Purge Gas / Gas Ballast Connection (optional)
The VARODRY has a gas ballast system and an optional seal-purge system. It consists of three components.
1. Gas ballast
Gas ballast can be used if the vapors inside the pump could condense. Ambient air is used to dilute the condensable vapors and keep the partial pressure below the condensation level. The VARODRY offers two levels of water vapor tolerance, 20 mbar and 60 mbar.
The tolerance level can be selected depending on the application requirements. A high vapor tolerance will reduce the vacuum performance of the pump.
2. Seal purge exhaust side (optional)
The VARODRY range has no hermetically sealed shaft feedthroughs at the exhaust side. Therefore small amounts of gases inside the pump will escape into the ambient air if no seal purge is used. In order to avoid this the shaft seals at the exhaust side can be loaded with purge gas. The purge gas will create a gas barrier that will prevent gas from inside the pump to escape. Note that a fraction of the purge gas will also escape to the ambient. Make sure that the pump is operated in a room with good ventilation if other gases than air are used as purge gas.
3. Seal purge inlet side
Inlet seal purge can be used if there is a risk that harmful amounts of dust or condensable vapors are present at the inlet of the pump. Such substances could migrate to the inlet side bearings of the pump and reduce the service interval significantly. The inlet side purge is typically only used whenever the inlet pressure increases and is active until a pressure equalization is reached. Based on the pump type, the VARODRY has either a manual gas ballast or 3 solenoid valves for inlet & outlet seal purge and gas ballast mounted underneath the pump enclosure.
Manual gas ballast configuration
The VARODRY with manual gas ballast (standard version) is delivered with components that can be mounted to the pump body in order to achieve different water vapor tolerances. When changing the setup, make sure that the gaskets are in good condition and that the parts are tightened properly.