Leybold has developed two new washdown vacuum pumps, the DV 650 and DV 800 FP-r, for its dry-running DRYVAC series. Their use is intended to facilitate production, increase food safety and extend the shelf life of foodstuffs.

The new DRYVAC DV 650 and DV 800 FP-r screw vacuum pumps are designed to be functional and compact. In demanding, harsh food applications, they require only a small footprint and little installation space. In addition, they can be washed down inside and outside in any installation position.

In addition, their compact size and low noise level enable near-machine installation in the immediate vicinity of the production line. The advantage for users: during daily cleaning of the system, the DV 650/800 FP-r pumps can be washed down with the production equipment in one process. This is intended to result in fewer system downtimes, better cycle times, less maintenance, a higher standard of hygiene and higher filling and packaging outputs. 

Due to their rotor design, Leybold's DRYVAC models are designed to operate energy-efficiently and at low lifetime costs. Their use also guarantees a high pumping speed from atmospheric pressure to low pressure ranges, the company says. The risk of contamination of pumped media with lubricants is reportedly minimal due to modern, oil-free pump technology.

The DV 650 and DV 800 FP-r models are equipped with a frequency converter for easy monitoring and control. It enables a variety of functionalities: For example, it provides only the energy required at a time, which leads to lower energy consumption overall. Furthermore, it offers the possibility of a definable ramp-up of the rotation frequency with which a vacuum chamber can be gently evacuated. This is intended to be advantageous when processing foodstuffs that would change their shape if the pressure in the chamber were lowered too quickly, such as bakery products.