Solvent Recovery Improvement with Dry Vacuum
Pump and Post Condenser

Industry
Agrochemical

Customer Concern
An agrochemical customer was using an oil-sealed vacuum pump in a process
involving n-Propyl Bromide. During operation, the solvent vapour was not being
recovered effectively.

Instead of recovering the solvent, a significant quantity of n-Propyl Bromide was getting lost in the system. The existing oil vacuum pump arrangement was also creating operational concerns, as the solvent vapours were affecting the pump oil and overall vacuum performance.

The customer required a practical solution to recover the valuable solvent, reduce
wastage, and improve process economics.

Problem Observed
Vovac Engineers studied the existing vacuum arrangement and observed that the oil
vacuum pump was not suitable for effective recovery of n-Propyl Bromide vapours.
The customer was facing:
● Poor recovery of n-Propyl Bromide
● Solvent wastage during process operation
● Oil vacuum pump getting affected due to solvent vapour handling
● Frequent oil contamination and maintenance concerns
● Loss of valuable solvent
● Higher operating cost due to unrecovered solvent

Vovac Engineers’ Solution
Vovac Engineers proposed a suitable dry vacuum pump system to replace the
oil-sealed vacuum pump for this application.

Since dry vacuum pumps do not use oil in the pumping chamber, the solvent vapour
handling became more reliable and cleaner compared to the oil vacuum pump
arrangement.

To recover the solvent effectively, Vovac Engineers incorporated a post condenser
after the dry vacuum pump. This helped condense and recover n-Propyl Bromide
vapours that were earlier getting wasted.

The solution included:
● Dry vacuum pump suitable for solvent vapour handling
● Post condenser arrangement for n-Propyl Bromide recovery
● Elimination of oil contamination risk in the pumping chamber
● Improved solvent recovery from process vapours
● Reduced solvent wastage
● Improved operating cost efficiency

Result Achieved
After introducing the dry vacuum pump with post condenser arrangement, the customer was able to recover the n-Propyl Bromide solvent that was previously being wasted. The recovered solvent improved the customer’s process economics and reduced operating losses. Due to the value of solvent recovery, the customer was able to achieve return on investment within 6 months.

Customer Benefit
● Effective recovery of n-Propyl Bromide
● Reduced solvent wastage
● Improved process economy
● Reduced dependency on oil-sealed vacuum pump
● Lower oil contamination and maintenance concerns
● Cleaner vacuum operation with dry pump technology
● Return on investment achieved within 6 months
● Improved operating cost savings

Key Value Delivered
Vovac Engineers helped an agrochemical customer recover wasted n-Propyl
Bromide by replacing the oil-sealed vacuum pump arrangement with a dry
vacuum pump and post condenser system. The solution improved solvent
recovery, reduced operating losses, and delivered ROI within 6 months