Varian has announced its new compact, high performance, dry scroll pump. The innovative IDP-3 brings the proven benefits of dry scroll technology to applications where vacuum performance, pump size and environmental concerns are critical. Its small size, low noise and low power demand allow easy integration into OEM systems. This pump provides affordable oil-free vacuum for a wide variety of applications from analytical instrumentation and high energy physics to semiconductor fabrication and industrial processing.
The IDP-3 employs a hermetic design in which the motor and bearings are outside the vacuum space, allowing full isolation of all pumped gases. The benefits of this design include lower noise and vibration levels, long-term reliability and simple maintenance requirements. The scroll pump design also minimizes the possibility of catastrophic failures such as seizing or sudden vacuum loss inherent to rotary vane or diaphragm pumps.
The IDP-3 measures 356 x 178 x 152 mm, yet delivers a robust pumping speed of 60 L/m and a very low base pressure of less than 250 mTorr - almost four times lower than an equivalently sized membrane/diaphragm pump, says the company. In turbo pump applications, lower base pressure reduces power consumption and bearing temperature in the turbo pump, thereby increasing reliability of the vacuum system.
The oil free design not only negates the possibility of oil contamination in the vacuum system, but it reduces the total cost of ownership by completely eliminating the cost of oil and related maintenance costs for its filling, disposal, and cleanup.
"As a compact, high performance source of dry vacuum, the IDP-3 is directly suitable for OEM instrument and vacuum system uses, as well as laboratory applications," says Sergio Piras, Senior Vice President for vacuum technologies at Varian. "This innovative solution expands the number of applications for which dry scroll pumps can meet the requirement for smaller primary pumps."
