vacuum pump
Quick Summary
A vacuum pump is a device that removes gas from an enclosed space, creating a condition of below-normal atmospheric pressure. This process is essential for various applications in vacuum technology, where removing atmospheric constituents is necessary for chemical reactions, disturbing equilibrium conditions, or allowing particles to travel without collision.123
Vacuum pumps work by expending energy to reduce pressure. Early pumps, like the suction pump, utilized atmospheric pressure to draw fluids. Modern pumps are classified by how they impart energy to the fluid, including volumetric displacement (like piston or rotary pumps) and the addition of kinetic energy (like centrifugal pumps). Vacuum pumps are essentially compressors that operate at pressures lower than atmospheric.4
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