Viewports are widely used in commercial chambers, including vacuum vessels, furnaces and a variety of evaporators. In case where condensible vapors are present in the chamber, a movable protective shield, called a shutter, is installed in front of each viewport inside the chamber. Currently expensive gate valves are used as shutters to satisfy the above two requirements. The inexpensive alternatives either do not allow unobstructed viewing or do not provide complete shielding. The new shutters developed at the University satisfy both requirements at a low cost.
Technical information is available once a non-disclosure agreement is in place.
The University of Minnesota is seeking a commercial partner to develop and license this technology. The devices are surface-mounted, may be placed on either horizontal or vertical surfaces, and act on fluid flowing over the surface of the pump, rather than through it. Different sizes and geometries of the devices are being tested and may be selected as appropriate to the application. The inventor has also devised a novel method for constructing the membrane. Immersion cooling of computers.