Vacuum pump
A vacuum pump is a type of pump device that draws gas particles from a sealed volume in order to leave behind a partial vacuum. The first vacuum pump was invented in 1650 by Otto von Guericke, and was preceded by the suction pump, which dates to antiquity.[1]
History
Early pumps
The predecessor to the vacuum pump was the suction pump. Dual-action suction pumps were found in the city of
By the 17th century, water pump designs had improved to the point that they produced measurable vacuums, but this was not immediately understood. What was known was that suction pumps could not pull water beyond a certain height: 18 Florentine yards according to a measurement taken around 1635, or about 34 feet (10 m).[6] This limit was a concern in irrigation projects, mine drainage, and decorative water fountains planned by the Duke of Tuscany, so the duke commissioned Galileo Galilei to investigate the problem. Galileo suggested, incorrectly, in his Two New Sciences (1638) that the column of a water pump will break of its own weight when the water has been lifted to 34 feet.[6] Other scientists took up the challenge, including Gasparo Berti, who replicated it by building the first water barometer in Rome in 1639.[7] Berti's barometer produced a vacuum above the water column, but he could not explain it. A breakthrough was made by Galileo's student Evangelista Torricelli in 1643. Building upon Galileo's notes, he built the first mercury barometer and wrote a convincing argument that the space at the top was a vacuum. The height of the column was then limited to the maximum weight that atmospheric pressure could support; this is the limiting height of a suction pump.[8]
In 1650, Otto von Guericke invented the first vacuum pump.[9] Four years later, he conducted his famous Magdeburg hemispheres experiment, showing that teams of horses could not separate two hemispheres from which the air had been evacuated. Robert Boyle improved Guericke's design and conducted experiments on the properties of vacuum. Robert Hooke also helped Boyle produce an air pump that helped to produce the vacuum.
By 1709, Francis Hauksbee improved on the design further with his two-cylinder pump, where two pistons worked via a rack-and-pinion design that reportedly "gave a vacuum within about one inch of mercury of perfect."[10] This design remained popular and only slightly changed until well into the nineteenth century.[10]
19th century
20th century
The early 20th century saw the invention of many types of vacuum pump, including the molecular drag pump,[10] the diffusion pump,[12] and the turbomolecular pump.[13]
Types
Pumps can be broadly categorized according to three techniques: positive displacement, momentum transfer, and entrapment.
Positive displacement pumps are the most effective for low vacuums. Momentum transfer pumps, in conjunction with one or two positive displacement pumps, are the most common configuration used to achieve high vacuums. In this configuration the positive displacement pump serves two purposes. First it obtains a rough vacuum in the vessel being evacuated before the momentum transfer pump can be used to obtain the high vacuum, as momentum transfer pumps cannot start pumping at atmospheric pressures. Second the positive displacement pump backs up the momentum transfer pump by evacuating to low vacuum the accumulation of displaced molecules in the high vacuum pump. Entrapment pumps can be added to reach ultrahigh vacuums, but they require periodic regeneration of the surfaces that trap air molecules or ions. Due to this requirement their available operational time can be unacceptably short in low and high vacuums, thus limiting their use to ultrahigh vacuums. Pumps also differ in details like manufacturing tolerances, sealing material, pressure, flow, admission or no admission of oil vapor, service intervals, reliability, tolerance to dust, tolerance to chemicals, tolerance to liquids and vibration.[14][15][16]
Positive displacement pump
A partial vacuum may be generated by increasing the volume of a container. To continue evacuating a chamber indefinitely without requiring infinite growth, a compartment of the vacuum can be repeatedly closed off, exhausted, and expanded again. This is the principle behind a positive displacement pump, for example the manual water pump. Inside the pump, a mechanism expands a small sealed cavity to reduce its pressure below that of the atmosphere. Because of the pressure differential, some fluid from the chamber (or the well, in our example) is pushed into the pump's small cavity. The pump's cavity is then sealed from the chamber, opened to the atmosphere, and squeezed back to a minute size.[14][16]
More sophisticated systems are used for most industrial applications, but the basic principle of cyclic volume removal is the same:[17][18]
- Rotary vane pump, the most common
- Diaphragm pump, zero oil contamination
- Liquid ringhigh resistance to dust
- Piston pump, fluctuating vacuum
- Scroll pump, highest speed dry pump
- Screw pump (10 Pa)
- Wankel pump
- External vane pump
- Roots blower, also called a booster pump, has highest pumping speeds but low compression ratio
- Multistage Roots pump that combine several stages providing high pumping speed with better compression ratio
- Toepler pump
- Lobe pump
The base pressure of a
A positive displacement vacuum pump moves the same volume of gas with each cycle, so its pumping speed is constant unless it is overcome by backstreaming.
Momentum transfer pump
In a momentum transfer pump (or kinetic pump[16]), gas molecules are accelerated from the vacuum side to the exhaust side (which is usually maintained at a reduced pressure by a positive displacement pump). Momentum transfer pumping is only possible below pressures of about 0.1 kPa. Matter flows differently at different pressures based on the laws of fluid dynamics. At atmospheric pressure and mild vacuums, molecules interact with each other and push on their neighboring molecules in what is known as viscous flow. When the distance between the molecules increases, the molecules interact with the walls of the chamber more often than with the other molecules, and molecular pumping becomes more effective than positive displacement pumping. This regime is generally called high vacuum.[14][16]
Molecular pumps sweep out a larger area than mechanical pumps, and do so more frequently, making them capable of much higher pumping speeds. They do this at the expense of the seal between the vacuum and their exhaust. Since there is no seal, a small pressure at the exhaust can easily cause backstreaming through the pump; this is called stall. In high vacuum, however, pressure gradients have little effect on fluid flows, and molecular pumps can attain their full potential.
The two main types of molecular pumps are the diffusion pump and the turbomolecular pump. Both types of pumps blow out gas molecules that diffuse into the pump by imparting momentum to the gas molecules. Diffusion pumps blow out gas molecules with jets of an oil or mercury vapor, while turbomolecular pumps use high speed fans to push the gas. Both of these pumps will stall and fail to pump if exhausted directly to atmospheric pressure, so they must be exhausted to a lower grade vacuum created by a mechanical pump, in this case called a backing pump.[16]
As with positive displacement pumps, the base pressure will be reached when leakage, outgassing, and backstreaming equal the pump speed, but now minimizing leakage and outgassing to a level comparable to backstreaming becomes much more difficult.
Entrapment pump
An entrapment pump may be a
Other types
Regenerative pump
Regenerative pumps utilize vortex behavior of the fluid (air). The construction is based on hybrid concept of centrifugal pump and turbopump. Usually it consists of several sets of perpendicular teeth on the rotor circulating air molecules inside stationary hollow grooves like multistage centrifugal pump. They can reach to 1×10−5 mbar (0.001 Pa)(when combining with Holweck pump) and directly exhaust to atmospheric pressure. Examples of such pumps are Edwards EPX [19] (technical paper [20]) and Pfeiffer OnTool™ Booster 150.[21] It is sometimes referred as side channel pump. Due to high pumping rate from atmosphere to high vacuum and less contamination since bearing can be installed at exhaust side, this type of pumps are used in load lock in semiconductor manufacturing processes.
This type of pump suffers from high power consumption(~1 kW) compared to turbomolecular pump (<100W) at low pressure since most power is consumed to back atmospheric pressure. This can be reduced by nearly 10 times by backing with a small pump.[22]
More examples
Additional types of pump include the:
- Venturi vacuum pump (aspirator) (10 to 30 kPa)
- Steam ejector (vacuum depends on the number of stages, but can be very low)
Performance measures
Pumping speed refers to the volume flow rate of a pump at its inlet, often measured in volume per unit of time. Momentum transfer and entrapment pumps are more effective on some gases than others, so the pumping rate can be different for each of the gases being pumped, and the average volume flow rate of the pump will vary depending on the chemical composition of the gases remaining in the chamber.[23]
Throughput refers to the pumping speed multiplied by the gas pressure at the inlet, and is measured in units of pressure·volume/unit time. At a constant temperature, throughput is proportional to the number of molecules being pumped per unit time, and therefore to the mass flow rate of the pump. When discussing a leak in the system or backstreaming through the pump, throughput refers to the volume leak rate multiplied by the pressure at the vacuum side of the leak, so the leak throughput can be compared to the pump throughput.[23]
Positive displacement and momentum transfer pumps have a constant volume flow rate (pumping speed), but as the chamber's pressure drops, this volume contains less and less mass. So although the pumping speed remains constant, the throughput and mass flow rate drop exponentially. Meanwhile, the leakage, evaporation, sublimation and backstreaming rates continue to produce a constant throughput into the system.[23]
Techniques
Vacuum pumps are combined with chambers and operational procedures into a wide variety of vacuum systems. Sometimes more than one pump will be used (in
Achieving high vacuum is difficult because all of the materials exposed to the vacuum must be carefully evaluated for their
Outgassing can also be reduced simply by desiccation prior to vacuum pumping.[24] High-vacuum systems generally require metal chambers with metal gasket seals such as Klein flanges or ISO flanges, rather than the rubber gaskets more common in low vacuum chamber seals.[25] The system must be clean and free of organic matter to minimize outgassing. All materials, solid or liquid, have a small vapour pressure, and their outgassing becomes important when the vacuum pressure falls below this vapour pressure. As a result, many materials that work well in low vacuums, such as epoxy, will become a source of outgassing at higher vacuums. With these standard precautions, vacuums of 1 mPa are easily achieved with an assortment of molecular pumps. With careful design and operation, 1 µPa is possible.[citation needed]
Several types of pumps may be used in sequence or in parallel. In a typical pumpdown sequence, a positive displacement pump would be used to remove most of the gas from a chamber, starting from atmosphere (760 Torr, 101 kPa) to 25 Torr (3 kPa). Then a sorption pump would be used to bring the pressure down to 10−4 Torr (10 mPa). A cryopump or turbomolecular pump would be used to bring the pressure further down to 10−8 Torr (1 µPa). An additional ion pump can be started below 10−6 Torr to remove gases which are not adequately handled by a cryopump or turbo pump, such as helium or hydrogen.[citation needed]
In ultra-high vacuum systems, some very odd leakage paths and outgassing sources must be considered. The water absorption of aluminium and palladium becomes an unacceptable source of outgassing, and even the absorptivity of hard metals such as stainless steel or titanium must be considered. Some oils and greases will boil off in extreme vacuums. The porosity of the metallic vacuum chamber walls may have to be considered, and the grain direction of the metallic flanges should be parallel to the flange face.[26]
The impact of molecular size must be considered. Smaller molecules can leak in more easily and are more easily absorbed by certain materials, and molecular pumps are less effective at pumping gases with lower molecular weights. A system may be able to evacuate nitrogen (the main component of air) to the desired vacuum, but the chamber could still be full of residual atmospheric hydrogen and helium. Vessels lined with a highly gas-permeable material such as palladium (which is a high-capacity hydrogen sponge) create special outgassing problems.[26]
Applications
Vacuum pumps are used in many industrial and scientific processes, including:
- Vacuum deaerator
- Composite plastic moulding processes;[27]
- Croduction of most types of CRTs where the device is either left evacuated or re-filled with a specific gas or gas mixture;[10]
- Semiconductor processing, notably ion implantation, dry etch and PVD, ALD, PECVD and CVD deposition and so on in photolithography;[28]
- Electron microscopy;[29]
- Medical processes that require suction;[30]
- Uranium enrichment;[31]
- Medical applications such as radiopharmacy;[32]
- Analytical instrumentation to analyse gas, liquid, solid, surface and bio materials;[33]
- Mass spectrometers to create a high vacuum between the ion source and the detector;[34]
- vacuum coating on glass, metal and plastics for decoration, for durability and for energy saving, such as milking machines and other equipment in dairy sheds;[35]
- Vacuum impregnation of porous products such as wood or electric motor windings;[36][37]
- Air conditioning service (removing all contaminants from the system before charging with refrigerant);[38]
- Trash compactor;[39]
- Vacuum engineering;[40]
- Sewage systems (see EN1091:1997 standards);[41]
- Freeze drying;[42] and
- Fusion research.[43]
In the field of oil regeneration and re-refining, vacuum pumps create a low vacuum for oil dehydration and a high vacuum for oil purification.[44]
A vacuum may be used to power, or provide assistance to mechanical devices. In hybrid and
, door locks or trunk releases.In an
Depending on the application, some vacuum pumps may either be
Hazards
Old vacuum-pump oils that were produced before circa 1980 often contain a mixture of several different dangerous
See also
- An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump
- Vacuum sewerage
References
- ISBN 978-3-662-00949-9.
- ^ "Pompeii: Technology: Working models: IMSS".
- ^ Donald Routledge Hill (1996), A History of Engineering in Classical and Medieval Times, Routledge, pp. 143 & 150-2
- Donald Routledge Hill, Mechanical Engineering)
- Ahmad Y Hassan. "The Origin of the Suction Pump: Al-Jazari 1206 A.D". Archived from the originalon February 26, 2008. Retrieved 2008-07-16.
- ^ ISBN 0-691-02350-6.
- ^ "The World's Largest Barometer". Archived from the original on 2008-02-16. Retrieved 2008-04-30.
- ^ (Calvert 2000, "Maximum height to which water can be raised by a suction pump")
- PMID 18018443.
- ^ .
- OCLC 30995577.
- OCLC 28587335.
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- ^ ISBN 978-3-527-26954-9.
- ^ )
- ^ OCLC 45727687.
- OCLC 757731951.
- OCLC 86068934.
- ^ "EPX on-tool High Vacuum Pumps". Archived from the original on 2013-02-20. Retrieved 2013-01-16.
- ^ "Edwards - Edwards Vacuum" (PDF). 15 September 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 September 2013.
- ^ Pfeiffer Vacuum. "Side Channel Pump, Vacuum pump for High-vacuum - Pfeiffer Vacuum". Pfeiffer Vacuum. Archived from the original on 7 October 2014. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
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- ^ OCLC 44959885.
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- OCLC 1141514098.)
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- ^ Goodwin, D.; Cameron, A.; Ramsden, J. (2005). "Considerations for Primary Vacuum Pumping in Mass Spectrometry Systems". Spectroscopy. 20 (1). et al.
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- ^ "UP28 Universal Electric Vacuum Pump". Hella. Archived from the original on 3 April 2014. Retrieved 14 Jun 2013.
- ^ "Vacuum Pumps". Vacuum Knowledge. J. Schmalz GmbH. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
- ^ "Vacuum Generators". Vacuum Knowledge. J. Schmalz GmbH. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
- ^ "How a Vacuum Pump Works". Arizona Pneumatic. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
- ^ Bott, D. "The Ins and Outs of Vacuum Generators". Dr. Vacuum. Dan Bott Consulting LLC. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
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- ISBN 978-0-662-14595-0. Retrieved 2007-11-07.