Method and apparatus for recycling inert gas
AssigneeROLLS-ROYCE plc
InventorsDaniel Clark, Jeffrey Allen, Justin Burrows
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Abstract
A method for recycling an inert gas evacuated from a material deposition process chamber 10 comprises cooling the evacuated inert gas and recirculating a proportion of the cooled gas to the chamber 10 at a first temperature for use as a cooling gas in the material deposition process 12, and recirculating a proportion of the cooled gas to the chamber 10 at a second temperature for use as a shielding gas in the material deposition process 12, the second temperature being higher than the first temperature. Apparatus 22 for recycling an inert gas is also disclosed.
Claims20
A method for recycling an inert gas evacuated from a material deposition process chamber, the method comprising:
- after evacuation cooling the evacuated inert gas to provide a cooled gas;
- recirculating a proportion of the cooled gas to the chamber at a first temperature for use as a cooling gas in the material deposition process;
- and
- recirculating a proportion of the cooled gas to the chamber at a second temperature for use as a shielding gas in the material deposition process, the second temperature being higher than the first temperature.
Apparatus for recycling an inert gas evacuated from a material deposition process chamber, the apparatus comprising means for cooling the evacuated inert gas to provide a cooled gas, means for recirculating a proportion of the cooled gas to the chamber at a first temperature for use as a cooling gas in the material deposition process, and means for recirculating a proportion of the cooled gas to the chamber at a second temperature for use as a shielding gas in the material deposition process, the second temperature being higher than the first temperature.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.