A vacuum valve is a device installed in the gas supply or exhaust pipeline of a vacuum system, typically used to isolate vacuum areas such as process chambers, or to control the amount of gas entering and exiting. It can be operated manually, pneumatically, electronically, electrically, or electromagnetically.
Vacuum valve is a component of any vacuum system, which is widely used in various industrial production applications. Some vacuum processes have particularly high requirements for the purity, chemical and physical stability of the process environment, which is called high-performance vacuum valve. So what is the difference between high-performance vacuum valves and standard vacuum valves?
Minimizing particle emissions
High performance vacuum valves are optimized to not release particles through the material of their housing, mechanical devices, or seals, nor through the friction of their opening, closing, or controlling motion.
This is achieved through special selection and handling of the materials used, as well as through certain design details that can minimize or in some cases completely eliminate the release of particles.
Minimized motion pulse
Each valve generates motion pulses through its opening and closing movements, which can range from slight vibrations to audible and perceptible hard impacts when the valve is automatically driven.
And these motion pulses may have a negative impact on sensitive manufacturing processes, while high-performance vacuum valves can reduce these pulses by controlling the so-called motion curve. Similar to the operation of passenger elevators, the closing speed will slow down shortly before reaching the closing point to prevent "impact"
Neutral Chemistry and Physical Behavior
Vacuum valves always alter the uniformity of vacuum processes, regardless of their form, and this is partly due to the result of their geometric shape.
The narrowing or widening of the flow path can change the flow resistance and flow velocity, or blind spots such as the movement space of the valve plate, which can promote the sedimentation process. This also occurs through opening and closing movements, which alter the flow behavior as well as the concentration, distribution, mixing, and temperature of the process gas.
High performance vacuum valves are optimized to compensate for this effect as much as possible or make it controllable. To this end, various additional technologies have been incorporated into the design, which go far beyond the basic functions of the valve, such as opening and closing or control.
Accurate and reproducible behavior
The main difference between high-performance vacuum valves and standard vacuum valves lies in their highly reproducible behavior. Standard vacuum valves exhibit fluctuations in each individual opening and closing motion and display deviations from their defined performance values during use.
But high-performance vacuum valves have been optimized to consistently exhibit the same behavior over long periods of use, defined within a very narrow range, which also means they can stabilize the vacuum process and minimize the complexity of process control.
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