Vacuum valves that are exposed to activated aggressive process gases, especially those used for isolating remote plasma sources for cleaning gases, are susceptible to significant wear. Frequent interruptions in production for maintenance or replacement of these valves used to be the rule. Not any longer.
The 24.2 Angle Valve sets new standards in terms of wear resistance. In practical use, the uptime has proven to be twice as long on average than with existing solutions, and in some cases they significantly exceed this benchmark.
With a closing mechanism optimized for plasma cleaning applications, the 24.2 Angle Valve offers the convenience of a precisely operating isolation valve with very high durability and extremely low maintenance.
The weak points of most vacuum valves used in the field of plasma cleaning are the gate seals. These cannot withstand the aggressive plasma gases or fluorine radicals generated. The 24.2 Angle Valve solves this problem by using a closing bell instead of a closing gate.
The bell shape allows the seals to be placed in a deep seal groove outside the plasma stream, providing better protection from premature wear. The bell shape makes it possible to redesign the flow guidance. The optimized plasma flow design results in a 40 % increase in conductance over a conventional angle valve. This increases the power yield of the plasma Flow, as less energy is lost through bottlenecks or turbulence.
The newly developed shaft feedthrough design protects the feedthrough seals from excessive thermal stress.
Additionally, a specialized shaft feedthrough cassette is employed to thermally decouple the closing bell from the feedthrough, preventing direct heat conduction.Furthermore, the gap dimensions between the body and closing bell are precisely set to prevent plasma penetration and minimize its impact.
The 24.2 Angle Valve has proven its performance in a variety of demanding plasma cleaning processes. Thanks to its modular design, it can also be easily retrofitted to existing systems.
The 24.2 Angle Valve is available in size DN 16 in aluminum with a double-acting pneumatic actuator. Other sizes and an inline version are available on request.
The valve is passively air cooled and does not require water cooling. However, active air cooling is available as an option and can be operated using the same compressed air as the actuator. The passive and optional active air cooling arrangements protect the temperature-sensitive sealing surfaces directly, uniformly and effectively.
In addition to the standard FKM (Viton®) seal material, the optional high-temperature FFKM (Kalrez®) can be used for the dynamic and static seals to further enhance wear resistance, even without active cooling. The seal material can be customized according to customer requirements.
The 24.2 Angle Valve is equipped with a KF flange as standard. Customer-specific flanges are available as an option. Plastic flange clamps designed for electrical insulation are available as accessories, offering additional protection against electrical current propagation.
In addition to its high wear resistance, the 24.2 Angle Valve is specially designed for quick and easy maintenance.
Loosening just four screws allows the replacement of all relevant parts, including the static and dynamic seals or the cassette, in a few simple steps. Maintenance kits are available to facilitate fast and reliable maintenance procedures.
Features:
Benefits:
| Size | 16 mm (5/8") | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Flange | ISO-KF | ||
| Actuator | pneumatic double-acting | ||
| Position indicator | micro-switch | ||
| Feedthrough | shaft feedthrough type | ||
| Pressure range at 20 °C | 1 × 10-7 mbar to 1.2 bar (abs) | ||
| Leak rate at 20 °C | to outside (global) | < 1 × 10-9 mbar l/s | |
| seat | < 1 × 10-7 mbar l/s | ||
| Differential pressure on gate | in close (in both directions) | ≤ 1.2 | |
| during opening (in both directions) | ≤ 30 mbar | ||
| Conductance | molecular flow | 5 l/s | |
| Actuation time | closing or opening | ≤ 1 sec | |
| Cycles until first service | Tmax 120°C and under clean conditions | 20 000 | |
| Admissible temperature values | valve body | ≤ 150 °C | |
| actuator | ≤ 150 °C | ||
| position indicator | ≤ 120°C | ||
| Process side materials | valve body | aluminum (EN AW-6060 (3.3206)) | |
| valve body bottom (inlet flange) | aluminum (EN AW-6082 (3.2315)) | ||
| gate | aluminum (EN AW-6082 (3.2315)) | ||
| actuator bottom cassette | aluminum (EN AW-6082 (3.2315)) | ||
| Seal material | gate | FKM (Viton®) | |
| valve body global | FKM (Viton®) | ||
| shaft feedthrough protection | FKM (Viton®) | ||
| Actuator | pneumatic volume | 0.012 l / 0.0004 ft3 | |
| min. - max. operating pressure | 2 – 7 bar / 29 – 102 psi | ||
| air connector | ¼" fitting | ||
| Air cooling feature | max. operating pressure | 7 bar / 102 psi | |
| air connector | ¼" fitting | ||
