VACUUM LEAK EXERCISES

CAS VACUUM, 6-16 JUNE 2107

1.

 A system at 20⁰C has to achieve 10-9 mbar after prolonged

pumping with a turbo molecular pump (SEFF = 300 Ls-1,
independent of the gas type). What is the maximum allowable
leakage?
 2.

 A diffusion pump vacuum system with a chamber of 0.75 m3 is

isolated from its pumps. The pressure increases from 2∙10-3 mbar
to 5∙10-1 mbar in 10 minutes.

 A. What is the leakage rate, assuming no other gas source?

 B. After repairing a significant leak, the system could be evacuated

to 5∙10-5 mbar with the diffusion pump (SEFF = 2000 Ls-1). What
leakage remains?
 3.

The vacuum vessel has a volume of 5 m3. An air

leak of 1.05 E-6 mbarl/s is present.
Q
1
Calculate the response time for 95% of the final
signal on the leak detector when it is connected in
position 1 with and without valve A open and the
Valve A position 2 with and without valve B open.

SDP = 1000 L s-1 For each case, what is the signal on the detector
when the leak is pocketed with helium ?

2 Which of the 4 configurations is best for the leak

Valve B
test

SLeakDetector at Inlet = 1 L s-1

Sprimary = 36 m3 h-1
4.

 A human hair is trapped across an O-ring on a vacuum system

where the internal; pressure is 10-4 mbar and the external pressure
is 103 mbar. The temperature is 20⁰C. Leakage of air into the
vacuum system is occurring:

 A. If the trapped hair is a leak that can be regarded as a uniform

tube of 70 um diameter (approximate diameter of a human hair)
and length of about 8mm with the above pressure the exit and
entrance, respectively, what is the nature of the flow across the
leak?
 B. Estimate the leakage (qL)
 GLOBAL HE LEAK DETECTION

global He - flux de fuite

Reference leak flow Qf.ref mbar l.s-1
Signal of the reference leak Sf.ref -
Signal of the leak Sf - (𝑆¿¿ 𝑓 −𝑟𝑒𝑠) 1
𝑄 𝑓 =𝑄 𝑓 .𝑟𝑒𝑓 × × ¿
Residual value Sres - 𝑆 𝑓 .𝑟𝑒𝑓 −𝑟𝑒𝑠 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑐 𝐻𝑒
He concentration conc %
Leak rate Qf mbar.l.s-1
Global He – Sensibility of the test
𝑄 𝑓 . 𝑟𝑒𝑓 ×𝑚 𝑙𝑖 1
Mini readable value mli - 𝑆𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡 𝑦= ×
Sensibility of the tests Sensib. mbar.l..s-1 𝑆 𝑓 . 𝑟𝑒𝑓 − 𝑟𝑒𝑠 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑐 𝐻𝑒
 REFERENCE LEAK

Correction for the reference leak

Initial value of the reference leak QFref mbarls-1

Year of the leak n 𝑛

𝑥
Correction for the aging x %/an 𝑄 𝑅𝑒𝑓 𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑟 =( 𝑄¿¿ 𝑅𝑒𝑓 𝑓 ×(1 −( )) ) ¿ ¿ ¿
100
Difference of temperature ∆T deg C

Correction for the temperature x %/degC

Corrected flux for the calibrated leak QFref cor mbarls-1

RESPONSE TIME FOR LEAK
DETECTION

𝑉
𝑡 0.95=3 ×
𝑄 𝑒𝑓𝑓

2
−3 𝐿
𝑡 0.95=3 × 10 ×
𝐷
INTRODUCTION: AIR LEAK IN CASE OF NEG COATED
CHAMBER

Bayard-Alpert Variable Length Bayard-Alpert

Gauge (DPinj) Gauge (DPend)
Air Leak

Air: 78% N2 + 20% O2 +

2% Ar

9
PROBLEMATICS
 The system is baked and no active pumping is installed
 The installation of a leak detector imply:
 Connect a turbo molecular pumps on a valves: start the pump down
 Install the bake out on the valves + transition +TMP in order to do not
impact the NEG performance
 Bake out at least over night
 After 1 day we could start the leak detection of the vacuum sector

This approach is not convenient for the operation

where a fast analysis is necessary and the beam
downtime should be minimized
 NEG PUMPING MECHANISM

H2:
• Diffuses into the getter bulk even at room temperature,
• Small quantities of H2 do not affect the pumping of other gases.
CO & CO2:
• Molecules chemically absorbed on the getter surface
• No Diffusion in the bulk and affect the pumping speed of all the other gases,
• CO capacity ≈ 5·1014 molecules/cm2
N2:
• No Diffusion in the bulk and the absorption takes place underneath the first monolayer of the
surface,
• Six adsorption sites to pump a single N2 molecule,
• N2 capacity ≈ about 7 times lower than for CO
• Do not affect the pumping speed of CO
O2 & H2O:
• The capacity of NEG for O2 and H2O is estimated around 10 times larger than for CO
INTRODUCTION: LEAK IN CASE OF NEG COATED
CHAMBERS

Bayard-Alpert Variable Length Bayard-Alpert

Gauge (DPinj) Gauge (DPend)

Noble Gas

The B-A sensitivity

The effective conductance
&
Pumping speed in case of additional pumping

12
EXAMPLE OF A BA GAUGE

A+
e-
+100÷300 V

i-

+10÷80 V i+

0V

- Ions are produced in the volume enclosed by the grid.

- The positive potential on the grid forms a barrier to the ions.
- They are eventually collected at the central wire.
16
 THE BA GAUGE SENSITIVITY

The rate of ionization in the grid volume (I+/e) depends on:

 P 
- the number of molecules in the grid volume (gas density n) I  L  I
- the ionization cross section for the specific gas at a specific electron k BT
energy (s)
 L
- the number of electrons traversing the grid per unit time (I -/e)
S
- the average path length of the electrons in the grid (L)
k BT
- the ion collection efficiency, for 100%:

S is called the gauge sensitivity I  S P I 

[S]=[Torr-1]
It depends on:
-the gas nature and electron energy;
-the geometry and the electrostatic field;
-the absolute temperature. 17
THE B-A SENSITIVITY: IONIZATION CROSS
SECTION

The maximum of the cross

section is obtained for electron
energy in the range 50 to 200
eV.
Energy variations in this range
results in a limited variation of
the cross section: less than a
factor 2.
For lower energies the variation
is much steeper
 THE CONDUCTANCE

The quantity of gas which is flowing across a given pressure difference depends
on the ease of flow, described by what we call CONDUCTANCE
 THE CONDUCTANCE OF A BEAM PIPE

1 2 kT D 3 D[cm]3
C ; C air, 20 [l / s ] 12.1
6 m L L[cm]

• Cs = 15 l/s.m
• Cs = 121 l/s.m
• D = 5 cm
• D = 10 cm

L C, air L C, air
[m 20° [m 20°
] [l/s] ] [l/s]
1 15 1 121
5 3 5 23
10 1.5 10 12.1
 THE CONDUCTANCE VS
TEMPERATURE AND GAS
• The conductance depends: C  T
• M

T[K] 4.2 77 15 30 50 60 130

T 0 0 0 0 0
•Function of the temperature: C gaz C gaz, 300 K 300 C 20 88 12 10 22 24 361
[l/s] 2 0 4 5

29 Ga H2 H CH4 H2O CO ai O2 Ar CO2

Cgaz Cair
M gaz z e r
• Function of the molars mass:
M 2 4 16 18 28 2 3 4 44
9 2 0
Gaz H2 He CH H2 CO air O2 Ar CO
4 O 2

C 38 26 13 12 10 10 95 85 81
[l/s] 1 8 5 7 2 0
NOBLE GAS LEAK DETECTION
 NEG LEAK DETECTION PROCEDURE
Preparation
 Start LabView pressure logging (1 second)
 Open Variable Leak valve slowly (~50x graduations), monitoring the pressure P 1 until
~1x10-9 mbar : record P1 & P2
Helium
 Apply low flow helium gas to the VLV, monitor the pressure increase at P 2 and P1
 record P1 , P2 & helium leak detector measurement

 Close VVR and start timer, accumulate for 300 seconds: record P1 & P2

Argon
 Apply low flow argon gas to the VLV, monitor the pressure increase at P 2 and P1
 record P1 P2 & helium leak detector measurement

 Close VVR and start timer : after 300s record P1 & P2

 P2
P1
Bayard-Alpert Variable Length Bayard-Alpert
Gauge (DPinj) Gauge (DPend)
Turbo
GAS
Molecular
Pump

P1 P1

P2 P2
 P2
P1
Bayard-Alpert Variable Length Bayard-Alpert
Gauge (DPinj) Gauge (DPend)
Turbo
GAS
Molecular
Pump

Difference between P1 and P2 during

dynamic injection of gases:
Effective Effective
Pressure Pressure Pumping Pumping
Helium Argon Speed TMP Speed TMP
Helium Argon
P1 3.1E-9 1.5e-8 43 43
P2 7.5E-10 1.8e-9 11 4.8
Ratio ≈4.1 ≈ 8.3 ≈ 3.9 ≈9
Effective pumping speed in the system is the main parameter
Sensitivity of the gauges play an important role: Argon higher
measured pressure
 P2
P1
Bayard-Alpert Variable Length Bayard-Alpert
Gauge (DPinj) Gauge (DPend)
Turbo
GAS
Molecular
Pump
 P2
P1
Bayard-Alpert Variable Length Bayard-Alpert
Gauge (DPinj) Gauge (DPend)

GAS

Difference between P1 and P2 during

accumulation of DP
DP Helium gases:
Argon

P1 = P2 1.5e-6 1.05e-8
Time 5’45 ‘’ 5’15’’
Volume [l] 3.3
Q mabrl/s ≈1.5e-8 ≈ 1.05e-9

Effective leak rate is the main

parameter
Sensitivity of the gauges play a minor