seal water and the slippage of gas from
the pump or motor overload may occur. the discharge side back to the suction side.
Single-stage water ring pumps are capable
Conclusion of achieving 130 mbar absolute, while two-
In conclusion, the low-pressure performance stage water ring pumps can achieve 30 mbar
of water ring pumps is limited by the water absolute (Vibert, 2004).
References:
Aglitz, J., Bhatnagar, R., Bolt, D.E. & Butzbach, T.L. (1995), ‘Installing Liquid-Ring Vacuum
Pumps’, Chemical Engineering, 102 (11), 132-138.
Aliasso, J. (1999), ‘Choose the right vacuum pump’, Chemical Engineering, 106 (3), 96-100.
Aliasso, J. (2005), ‘How to Size Liquid Ring Vacuum Pumps’, Pumps & Systems Magazine, April
2005, 2 p.
Frankel, M. (2002), ‘Vacuum air systems’, Ch. 15, Facilty Piping Systems Handbook, 2nd edition,
New York, United States, McGraw-Hill, pp. 15.1-15.64.
Sterling Fluids Systems Group (2010), ‘Liquid Ring Vacuum Pumps & Compressors -Technical
Details & Fields of Application’
Vibert, P. (2004), ‘Mechanical pumps for vacuum processing’, Chemical Engineering, 111 (10),
44-51.

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