Vacuum pumps are used in a wide variety of industries and applications. In both laboratories and production facilities you’ll find vacuum pumps on a range of machinery from vacuum ovens, rotary evaporators, distillation systems, to filtration systems. Vacuum pumps are the engine that help get the job done.
Cascade Sciences carries a wide variety of vacuum pumps for many different applications including bioscience, aerospace and pharmaceutical industry requirements. Learn about the different kinds of vacuum pumps on the market and how to go about selecting the right pump for your process.

How to Select the Right Vacuum Pump For Your Process
The wrong pump can make vacuum drying inefficient, expensive and can even run the risk of contaminating your product, therefore, choosing the right pump for your process is important. We carry rotary vane pumps, oil-free dry scroll pumps, and diaphragm pumps, all of which have different features that make them a good fit for different types of applications.- Rotary Vane vacuum pumps are ideal for industrial non-cleanroom environments, where high CFM and deeper vacuum are required. They tend to be economical, smaller than other pumps, and can be used with multiple applications. One downside is that the exhaust ports on oil rotary vane pumps typically must be filtered using traps to prevent oil from backstreaming up inside the oven and contaminating your product. Rotary vane pumps also require regular oil changes in order to maintain the life of the vacuum pump.
- Oil-Free Dry Scroll pumps – because they’re oil free – are very popular in clean rooms or environments where you need to eliminate the risk of contamination. Compared to diaphragm pumps, dry scroll pumps can reach deeper ultimate vacuum levels and they require no oil and very little maintenance, which means the lifetime operation cost is lower. In addition, scroll pumps tend to be very quiet so if you need a quieter pump, scroll pumps are a great fit.
- Diaphragm pumps are also oil free and have been a laboratory and R&D staple for years because their PTFE interiors can handle pumping pharmaceutical solvents and more aggressive compounds. While these pumps have a higher up-front cost they do not require oil so operation and maintenance costs are significantly lower than for rotary vane pumps.
Check out Cascade’s application-specific pump selection:
- Vacuum Pumps for Short Path Distillation Set Ups
- Vacuum Pumps for Rotary Evaporation
- Oil Free Vacuum Pumps for Clean Rooms, Vacuum Ovens
- Vacuum Pumps for Filtration
- Oil Free Vacuum Pumps for Laboratory Applications