Used Industrial Vacuum Pumps

Industrial vacuum pumps pull air and gas out of a closed system. That holds the system below atmospheric pressure. The vacuum drives drying, distillation, filtration, solvent recovery, degassing, and powder transfer across a process plant. Three families cover most plant duty. Liquid ring pumps seal against a rotating ring of service liquid. That lets them swallow wet, dirty, or condensable gas. Oil-sealed and dry pumps reach deeper vacuum and suit clean service. Rotary lobe blowers sit ahead of a backing pump to raise pumping speed at low pressure.

Federal Equipment Company stocks more than 50 used industrial vacuum pumps across all three types. Motors run from 0.33 to 200 HP. Rated capacities range from 0.6 CFM on bench laboratory pumps to 3,000 CFM on large liquid ring units, in carbon steel and stainless steel. Manufacturers include Nash, Pfeiffer Vacuum, Siemens, SIHI, Busch, Edwards, Welch, and Stokes. Bare pumps, close-coupled pump and motor assemblies, and full skid-mounted systems are all in stock. Most units are held at our Cleveland, OH facility and are available for inspection.

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Browse our selection below and request a quote for more information regarding our Used Industrial Vacuum Pumps.

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A liquid ring pump spins an offset impeller inside a casing partly filled with service liquid, usually water. Rotation throws the liquid into a ring against the casing wall. The moving gap between that ring and the vanes forms the compression chamber. No metal parts rub in the gas path. That lets the design tolerate carryover, liquid slugs, and condensable vapor that would damage a dry pump. Single-stage units suit general plant vacuum. Two-stage units pull deeper. Nash, SIHI, Siemens, and Graham units in our inventory run from 7.5 to 200 HP. Most are carbon steel, with some stainless steel builds.

Oil-sealed and dry pumps cover the other end of the range. Rotary piston and rotary vane designs use a film of oil to seal internal clearances. That gets them deeper than a liquid ring pump reaches on its own. Stokes rotary piston units in this inventory ship with an integral booster. Dry pumps, including claw and screw designs, run with no liquid in the pumping chamber. They suit solvent service and any duty where oil carryover into the process is unacceptable. Brands in stock include Stokes, Busch, Edwards, Welch, Leybold, Quincy, Kinney, Becker, Travaini, and Atlas Copco. Sizes run from fractional horsepower laboratory pumps up to 10 HP process units.

Rotary lobe blowers and boosters are the third group. Two figure-eight lobes counter-rotate without contact. They move a large gas volume at low compression ratio. A booster mounts ahead of a liquid ring or oil-sealed backing pump. It raises pumping speed sharply once the system is already under vacuum. That shortens dryer and reactor pump-down times. Pfeiffer Vacuum roots packages, Duroflow and Gardner Denver blowers, and Leelam units cover 3 to 100 HP. Ratings run from 55 to 754 CFM.

Federal Equipment Company inspects equipment at intake. We record motor condition, shaft and seal condition, rotor clearances, and drive function. Refurbishment and testing can be arranged before shipment for added assurance. Equipment is available for inspection at our facility.

Applications & Industries

  • Pharmaceutical manufacturing: vacuum for filter dryers, rotary vacuum dryers, and vacuum shelf dryers, plus backing service for lyophilizers
  • Chemical processing: vacuum distillation, solvent recovery, evaporation, and reactor and nutsche filter service
  • Food and beverage production: deaeration, vacuum evaporation, vacuum cooling, and liquid and powder transfer
  • Plastics processing: extruder vent vacuum, vacuum sizing tanks, and pneumatic resin and regrind conveying
  • Packaging operations: vacuum packaging, thermoforming, and vacuum pick-and-place on filling and cartoning lines
  • Power generation: steam surface condenser air removal and priming service, a long-standing liquid ring duty
  • Biotechnology: fermenter and bioreactor support, media handling, and laboratory filtration and evaporation
  • Plant utilities: house vacuum systems, condenser exhausting, and central vacuum service across a facility

Specifications & Configurations

Liquid ring pumps Carbon steel and stainless steel casings, single- and two-stage, 7.5 to 200 HP. Supplied as bare pumps, close-coupled assemblies, or full recovery systems with separator tank, heat exchanger, and controls. Manufacturers in stock include Nash, SIHI, Siemens, Graham, Rosenmund, and Sulzer.

Oil-sealed and dry pumps Rotary piston, rotary vane, claw, and piston designs from 0.33 to 10 HP, including bench-scale laboratory pumps and skid-mounted systems. Manufacturers in stock include Stokes, Busch, Edwards, Welch, Leybold, Quincy, Kinney, Becker, Travaini, and Atlas Copco.

Rotary lobe blowers and boosters Roots-type lobe blowers and booster packages from 3 to 100 HP, rated 55 to 754 CFM. Manufacturers in stock include Pfeiffer Vacuum, Duroflow, Gardner Denver, and Leelam Industries.

Ranges across all types

Specification Range
Drive power 0.33 to 200 HP
Rated capacity 0.6 to 3,000 CFM
Materials of construction Carbon steel, stainless steel
Pump types Liquid ring, oil-sealed rotary piston and vane, dry claw, rotary lobe blower
Stages Single-stage and two-stage
Configurations Bare pump, close-coupled pump and motor, skid-mounted system with separator tank and booster
Storage locations Cleveland, OH, with a few units in New Jersey and California

Model series we see regularly

Individual pumps come and go, but the same series recur across our inventory. Liquid ring: Nash CL, XL, and SC. Oil seal and dry: Busch NC, AC, and RC, Edwards EDP, Becker VT, Quincy QSVB, and Kinney KT. Rotary lobe: Pfeiffer WU.

Why Buy Used

Used industrial vacuum pumps typically sell for a fraction of comparable new equipment. The gap is widest on large carbon steel liquid ring pumps and complete skid-mounted systems. New fabrication of those carries the longest lead time and the highest freight cost.

Lead time is often what decides the purchase. A new liquid ring pump above 100 HP is normally built to order. So is a packaged system with a separator tank and controls. Both are measured in months. A unit already on the floor can ship in days or weeks once inspection is complete.

Vacuum pumps hold their value in the used market because the wear points are few and easy to check. On a liquid ring pump the items to check are shaft seals, port plate clearance, cone wear, and the drive. Oil-sealed pumps come down to vanes or piston, oil condition, and the shaft seal. Lobe blowers come down to timing gears, bearings, and rotor clearance. Inspection reports covering those points are available, and refurbishment and testing can be arranged upon request.