Mass spectrometer interface cone cooling system and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer

Abstract

The application provides a mass spectrometer interface cone cooling system and an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer. The mass spectrometer interface cone cooling system comprises: a cooling disc body, which is internally provided with a central through hole for mounting an interface cone and a flow channel surrounding the central through hole and used for circulating a cooling liquid; and at least one air suction port, which is arranged on the cooling disc body and located around the central through hole, and the air suction port penetrates the thickness of the cooling disc body; and an air suction device, which is in fluid communication with the air suction port and used for actively sucking the gas at the air suction port, so that the diffusion turbulence generated after the plasma impacts the interface cone is collected towards the air suction port. The mass spectrometer interface cone cooling system can not only actively manage the plasma turbulence, significantly improve the stability and service life of the interface cone system, but also can realize forced air cooling, improve the heat dissipation capacity of the system, and reduce the dependence on the power of the water cooling machine and the system.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of mass spectrometer interface cone cooling technology, and more specifically, to a mass spectrometer interface cone cooling system and an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer. Background Technology

[0002] Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) is a high-precision elemental analysis instrument. Its interface cone system, especially the sampling cone which directly withstands the high-temperature plasma impact, is a key component ensuring effective ion transport and stable instrument operation. During analysis, a high-temperature plasma torch (reaching temperatures of 6000-8000K) is directed at the sampling cone. The ion stream in the center enters the mass spectrometry system through the cone opening, while most of the energy acts on the sampling cone surface in the form of thermal radiation and convection, causing a rapid increase in its temperature. If the heat cannot be dissipated in time, it will lead to ablation and deformation of the sampling cone, and cause thermionic emission interference, seriously affecting the instrument's measurement stability, accuracy, and the lifespan of its core components.

[0003] Currently, the industry commonly uses water-cooled pans to force-cool the sampling cone. For example... Figure 1 As shown, the water-cooled plate body 1 in the prior art typically adopts a simple single-channel flow channel 2 (such as circular or serpentine) design, through which the coolant carries away some heat. However, this traditional design has obvious drawbacks: First, its flow channel structure is simple, the contact area between the coolant and the solid part of the cooling plate is limited, the heat exchange efficiency is low, and the cooling capacity is a bottleneck; second, and more importantly, the existing water-cooled plates only have a passive heat dissipation function. Some of the high-temperature plasma that is not captured by the cone will bounce and diffuse randomly in all directions after impacting the cone surface, forming local turbulence, such as... Figure 2 As shown. This turbulence not only interferes with the stability of the central ion flow, causing fluctuations in the mass spectrometry signal, but the residual heat it carries also irregularly heats the cone and the area surrounding the cooling plate, creating additional, uneven heat loads and further exacerbating the difficulty of system thermal management. Therefore, existing cooling solutions are highly dependent on the cooling power of high-performance water chillers and cannot fundamentally guarantee the stability of the plasma ion flow and the temperature uniformity of the interface area.

[0004] Therefore, there is an urgent need for an innovative cooling system that can efficiently dissipate heat while actively managing the turbulence generated by plasma impact, so as to comprehensively improve the working stability and reliability of the interface cone system. Summary of the Invention

[0005] This application provides at least one mass spectrometer interface cone cooling system and an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer. The mass spectrometer interface cone cooling system can not only actively manage plasma turbulence, significantly improving the stability and lifespan of the interface cone system, but also achieve forced air cooling, improving the system's heat dissipation capacity and reducing the dependence on water chiller power and system performance.

[0006] In a first aspect, embodiments of this application provide a mass spectrometer interface cone cooling system, comprising: The cooling plate body has a central through hole for mounting the interface cone and a flow channel around the central through hole for coolant circulation. At least one air intake is disposed on the cooling plate body and located around the central through hole, the air intake penetrating the thickness of the cooling plate body; A suction device, which is in fluid communication with the suction port, is used to actively draw in the gas at the suction port so that the diffusion turbulence generated after the plasma impacts the interface cone converges toward the suction port.

[0007] In one alternative implementation, the flow channel includes a liquid inlet, a liquid outlet, and multiple sub-flow channels arranged in parallel between the two.

[0008] In one optional embodiment, the sub-channels are arranged sequentially along the radial direction of the cooling plate body.

[0009] In one optional embodiment, the inner wall of the sub-channel is provided with fins or grooves.

[0010] In one optional embodiment, the air intake is an annular slit or multiple circumferentially distributed through holes.

[0011] In one optional embodiment, the air intake is located on the periphery of the flow channel.

[0012] In one optional embodiment, the opening direction of the air intake is set at an angle to the plasma jet direction, and the opening direction is tilted towards the conical opening of the interface cone.

[0013] In one optional embodiment, the cooling plate body has a conical surface on the side facing the plasma source, which extends obliquely around the central through hole and towards the air intake, to guide the diffusion turbulence generated after the plasma impacts the interface cone to converge towards the air intake.

[0014] In one optional embodiment, the suction device includes a vacuum pump or a blower, and a guide pipe connecting the suction port to the vacuum pump or blower.

[0015] Secondly, embodiments of this application also provide an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer, including the mass spectrometer interface cone cooling system described in the foregoing embodiments.

[0016] The above-mentioned technical solution of this application has the following beneficial technical effects: The mass spectrometer interface cone cooling system of this application embodiment not only provides forced cooling of the interface cone subjected to direct impact from high-temperature plasma through a cooling disk body with an internally designed high-efficiency circulating flow channel, but more importantly, the system creatively incorporates at least one air intake on the cooling disk body, around the central through-hole, connected to an air intake device. This design achieves active and directional suction and guidance of the diffusion turbulence generated after plasma impact, effectively collecting and expelling the disordered rebounding and diffusion of high-temperature airflow, significantly reducing its interference with the central stable ion flow, and greatly improving the stability and measurement accuracy of the mass spectrometry signal. Moreover, this active suction process generates negative pressure at the air intake, inducing surrounding air to accelerate across the high-temperature disk surface using the Venturi effect, forming an additional forced air cooling effect, further enhancing the overall heat dissipation capacity, while also reducing dependence on water chiller power, thereby reducing energy consumption. In summary, this system combines efficient heat dissipation with active flow field management, enhancing the cooling effect while improving the thermal and flow field environment of the interface area, reducing dependence on high-power cooling equipment, and comprehensively improving the operational stability and reliability of the mass spectrometer interface cone system.

[0017] To make the above-mentioned objectives, features and advantages of this application more apparent and understandable, preferred embodiments are described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Attached Figure Description

[0018] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application, the accompanying drawings used in the embodiments will be briefly described below. These drawings are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. They illustrate embodiments conforming to this application and, together with the specification, serve to explain the technical solutions of this application. It should be understood that the following drawings only show some embodiments of this application and should not be considered as limiting the scope. For those skilled in the art, other related drawings can be obtained from these drawings without creative effort.

[0019] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the existing mass spectrometer interface cone cooling system is shown. Figure 2 A schematic diagram of the operation of an existing mass spectrometer interface cone cooling system is shown. Figure 3 A schematic diagram of the mass spectrometer interface cone cooling system provided in an embodiment of this application is shown; Figure 4It shows Figure 3 A cross-sectional schematic diagram of the mass spectrometer interface cone cooling system; Figure 5 It shows Figure 4 A magnified view of a portion of the neutron flow channel; Figure 6 It shows Figure 3 A schematic diagram of the cooling system for the mass spectrometer interface cone. In the diagram: 1. Disk body; 2. Single-channel flow path; 100. Cooling plate body; 101. Central through hole; 102. Liquid inlet; 103. Liquid outlet; 104. Sub-channel; 105. Groove; 106. Conical surface; 200. Air intake. Detailed Implementation

[0020] Various exemplary embodiments of the present application will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that, unless otherwise specifically stated, the relative arrangement, numerical expressions, and values ​​of the components and steps set forth in these embodiments do not limit the scope of the present application.

[0021] The embodiments of this application will now be described in detail. Examples of these embodiments are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein the same or similar reference numerals denote the same or similar elements or elements having the same or similar functions throughout. The embodiments described below with reference to the accompanying drawings are exemplary and are only used to explain this application, and should not be construed as limiting this application. All other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of this application without inventive effort are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0022] The terms "first" and "second" in the specification and claims of this application may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of the features. In the description of this application, unless otherwise stated, "multiple" means two or more. Furthermore, "and / or" in the specification and claims indicates at least one of the connected objects, and the character " / " generally indicates that the preceding and following objects are in an "or" relationship.

[0023] In the description of this application, it should be understood that the terms "center", "longitudinal", "lateral", "length", "width", "thickness", "upper", "lower", "front", "rear", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inner", "outer", "clockwise", "counterclockwise", "axial", "radial", "circumferential", etc., indicating the orientation or positional relationship based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings, are only for the convenience of describing this application and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be construed as a limitation of this application.

[0024] In the description of this application, it should be noted that, unless otherwise expressly specified and limited, the terms "installation," "connection," and "linking" should be interpreted broadly. For example, they can refer to a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; they can refer to a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; they can refer to a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium; and they can refer to the internal connection between two components. Those skilled in the art can understand the specific meaning of the above terms in this application based on the specific circumstances.

[0025] refer to Figure 3 and Figure 4 This application provides a mass spectrometer interface cone cooling system, including: a cooling disk body 100, at least one air inlet 200, and an air suction device (not shown in the figure); the cooling disk body 100 has a central through hole 101 for mounting the interface cone and a flow channel surrounding the central through hole 101 for coolant circulation; at least one air inlet 200 is disposed in the cooling disk body 100 and located around the central through hole 101, the air inlet 200 penetrating the thickness of the cooling disk body 100; the air suction device is in fluid communication with the air inlet 200 and is used to actively draw gas from the air inlet 200 so that the diffusion turbulence generated after the plasma impacts the interface cone converges towards the air inlet 200. During operation, the coolant carries away the heat from the disk body and the interface cone through the flow channel. At the same time, the diffusion turbulence generated after the high-temperature plasma impacts the interface cone is actively drawn by the air inlet 200 located around the central through hole 101 and discharged through the air suction device. This system actively draws in the diffusion turbulence generated after plasma impacts the sampling cone by setting air inlets 200 around the cone hole of the cooling plate and connecting them to an external air suction device. This effectively reduces the interference of turbulence on the central stable ion flow, improves plasma stability and measurement accuracy. Moreover, this active suction process generates negative pressure at the air inlets 200, using the Venturi effect to induce the surrounding air to accelerate over the high-temperature plate surface, forming an additional forced air cooling effect. This further enhances the overall heat dissipation capacity and reduces the dependence on the power of the water chiller, thereby reducing energy consumption.

[0026] As the surrounding airflow converges towards the air intake 200, it not only actively draws in and diffuses turbulent flow but also removes some of the heat from the cooling plate body 100, further improving the cooling effect. This design not only dissipates heat efficiently but also actively manages plasma turbulence, thereby significantly improving the stability and lifespan of the interface cone system.

[0027] refer to Figure 3Optionally, the flow channel includes a liquid inlet 102, a liquid outlet 103, and multiple sub-flow channels 104 arranged in parallel between them. This design means that after the coolant enters the cooling plate from the unified liquid inlet 102, it does not follow a single, continuous flow path, but is diverted into multiple independent sub-flow channels 104 and flows in parallel, eventually converging at the unified liquid outlet 103 for discharge. Through this parallel diversion method, the coolant can be distributed more widely and evenly inside the cooling plate, significantly increasing the effective contact area between the coolant and the high thermal conductivity metal material constituting the cooling plate body 100. This fundamentally improves the overall heat exchange efficiency and cooling uniformity, avoiding the uneven cooling or local heat dissipation bottleneck problems caused by the long path and limited flow of traditional single serpentine or circular flow channels. Thus, it achieves superior heat dissipation capacity under the same coolant flow rate and temperature conditions, ensuring the temperature stability of the interface cone system.

[0028] Optionally, the sub-channels 104 are arranged sequentially along the radial direction of the cooling plate body 100. That is, multiple sub-channels 104 begin near the central through-hole 101 and extend radially along the plate, like spokes of a concentric ring, towards the outer perimeter of the plate. Each sub-channel 104 extends approximately circumferentially around the center of the plate. This design creates a multi-layered, high-density radial heat dissipation array. After entering through the inlet, the coolant is distributed into these parallel, circumferentially extending sub-channels 104. Because they are arranged radially from the inside out, the low-temperature coolant can simultaneously and uniformly cover every radial region from the high-temperature center to the relatively low-temperature edge. Simultaneously, this design ensures that the root region of the cone, where heat is most concentrated, has the shortest and most direct coolant delivery path and the highest coolant distribution density, thereby achieving enhanced front-end cooling for the core heat source.

[0029] Optionally, the inner wall of the sub-channel 104 is provided with fins or grooves 105. By adding fins or grooves 105 to the inner wall of the channel, the heat exchange contact area between the coolant and the metal cooling plate can be further increased, enhancing boundary layer disturbance and turbulence, thereby significantly improving heat transfer efficiency. This not only directly improves the cooling effect on the interface cone and extends its service life, but also reduces the system's dependence on the power of the water chiller through more efficient heat dissipation, improving overall energy efficiency. Figure 5 As shown, in this embodiment, the inner wall of the sub-channel 104 is provided with a groove 105, which is provided along the extension direction of the sub-channel 104.

[0030] Optionally, the suction port 200 is an annular slit or multiple circumferentially distributed through holes. Compared to a locally positioned suction port 200, this circumferentially surrounding suction structure can cover all directions in which turbulence may diffuse without dead angles, ensuring that any rebounding or scattered high-temperature gas can be rapidly drawn in. This effectively reduces signal interference and significantly enhances the stability and accuracy of mass spectrometry measurements. At the same time, this design is simple and easy to manufacture, achieving excellent technical results while ensuring ease of manufacturing and system reliability. In this embodiment, the suction port 200 is designed with 12 circumferentially distributed arc-shaped through holes.

[0031] Optionally, the suction port 200 is located on the periphery of the flow channel. This design structurally decouples and independently arranges the cooling functional area (flow channel) and the turbulence management functional area (suction port 200) in physical space, avoiding mutual interference caused by superimposing the two designs. For example, the suction port 200 may block the coolant path or affect its uniformity. In addition, since most of the ions and energy that do not enter the cone opening will diffuse outwards and around the cone in the form of turbulence after the high-speed plasma jet impacts the sampling cone surface 106, rather than returning to the center, placing the suction port 200 on the periphery of the flow channel is like setting a highly efficient trap "downstream" of the diffusion flow, which can achieve directional, efficient collection and discharge of diffusion turbulence with minimal energy consumption and optimal guidance.

[0032] Optionally, the opening direction of the suction port 200 is set at an angle to the plasma jet direction, and the opening direction is tilted towards the conical opening of the interface cone. By tilting the suction port 200 towards the conical opening, a directional and targeted airflow can be formed, actively and rapidly "guided" and extracted from the critical area turbulent material that might otherwise diffuse disorderly and interfere with the central ion flow. This not only greatly improves the efficiency and directionality of turbulence removal, but more importantly, it actively shapes the local flow field near the interface cone, improves the stability of the ion transport path, and thus directly and significantly improves the signal-to-noise ratio and measurement accuracy of the mass spectrometry signal. In this embodiment, the suction port 200 is set as an arc-shaped through-hole penetrating the thickness of the cooling plate. The radius of the arc-shaped through-hole gradually decreases from the end closer to the interface cone to the end farther away from the interface cone, so that the axis of the arc-shaped through-hole forms a 30° angle with the axis of the interface cone.

[0033] refer to Figure 4Optionally, the cooling plate body 100 has a conical surface 106 on the side facing the plasma source, extending obliquely around the central through-hole 101 and towards the suction port 200. This surface guides the diffusion turbulence generated after the plasma impacts the sampling cone towards the suction port 200. In other words, the cooling plate body 100 has a guide slope on the side facing the plasma source to guide the airflow towards the suction port 200. Compared to a conventional straight surface, this guide slope forms a directional airflow guide ramp, which forcibly changes the diffusion direction of the disordered rebound and splashing plasma jet and high-temperature gas after impacting the sampling cone. This prevents the plasma from scattering arbitrarily in all directions and instead guides it in an orderly and stable manner, converging it into the suction port 200 region. This greatly enhances the capture efficiency of the active suction system for turbulence, ensuring that the turbulent high-temperature material is rapidly and thoroughly discharged from the system, thereby significantly reducing its interference with the central stable ion flow and its reheating effect.

[0034] Optionally, the suction device includes a vacuum pump or induced draft fan, and a guide pipe connecting the suction port 200 to the vacuum pump or induced draft fan. By employing a vacuum pump or induced draft fan, the system can generate a strong and stable negative pressure, ensuring continuous and efficient extraction of the diffusion turbulence generated after plasma impact from the suction port 200 located on the cooling plate. The guide pipe provides a safe and smooth exhaust path for this captured high-temperature turbulent airflow, directing it directly to the processing system away from the precision analysis area. This design not only ensures the reliability and effectiveness of the "active exhaust" function, but also physically separates the power unit (pump / fan) from the core interface area, facilitating maintenance and thermal management.

[0035] The mass spectrometer interface cone cooling system of this application embodiment not only provides forced cooling of the interface cone subjected to direct impact from high-temperature plasma through a cooling disk body 100 with an internally configured high-efficiency circulation channel, but more importantly, the system creatively incorporates at least one air intake 200 on the cooling disk body 100, around the central through-hole 101, connected to an air intake device. This design achieves active and directional suction and guidance of the diffusion turbulence generated after plasma impact, effectively collecting and expelling the disordered rebounding and diffusion of high-temperature airflow, significantly reducing its interference with the central stable ion flow, and greatly improving the stability and measurement accuracy of the mass spectrometry signal. Moreover, this active suction process generates negative pressure at the air intake 200, inducing the surrounding air to accelerate across the high-temperature disk surface using the Venturi effect, forming an additional forced air cooling effect, further enhancing the overall heat dissipation capacity, while also reducing dependence on water chiller power, thereby reducing energy consumption. In summary, this system combines efficient heat dissipation with active flow field management, which not only enhances the cooling effect but also improves the thermal and flow field environment of the interface area, reduces the dependence on high-power cooling equipment, and comprehensively improves the working stability and reliability of the mass spectrometer interface cone system.

[0036] This application also provides an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer, including a mass spectrometer interface cone cooling system. This mass spectrometer interface cone cooling system is the same as the one described above; its specific structure and working principle will not be elaborated further here.

[0037] The inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer of this application includes a mass spectrometer interface cone cooling system. This system not only forcibly cools the interface cone, which is directly impacted by high-temperature plasma, through a cooling disk body 100 with an internally designed high-efficiency circulation channel, but more importantly, it innovatively incorporates at least one air intake 200 on the cooling disk body 100, around the central through-hole 101, connected to an air intake device. This design achieves active and directional suction and guidance of the diffusion turbulence generated after plasma impact, effectively collecting and expelling the disordered rebounding and diffusion of high-temperature gas flow, significantly reducing its interference with the central stable ion flow, and greatly improving the stability and measurement accuracy of the mass spectrometry signal. Furthermore, this active suction process generates negative pressure at the air intake 200, inducing surrounding air to accelerate across the high-temperature disk surface using the Venturi effect, creating an additional forced air cooling effect, further enhancing the overall heat dissipation capacity, while also reducing dependence on water chiller power, thereby reducing energy consumption. In summary, this system combines efficient heat dissipation with active flow field management, which not only enhances the cooling effect but also improves the thermal and flow field environment of the interface area, reduces the dependence on high-power cooling equipment, and comprehensively improves the working stability and reliability of the mass spectrometer interface cone system.

[0038] One or more embodiments in this specification are intended to cover all such substitutions, modifications, and variations that fall within the broad scope of the appended claims. Therefore, any omissions, modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc., made within the spirit and principles of one or more embodiments in this specification should be included within the protection scope of this application.

[0039] The above are merely specific embodiments of this application, but the scope of protection of this application is not limited thereto. Any variations or substitutions that can be easily conceived by those skilled in the art within the scope of the technology disclosed in this application should be included within the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the scope of protection of this application should be determined by the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A mass spectrometer interface cone cooling system, characterized in that, include: The cooling plate body has a central through hole for mounting the interface cone and a flow channel around the central through hole for coolant circulation. At least one air intake is disposed on the cooling plate body and located around the central through hole, the air intake penetrating the thickness of the cooling plate body; A suction device, which is in fluid communication with the suction port, is used to actively draw in the gas at the suction port so that the diffusion turbulence generated after the plasma impacts the interface cone converges toward the suction port.

2. The mass spectrometer interface cone cooling system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The flow channel includes a liquid inlet, a liquid outlet, and multiple sub-flow channels arranged in parallel between the two.

3. The mass spectrometer interface cone cooling system according to claim 2, characterized in that, The sub-channels are arranged sequentially along the radial direction of the cooling plate body.

4. The mass spectrometer interface cone cooling system according to claim 3, characterized in that, The inner wall of the sub-channel is provided with fins or grooves.

5. The mass spectrometer interface cone cooling system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The air intake is an annular slit or multiple circumferentially distributed through holes.

6. The mass spectrometer interface cone cooling system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The air intake is located on the periphery of the flow channel.

7. The mass spectrometer interface cone cooling system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The opening direction of the air intake is set at an angle to the plasma jet direction, and the opening direction is tilted towards the cone opening of the interface cone.

8. The mass spectrometer interface cone cooling system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The cooling plate body has a conical surface on the side facing the plasma source, which extends obliquely around the central through hole and towards the air intake, to guide the diffusion turbulence generated after the plasma impacts the interface cone to converge towards the air intake.

9. The mass spectrometer interface cone cooling system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The suction device includes a vacuum pump or a blower, and a guide pipe connecting the suction port to the vacuum pump or blower.

10. An inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer, characterized in that, Includes a mass spectrometer interface cone cooling system as described in any one of claims 1 to 9.

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