Development of a continuous duty cryopump

The continuous output of large quantities of gases at low pressure from fusion reactors, principally helium and hydrogen isotopes, dictates the need for a high speed pumping system that operates continuously, efficiently, and automatically. A liquid helium-cooled cryopump operated by a microprocessor controller can meet these requirements. The prototype system described herein features a single cryopump with three distinct pumping units: two units for pumping the vacuum chamber arranged so that one unit is closed for regenerating while the other is pumping the chamber (100% redundancy); and a collector pump, which is a high speed cryopump for receiving the regenerated gas. The unit pumps deuterium but can be changed readily to a sorption pump for helium service