Disc Pump Spotlight - Pulsation-Free Output

Conventional pumps rarely achieve pulsation-free airflow without additional hardware like baffles, accumulators, or dampers, which increases system cost, complexity, and size. In applications such as gas analysis instrumentation, pulsation can reduce signal-to-noise ratio and sensitivity. In microfluidics, it can cause poor flow control and sampling errors.

The Lee Company’s disc pumps solve this challenge through ultrasonic operation at 21,000 Hz—over 400 times faster than conventional pumps. Each cycle displaces only tens to hundreds of nanoliters of air, resulting in exceptionally smooth, low-pulsation airflow. In comparative tests, diaphragm pumps showed large, low-frequency oscillations, and rotary vane pumps—often marketed as “low pulsation”—still produced measurable pulsations. The disc pump, however, generated no detectable pulsation above the background noise floor.

This performance enables simpler, more compact system designs without the need for extra pulsation-damping components. The piezoelectric drive actuator offers no stall speed, allowing continuous control from 0 to 100% output, with millisecond-level response times. These features make the disc pump ideal for precision applications and for creating controlled pulsation to replicate physiological flows, such as heartbeats in organ-on-a-chip systems. Pulsated airflow can also improve fluid mixing in microfluidic devices.

In addition to silent operation, portability, and full control flexibility, disc pumps deliver superior performance for sensitive, high-precision applications. By eliminating pulsation issues and reducing system complexity, they give designers greater freedom to create compact, efficient, and innovative products for a range of industries.