A new GXS dry pump designed to support pumping requirements for silicon ingot manufacturing and laminator applications in the solar industry has been introduced by vacuum equipment company Edwards.
The GXS provides the optimised thermal control and dust handling capability needed to meet the pumping challenges encountered in these processes. High atmospheric pumping speed capability of the GXS also enables faster chamber pump down, reducing cycle times and improving throughput.
"This new GXS dry pump has been optimised to meet the specific pumping process requirements for solar laminator and crystal pulling applications," said Dr. Allister Watson, solar and flat panel display dry pump product manager at Edwards. "Its closed-loop thermal management system ensures the pump remains at the optimal temperature to prevent pump seize-ups, due to either glue condensation in laminator applications or overheating when pumping high concentrations of argon during crystal pulling applications. At the same time, its fast pump down time, low utility consumption and reduced maintenance all contribute to a low cost of ownership."
A tapered variable pitch screw profile in the GXS allows for tight clearances without the need for rotor coatings. It also enables compression variations along the rotor axis for improved thermal stability and better thermal control, making it an optimal pump to handle the high flows of argon gas used in crystal pulling applications, as well as the dust generated during the manufacturing process. And the pump can operate on as little as 3.9kW of input power (depending on the pump version) and uses 57 per cent less energy than competing piston pumps. The high efficiency motors are inverter driven and enable reduced energy by running in idle mode, allowing further cost of ownership savings.
Inert, non oxidizing oil is used to lubricate the gears and bearings of the pump with no maintenance required between major services, unlike grease packed bearings. No oil within the pumping mechanism means no need for frequent and costly oil changes, unlike oil sealed rotary vane pumps.
