Accelerated Booster Pump for Rapid Chamber Evacuation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing pump arrangements struggle to evacuate large lock chambers quickly from atmospheric pressure to low vacuum levels due to the high volume flow requirements, which necessitate cumbersome and expensive forepumps.
Innovation Solution
The method involves accelerating a booster pump to extract excess power, bypassing gas through a bypass valve until the outlet pressure falls below a threshold, then using a forepump for further compression, allowing the forepump to be designed for a smaller volume and mass flow, and utilizing a screw-type pump with high rotational speeds and large diameters to manage the high initial pressure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If a booster pump is used to deliver large volume flow at high pressure for fast evacuation, then the evacuation speed is improved, but the forepump must be designed to handle large volume flow which makes it cumbersome and expensive
Solution Approach 1:
The booster pump is accelerated before the evacuation process to store kinetic energy in advance. This preliminary acceleration allows the pump to temporarily deliver excess power beyond its steady-state capability, enabling fast evacuation without requiring an oversized forepump.
Solution Approach 2:
The system transitions from steady-state operation to dynamic operation by temporarily extracting excess power from the accelerated booster pump. The rotational speed of the booster pump varies during the process, allowing it to provide peak power only when needed for initial fast evacuation, then returning to normal operation.
2Loss of time
If the booster pump is accelerated to extract excess power for fast evacuation, then the evacuation time is reduced, but the pump requires temporary power exceeding its steady-state drive capacity
Solution Approach 1:
Kinetic energy is stored in the accelerated booster pump before evacuation begins. This preliminary energy storage allows the system to deliver high power temporarily without requiring continuous high power input, reducing overall energy consumption while achieving fast evacuation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system recovers kinetic energy by accelerating the booster pump before use, then discards this stored energy temporarily during the evacuation process to provide excess power. After evacuation, the pump is re-accelerated to restore its kinetic energy reserve for the next cycle.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach enables rapid evacuation of chambers with volumes over 100 L from atmospheric pressure to less than 10^-2 mbar in under five seconds, reducing the need for expensive and cumbersome forepumps and optimizing the design of both booster and forepumps for efficient operation.
Implementation Method 1
The gas that is delivered to the outlet of the booster pump is discharged through a bypass valve for as long as the outlet pressure in the booster pump lies above a predefined threshold value. In general, atmospheric pressure prevails at the outlet of the bypass valve.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for evacuating a chamber employs a pump arrangement composed of a booster pump and of a downstream forepump is connected to the chamber. The booster pump is accelerated, gas from the chamber is introduced into the booster pump, such that from the booster pump there is temporarily extracted an excess power which exceeds the power provided by the drive of the booster pump. The gas is discharged through a bypass valve while the outlet pressure of the booster pump lies above a predefined threshold value, and the gas is directed to the forepump when the outlet pressure of the booster pump has fallen below the threshold value. The gas supplied by the booster pump is compressed by means of the forepump.