Vacuum-insulating system and method for generating a high-level vacuum
View Patent ↗A method of generating a high-level vacuum comprises evacuating a chamber having a substantially-pure gas therein to a medium-level vacuum, and freezing the residual gas to generate the high-level vacuum within the chamber. Impurities, such as atmospheric air, may be purged from the chamber by evacuating the chamber to a medium level vacuum (e.g., around 10 −2 Torr) and subsequently filling the chamber with the gas. This purging process may be repeated multiple times to decrease the level of impurities in the gas filling the chamber. The substantially-pure gas may have an impurity-level of less than approximately 100 PPM and may comprise carbon-dioxide, although the scope of the invention is not limited in this respect. The medium level vacuum may range between approximately 1×10 −2 Torr and 5×10 −2 Torr allowing the use of a roughing pump, and the high-level vacuum may range between approximately 1×10 −5 and 1×10 −8 Torr.
1. A method of generating a high-level vacuum comprising:
evacuating a chamber having a substantially-pure gas therein;
freezing residual gas in the chamber to generate a high-level vacuum within the chamber;
purging impurities from the chamber with the gas by filling the chamber with the gas;
repeating the filling and the evacuating to reduce impurities from the chamber and to obtain a high concentration of the gas within the chamber; and
after filling the chamber with the gas, evacuating the chamber prior to freezing to generate a medium-level vacuum,
wherein the substantially-pure gas has in impurity-level of less than approximately 100 parts per million (PPM), and
wherein the gas is carbon-dioxide and has a freezing point of above approximately 100 degrees Kelvin at the medium-level vacuum.
2. The method of claim 1
wherein the chamber comprises a magnet chamber, and wherein freezing comprises reducing the temperature within the chamber by cooling the magnet.
3. The method of claim 2 further comprising after freezing the gas, further cooling the magnet to a cryogenic temperature,
wherein the vacuum within the chamber is to provide insulation for the cryogenically-cooled magnet.
4. A vacuum insulation system comprising:
a chamber having a substantially-pure gas therein at less than atmospheric pressure;
a cooling element to freeze residual gas in the chamber to generate a high-level vacuum within the chamber; and
a gas cylinder having the substantially-pure gas therein at a higher-than atmospheric pressure, the gas cylinder to at least slightly pressurize the chamber with the gas prior to the vacuum pump evacuating the chamber before freezing,
wherein the substantially-pure gas has an impurity-level of less than approximately 100 parts per million (PPM), and
wherein the gas is carbon-dioxide and has a freezing point of above approximately 100 degrees Kelvin at the medium-level vacuum.
5. The system of claim 4 further comprising a magnet within the chamber, and wherein the cooling element is to reduce a temperature within the chamber by cooling the magnet to at or below a freezing point of the gas at the medium-level vacuum.
6. The system of claim 5 wherein after freezing the gas, the cooling element is to further cool the magnet to a cryogenic temperature, and wherein the high-level vacuum within the chamber is to provide insulation for the cryogenically-cooled magnet.
7. The system of claim 5 wherein the magnet is an electromagnet cooled to a superconducting temperature to generate a high-level magnetic field for a radar tube in a radar system.
8. A vacuum insulation system comprising:
a chamber having a substantially-pure gas therein at less than atmospheric pressure; and
a cooling element to freeze residual gas in the chamber to generate a high-level vacuum within the chamber, the chamber having essentially no other gasses therein other than the substantially-pure gas;
a medium-level vacuum pump to reduce the pressure within the chamber to a medium-level vacuum before the cooling element operates to freeze the gas; and
a magnet within the chamber,
wherein the cooling element is to reduce a temperature within the chamber by cooling the magnet to at or below a freezing point of the gas at the medium-level vacuum, and
wherein the magnet is a superconducting magnet in a magnetic-resonance-interference (MRI) diagnostic imaging system.
9. A vacuum insulation system comprising:
a chamber having a substantially-pure gas therein at less than atmospheric pressure; and
a cooling element to freeze residual gas in the chamber to generate a high-level vacuum within the chamber,
wherein the chamber is to insulate an infrared seeker head of a missile, the chamber being provided with the substantially-pure gas therein,
wherein the system further comprises a cooling liquid to freeze the substantially-pure gas within the chamber after launch of the missile to generate in flight the high-level vacuum within the chamber, the cooling liquid to further cool the seeker head to at least a near-cryogenic temperature, and
wherein the cooling liquid comprises liquid argon, and wherein the substantially-pure gas is carbon-dioxide, and wherein the chamber is initially provided with the medium-level vacuum.