Granted Patent B2

US 12,673,274 · App. 18/136,733 · Granted Jul 7, 2026

Inventors: Jacob Craig Petroff (Burnaby, CA); Richard G. Harris (North Vancouver, CA)

Assignee: 1372934 B.C. LTD.

B01D8/00F25B9/10F25B9/12F25B9/14F25B9/145F25D19/006

Abstract

Claims (21)

1 . A cryogenic trapping system comprising:

a helium fluid circuit;

a pulse tube cryocooler comprising a first temperature stage and a second temperature stage, the first temperature stage operating at a first temperature and the second temperature stage operating at a second temperature that is less than the first temperature;

a first trapping subsystem incorporated into the helium fluid circuit, the first trapping subsystem comprising first and second contaminant traps arranged in parallel and selectively thermally coupled to the first temperature stage of the pulse tube cryocooler by respective first and second heat switches, the first and second heat switches providing controllable thermal coupling between the first and second contaminant traps and the first temperature stage of the pulse tube cryocooler;

a cryoadsorptive trap incorporated into the helium fluid circuit in series with the first trapping subsystem, the cryoadsorptive trap thermally coupled to the second temperature stage of the pulse tube cryocooler, the cryoadsorptive trap comprising:

a plurality of thermalization surfaces arranged to define a circuitous flow route through the cryoadsorptive trap; and

an adsorption material arranged along the circuitous flow route; and

a cryocondensation trap incorporated into the helium fluid circuit in series with the cryoadsorptive trap, the cryocondensation trap comprising a trapping surface, the cryocondensation trap thermally coupled to the second temperature stage of the pulse tube cryocooler.

2 . The cryogenic trapping system of claim 1 , wherein the cryocondensation trap is thermalized to have a temperature gradient over the trapping surface.

3 . The cryogenic trapping system of claim 1 , wherein the cryocondensation trap comprises a length of tubing that is at least partially filled with a cryocondensation material.

4 . The cryogenic trapping system of claim 3 , wherein the cryocondensation material comprises at least one of metal, glass mesh, and foam.

5 . The cryogenic trapping system of claim 1 , wherein the first and second contaminant traps each employ at least one of cryoadsorption and cryocondensation.

6 . The cryogenic trapping system of claim 1 , further comprising first and second valves in fluid communication between room temperature and a respective one of the first and second contaminant traps.

7 . The cryogenic trapping system of claim 1 , wherein the cryoadsorptive trap removes primarily Ne and H from a fluid flow.

8 . The cryogenic trapping system of claim 1 , wherein the cryocondensation trap removes primarily Ne and H from a fluid flow.

9 . The cryogenic trapping system of claim 1 , wherein the first and second contaminant traps remove primarily one or more of H 2 O, CO 2 , N 2 , O 2 , and oils from a fluid flow.

10 . The cryogenic trapping system of claim 1 , wherein the first temperature stage of the pulse tube cryocooler is at or below 20K.

11 . The cryogenic trapping system of claim 1 , wherein the second temperature stage of the pulse tube cryocooler is at or below 5K.

12 . The cryogenic trapping system of claim 1 , wherein the cryoadsorptive trap is connected to the cryocondensation trap by a first length of tubing of the helium fluid circuit, and wherein the cryocondensation trap comprises a second length of tubing of the helium fluid circuit, the second length of tubing having a diameter that is greater than a diameter of the first length of tubing.

13 . The cryogenic trapping system of claim 1 , wherein the adsorption material comprises one of charcoal, activated charcoal, or zeolite.

14 . The cryogenic trapping system of claim 1 , further comprising at least one gauge connected in series with the helium fluid circuit, the at least one gauge selected from a group consisting of: flowmeters, pressure gauges, and contaminant sensors.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (5)

References Cited (162)