Cryogenic Cooling Sensor Port for Vacuum-Safe Maintenance
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Cryogenic cooling apparatuses face challenges in maintaining a stable cryogenic state when sensors, such as temperature sensors, need to be repaired or exchanged, as releasing the vacuum state to access these sensors disrupts the entire system, requiring significant time and effort to re-vacuumize.
Innovation Solution
A cryogenic cooling apparatus with a separate sensor port and purge port allows for quick installation and maintenance of sensors without releasing the vacuum state of the entire system, using inert gas and sound pressure to prevent external air and moisture ingress and facilitate rapid re-vacuumization.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If the temperature sensor is installed on the surface of the refrigerant container, then the temperature can be measured to estimate refrigerant and object temperature, but when the sensor malfunctions it requires releasing the vacuum state to repair or exchange the sensor
Solution Approach 1:
The vacuum container is divided into a main sealed chamber and a separate sensor port region. The sensor port is equipped with a removable cover that can be opened without breaking the vacuum seal of the main chamber. This segmentation allows the sensor to be accessed and replaced in an isolated region while the main vacuum environment remains intact, resolving the contradiction between maintaining measurement capability and enabling easy sensor repair.
2Ease of repair
If the vacuum state is released to repair the temperature sensor, then the sensor can be accessed and replaced, but the vacuum state of the entire system must be released requiring significant time and effort to re-vacuumize
Solution Approach 1:
The vacuum system is segmented into a main vacuum chamber and a separate sensor port area. The sensor port cover can be removed to access the sensor without compromising the vacuum seal of the main chamber. This allows sensor repair without releasing the vacuum state of the entire system, eliminating the time loss associated with re-vacuumizing the whole system.
Solution Approach 2:
The sensor access function is extracted from the main vacuum chamber by providing a separate sensor port with a removable cover. This extraction allows the sensor to be replaced without taking out (releasing) the vacuum state from the main system, thereby avoiding the time-consuming re-vacuumization process while still enabling easy sensor repair.
3Ease of repair
If the sensor port is provided passing through the vacuum container, then the sensor can be installed and maintained without releasing vacuum state, but external air and moisture may ingress into the sensor port
Solution Approach 1:
Before opening the sensor port cover, inert gas is supplied into the sensor port to create a protective atmosphere. This preliminary anti-action prevents external air and moisture from ingressing into the port when the cover is removed, allowing sensor maintenance without vacuum release while protecting against harmful contaminants.
Solution Approach 2:
An inert gas atmosphere is created in the sensor port by supplying inert gas before opening the cover. This inert environment prevents external air and moisture from contaminating the sensor port during sensor replacement, enabling easy sensor maintenance while blocking harmful factors from entering the system.
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
Enables efficient and rapid maintenance of sensors within the cryogenic cooling apparatus, maintaining the superconductivity condition of superconducting cables by preventing heat conduction and minimizing downtime and costs.
Implementation Method 1
a vacuum insulation part provided at an outer side of the cooling part for vacuum insulation
Implementation Method 2
supplying an inert gas into the sensor port, before the vacuum state inside the sensor port is released for maintenance
Implementation Method 3
applying sound pressure into the sensor port, after the installation of the sensor, to rapidly re-vacuumize the sensor port
Data Source
Figure 1(a)~1(b)
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
The present invention relates to a cryogenic cooling apparatus capable of stably maintaining a cryogenic condition by repairing or exchanging a sensor such as a temperature sensor of the cryogenic cooling apparatus without releasing vacuum states of the cryogenic cooling apparatus and a system connected thereto, when the sensor needs to be repaired or exchanged.