Vacuum pumps are used to pump gases out of an area, leaving a partial vacuum. The vacuum pump was invented by the German named Otto von Guericke.

The flow of air removal, the amount of vacuum produced, and the power that is required to produce the vacuum are the main factors that go into choosing particular vacuum pumps. It is mandatory for manufacturers to provide information on the flow-rating availability. Standard measurements are in place to quantify how much vacuum a pump produces. This is called mmHg or HG. A lower vacuum provides high-flow pumps and a higher vacuum provides low-flow ones.

Vacuum pumps have much lower power requirements than air compressors. Large-sized vacuum pumps are meant for continuous pumping. However, smaller pumps have high efficiency; the only difficulty, however, is that they get overheated easily if used continuously. A single mechanism or a series of mechanisms or parallel mechanisms are employed to achieve the best results according to specific requirements.

Various types of vacuum pumps are available such as diaphragm, rocking piston, reciprocating piston, liquid ring, rotary-screw, rotary vane and lobed-rotor ones. Reciprocating piston, diaphragm, rocking piston, and rotary vane pumps can go up to twenty-nine in Hg. Rubber and plastic-sealed piston pumps, venture vacuum pump, and scroll pumps are also used.

Many industrial and scientific processes require vacuum-pump applications such as for the production of electric lamps, vacuum tubes, semiconductor processes, lectron microscopy, and medical processes involving suction. Aerospace applications include the use of vacuum source to power gyroscopes in the various flight instruments.

In the case of a complete electrical failure, special instruments in the instrument panel powered by the vacuum source are used. Standard features include high-vacuum electric motor shutdown, clutch-driven high-pressure pump, trigger gun control, automatic waste-water pump-out, low-water shut down, pressure-relief valve, waste collection bag filter, emergency stop button, hour meter and warranty for one year.

There are one-step systems that pressure-wash, rinse, and recover the waste stream for proper treatment. The clean-and-capture system has been found to be good for undertaking high-paying and environmentally sensitive jobs.