Thermal Shrouds in Vacuum Systems - Abbess Instruments - Vacuum Chambers - Pumps and Systems

The Abbess High Vacuum Thermal System allows items placed inside to be exposed to high vacuum pressure as well as extreme temperatures via the electrically heated and refrigerant cooled Thermal Shroud. This thermal vacuum chamber system is controlled by a Vacuum Cycle Controller (VCC), used to integrate temperature and vacuum level monitoring and automate many of the process control functions via panel-mounted indicators and activating buttons and switches, as well as a touch screen PC with a user-specific customized programming and Graphical User Interface (GUI).

Read more about our High Vacuum and Thermal Systems.

Abbess’s Thermal Shrouds allow for reliable and uniform cooling/heating under vacuum.

A shroud assembly of Thermal Plates with cable heating elements and cooling loops bracket mounted within the chamber. Feed-through for electrical power, thermocouple and cooling lines extend through the rear wall of the chamber. The thermal shroud allows heating/cooling of items in the chamber under vacuum and is controlled by PID temperature Controller integrated into the Process Control Enclosure.
The Process Control Enclosure contains components necessary for controlling the system as well as logic and interfaces for the Thermal Vacuum Cycle Controller. Status Indicators within the Process Control Enclosure provide visual indication of the systems status. The PC Touchscreen Computer contains Abbess customized DAQFactory program interface: test environment automation and data logging integrates control and monitoring of the thermal vacuum system other components.

Thermal Shrouds can be integrated into most systems to meet customer specifications

The first system below is a solar simulator that incorporates elements from our high vacuum, space simulation, and thermal chamber systems( Figures 1 and 2). Learn more about this unique systems here.

: Fig 1: The system pictured is Abbess Instruments’ Custom Thermal Vacuum and Solar Simulation Chamber System.

: FIg 2: This solar simulation chamber( fig 1) includes a coated copper shroud and a gold plater copper thermal plate with S.S. threaded inserts.

: Fig 3: Custom designed Thermal Vacuum System which uses a PC based custom control program.

: Fig 4: The nickel plated copper thermal shroud and plate within the system shown in Fig 3.

A High vacuum chamber with a thermal shroud being assembled in our facility:

: Fig 5: The stainless steel cube in which the thermal shroud will be placed.

: Fig 6: Thermal shroud being inserted into system, turning the standard vacuum chamber into a thermal vacuum chamber!

: Fig 7: The base of the thermal vacuum system.

: Fig 8: Right Side View of the completed chamber shown in figures 5-7.

: Fig 9: Controller and Completed System (notice the gold interior through the window)

Performance Specifications

All performance specifications stated, including but not limited to, pump-down rates and vacuum levels make the following assumptions:

The Vacuum Chamber is empty.
The Vacuum Chamber and other system components are clean and dry.
The System is being operated at Sea Level
The ambient temperature is 18°C +/- 2°C
All system components, including those not supplied by Abbess, are appropriate for the system and are functioning properly.
The specifications are not impacted by the properties of your product.

If you require performance specifications for conditions other than those listed above, it is vital that you make this known to Abbess Instruments in writing. Generally Abbess Instruments recommends choosing chamber and pumping system qualities capable of achieving a theoretical vacuum at least an order of magnitude better than the desired operational vacuum.

It is to be noted that a specification described as '10-5 Torr' is a range, and means the clean, empty, dry chamber system is capable of reaching some undetermined value between 1.0x10-5 and 9.9x10-5 Torr: The (clean, empty, dry) chamber is deemed compliant whether its As-Built base vacuum is 1.0x10-5 Torr or 9.9x10-5 Torr. It does not mean that the chamber is guaranteed to reach every level within that range.