Miniature Turbomolecular and Turbo/Drag Pumps
Under funding from NASA, Creare has developed specialized analytical tools, vacuum pump test and fabrication facilities, and a series of miniature, low-power, very high-speed electric motors. These capabilities allow Creare to develop unique vacuum pumps that are tailored to challenging customer requirements.
For example, Creare has developed the world’s smallest hybrid turbomolecular/molecular drag vacuum pump to support portable, battery-powered analytical equipment such as mass spectrometers.
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| This miniature turbo/drag pump is about the size of a D-cell flashlight battery: it has a diameter of 3.4 cm and a length of 8 cm. It weighs only 130 grams, and can develop an ultimate pressure in the 10-8 Torr range, while working against a foreline pressure as high as 10 Torr. The pumping speed is 4 L/s at a nominal rotational speed of 200,000 rpm. Substantial efforts were made to minimize power consumption, and the pump draws less than 2 W at foreline pressures of 1 Torr or less, and only 7 W at a 10 Torr foreline pressure.
Creare is currently developing an innovative series of highly ruggedized turbomolecular and molecular drag pumps for use in high vibration environments. These pumps are intended to support hazardous gas detection systems on the launch pad of the Space Shuttle. Other applications of Creare vacuum pumps include analytical instruments on interplanetary probes—including the search for life on Mars—and for atmospheric sampling instruments on balloons and high-altitude unmanned aircraft.
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