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Article: Fight Humidity in Your Vacuum System.
- Article from:
- R & D
- Article date:
- June 1, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 Advantage Business Media. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The enemy of vacuum technology has long been humidity. With careful consideration, users can correct water-vapor problems and increase product throughput.
The presence of water vapor in vacuum systems is perhaps the most common of all problems that face the practitioners of vacuum technology. Most problems, such as leaks or massive contamination, can be dealt with on a one-time or recurring basis, but water vapor remains a daily problem with every pumpdown.
As a pumpdown cycle proceeds to pressures below [10.sup.-3] torr, water vapor becomes the dominant gas species within the partial pressures of the various residual gases in the chamber. During the ...