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Vacuum Drying

Leybold’s production-proven vacuum solutions for vacuum drying processes

Vacuum solutions for vacuum drying processes

Drying is an essential process step in many industries such food processing, transformer manufacturing, oil purification, lithium-ion battery production, plastics, timber, paper, pipeline drying, pharmaceuticals, chemicals and others.

Vacuum drying offers several major advantages in comparison to conventional drying at atmospheric pressure:

Energy saving: Drying can be done at lower temperatures, so the energy needed for heating and evaporation is lower, thus reducing energy costs.
Faster process times: Intelligent operated vacuum drying processes typically achieve the required drying levels in shorter times.
Less degradation from high temperatures: Lower drying temperatures help preserve temperature-sensitive products. The integrity of the original product is not affected by excessive heat.
Lower humidity levels: The lower the pressure, the lower the achieved residual humidity levels. Vacuum often allows for the highest product qualities requiring the lowest humidity levels.

Application challenge

The main application challenge for vacuum pump systems is the extraction of water vapor or other, often organic solvent vapors. Selected vacuum pumps must have sufficient vapor capacity, or they must be supported by a condenser installed before the pump.

These vapors can often be aggressive. Drying natural products, for example, typically involves the extraction of organic acids. The suction stream also includes particles and powders, as sometimes the product to be dried is a powder itself. This can cause the need for upstream dust filtration.

It’s extremely importance that the correct vacuum pump technology and the appropriate protective accessories are selected to ensure trouble-free operation of the drying system with highest possible uptime. This is where Leybold excels, as we have extensive experience in all types of drying applications.

Vacuum product portfolio

Leybold offers a complete and proven vacuum product portfolio and system solutions for Vacuum Drying. We also provide standard pumps and accessories in addition to customized drying systems manufactured according to specific customer demands.

Depending on the specific challenges of the drying process, the user can select from a wide range of vacuum solutions:

For simple applications, our cost-effective and proven oil-sealed rotary-vane pump lines (SOGEVAC or TRIVAC) are the most economical choice.
For more demanding processes, users benefit from durable dry-compressing pumps offering minimal maintenance:
- The VARODRY, DRYVAC and SCREWLINE screw-type vacuum lines excel, with vacuum levels down to < 0.1mbar and moderately warm operation temperatures.
- Claw pumps from the CLAWVAC family are optimized for rough vacuum requirements.

Our vacuum expertise - your advantage

For each individual vacuum drying process, Leybold offer the perfect vacuum solution. Depending on the specific and individual customer requirements, different pump types or adapted special pump system solutions are available or can be customized according to the customer’s specifications.