Air Suspension Vacuum Pump for Pneumatic Conveying, Packaging & Central Vacuum

The KF Air Suspension Vacuum Pump is the same machine as the KF air suspension blower — same air foil bearings, same permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM), same integrated cabinet — configured to pull vacuum instead of push pressure. Connect your process to the inlet port, and the impeller evacuates air from your system. The outlet vents to atmosphere through the integrated silencer.

Six models, 8 to 45 kW. Suction flow up to 110 m³/min. Oil-free, 62 dB, and 30 to 65 percent less electricity than a conventional roots blower vacuum pump running the same duty cycle. If you’re currently running a roots-type vacuum pump for pneumatic conveying, packaging, or central vacuum, this turbo vacuum pump is the direct replacement that pays for itself through the electricity it doesn’t consume.

How a Turbo Vacuum Pump Works

The impeller spins at up to 36,000 rpm on a shaft that floats on a film of air. No bearings. No mechanical contact. No oil anywhere in the system. This is an air suspension turbo blower reconfigured for vacuum — the same technology platform, a different port connection.

In vacuum service, the inlet port connects to your process vessel or pipeline. As the impeller accelerates gas out of the system, the pressure at the inlet drops. The deeper the vacuum, the more energy the impeller transfers to each unit of gas — which is why a fixed-speed vacuum pump wastes so much power. It’s always working against its own pressure ratio, even when the process doesn’t need full vacuum depth.

The KF’s VFD adjusts motor speed to match actual demand. If your process needs 500 mbar of vacuum at a given flow, the drive delivers exactly that — not 800 mbar with the excess throttled away. At partial load, the energy savings become dramatic: a fixed-speed pump running throttled at 50 percent flow still draws 85 to 90 percent of full-load current. The KF at 50 percent flow drops the motor speed, and the current draw follows nearly linearly. This variable-speed vacuum capability is what makes the KF a genuine turbo vacuum pump that competes on total cost of ownership, not just purchase price.

As vacuum level deepens, gas density at the inlet drops. Mass flow through the impeller decreases. The drive curve is programmed specifically for vacuum thermodynamics — it keeps the motor in its peak efficiency zone from shallow vacuum to maximum rated vacuum, rather than using a pressure-optimized curve that would waste energy at deeper vacuum levels.

KF Series Vacuum Specifications

Same dimensions as the KF blower. Same integrated design — motor, VFD, silencer, filtration, and cooling all inside one cabinet occupying roughly one cubic meter. The only difference: the drive curve is programmed for vacuum thermodynamics, and the inlet side includes an integrated vacuum filter tank to protect the impeller from debris carryover.

Flow figures are suction flow at the inlet under vacuum conditions. As vacuum level deepens, actual suction flow decreases — normal behavior for any positive-displacement or turbo vacuum pump. Contact us with your target vacuum level and required suction flow, and we’ll confirm the right model and operating speed for your application.

Where KF Air Suspension Vacuum Pumps Work

Pneumatic Conveying

Vacuum conveying systems pull bulk solids — powders, granules, pellets — through pipelines from pick-up points to receivers, sometimes over hundreds of meters. The KF suits this application because most conveying systems cycle rather than run continuously: product moves, then the line idles, then product moves again. The VFD allows the pump to idle at low speed between cycles or stop and restart with soft-start, drawing significant current only when material is actually moving through the line. For cement plants, chemical processors, and food manufacturers, the energy savings directly reduce cost per ton of material conveyed.

Vacuum Packaging

Food processors and pharmaceutical manufacturers use vacuum to evacuate air from packaging before sealing — extending shelf life, preventing oxidation, and ensuring seal integrity. The KF delivers oil-free vacuum. The lubrication system on the gear side is sealed behind labyrinth seals, completely isolated from the gas path. No oil mist migrates into the vacuum line. No oil vapor condenses in the packaging. For facilities under HACCP or GMP audit requirements, the combination of oil-free vacuum and a cleanable, documentation-supported system matters as much as the energy performance.

Tissue Paper Converting

Tissue converting lines use vacuum to pick up individual sheets and carry them through folding, embossing, and stacking sections. The vacuum level must hold steady within a narrow band — a half-second fluctuation means a mis-fed sheet and a line stop that cascades through downstream stations. The KF’s VFD maintains target vacuum by adjusting motor speed in real time. As inlet filters gradually load through a shift and vacuum starts to drift, the drive compensates without operator intervention — no manual valve adjustments, no production interruptions.

Central Vacuum Systems

Factories running multiple vacuum pick-up points — CNC hold-down tables, printing press sheet feeders, packaging line pick-and-place heads — can consolidate onto a single KF vacuum pump instead of maintaining a fleet of smaller pumps at each station. The VFD adjusts speed as demand shifts across workstations, reducing motor speed when fewer pick-up points are active, rather than running at full capacity and bleeding off excess vacuum. For facilities with energy managers tracking kWh per unit of production, this is a reportable improvement.

What’s Inside

Identical to the KF blower platform:

• Air foil bearings — zero mechanical contact, self-generating air film, no oil, no wear
• Rare-earth PMSM motor — 36,000 rpm maximum, vibration 0.023 mm (half the national standard of 0.05 mm), >95% efficiency
• 3D-flow impeller — aviation-grade aluminum (AL 7075), 5-axis CNC, 5-micron tolerance, 80,000 rpm / 210-hour fatigue tested on German balancing equipment
• Five-port integrated cooling — 260 mm fan, simultaneous motor + VFD cooling, filter cotton on all ports, Slovdson’s first-to-market thermal design
• Proprietary vacuum drive curves — not a pressure curve repurposed for suction; tuned specifically for vacuum thermodynamics, keeping the motor in its peak efficiency zone from shallow to deep vacuum
• Four-stage noise reduction — air bearing silence, dual-chamber resonant silencing, acoustic insulation wrap, pressurized filter tank surge suppression → 62 dB operating noise
• Electronic surge protection — 27-point surge boundary mapping, preemptive relief valve actuation, protects the impeller and air bearings from surge-induced touchdown
• Integrated vacuum filter tank — front-accessible, tool-free filter element replacement, protects the impeller from debris carryover

Vacuum Pump vs Blower — Same Machine, Different Port

The KF platform is bidirectional by design. Connect your process to the outlet → blower (pressure). Connect your process to the inlet → vacuum pump. No hardware changes. No internal valving. Just route your piping to the correct port.

• Need pressure for aeration? See our Air Suspension Turbo Blower page
• Need deeper vacuum or larger industrial scale? See our Maglev Vacuum Pump page for active magnetic bearing vacuum pumps rated 22–300 kW

Frequently Asked Questions

What’s the difference between an air suspension vacuum pump and a roots vacuum pump?

The fundamental difference is the bearing and drive technology. A roots vacuum pump uses interlocking lobes with mechanical bearings and belt or gear drive — it requires oil lubrication, belt tensioning, and periodic bearing replacement. A KF turbo vacuum pump uses air foil bearings with zero mechanical contact and a direct-drive PMSM motor — no oil, no belts, no bearing wear. The KF also uses a VFD for variable-speed operation, which means it only draws the power needed for the actual vacuum demand rather than running at fixed speed and throttling the excess.

Can the KF vacuum pump run continuously?

Yes. The integrated 5-port cooling system keeps both the motor and VFD within safe temperature limits during continuous 24/7 operation. The air foil bearings have no duty-cycle limitation — they can run continuously because there’s no mechanical wear mechanism. Municipal and industrial installations across China run KF machines around the clock.

What maintenance does the vacuum pump require?

Filter cotton cleaning (inlet filter + five cooling port filters) and occasional vacuum filter element inspection. That’s it. No oil changes, no belt adjustments, no bearing grease, no scheduled bearing replacements. Optional IoT remote monitoring tracks filter pressure drop and alerts operators when cleaning is needed based on actual conditions rather than calendar intervals.

How deep a vacuum can the KF achieve?

Up to -60 kPa on the SLDS-4500KF model. This covers the vast majority of industrial vacuum applications — pneumatic conveying, vacuum packaging, pick-and-place, central vacuum. For deeper vacuum requirements (beyond -120 kPa), see our Maglev Vacuum Pumps with dual-stage compression capability.