Ettlingen, November 1999

Crude oil has been processed in distillation columns under vacuum conditions for many decades. The technological progress advances towards increasingly lower vacuum in order to keep on raising the yield. This means that the supplier of vacuum systems requires particular experience in designing jet pumps and particularly condensers. The company GEA Jet Pumps, which, still under the name of Wiegand, introduced the technology of liquid ring pumps for the generation of vacuum in distillation columns to the petrochemical industry as one of the first companies, offers this know-how to customers of the mineral oil industry world-wide. This was a decisive factor in obtaining the order for 4 steam jet vacuum systems with surface condenser for a refinery in Turkmenistan against strong international competition.