Powder and deposition control in throttle valves

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9314824-B2
Application number	US-201314075163-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 8, 2013
Priority date	Nov 8, 2013
Publication date	Apr 19, 2016
Grant date	Apr 19, 2016

Abstract

Powder and deposition control in a throttle valve includes nozzle inserts in the valve body that form annular plenums and annular nozzles for injecting annular flows of cleaning gas adjacent to the inside wall surface of the valve body for cleaning powders and depositions off surfaces in the valve body and off the closure member of the throttle valve. The annular flows of cleaning gas can be in intermittent, periodic, or in pulsed bursts or at a steady-state flow rates to dislodge powder particles stuck to the inside surface of the throttle valve, to etch or reactively clean solid deposits, or to prevent or minimize build-up of powder particles or solid deposits in the throttle valve.

First claim

The invention and several embodiments in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. Valve apparatus, comprising:
a valve body that has a flow channel with a closure member positioned between an inlet end and an outlet end of the flow channel in the valve body;
a nozzle insert in the flow channel that forms an annular orifice in the flow channel;
an annular plenum around the nozzle insert in fluid flow communication with the annular orifice; and
an auxiliary port connected in fluid flow relation to the annular plenum.

2. The valve apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the annular plenum comprises an annular channel extending into the inlet end of the valve body, and wherein the annular channel is enclosed by the nozzle insert to form the annular plenum.

3. The valve apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the nozzle insert has a flared inlet end section that converges to a cylindrical extension which is smaller in diameter than the inside wall of the valve body that forms the flow channel.

4. The valve apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the cylindrical extension extends into the flow channel farther than the annular channel to form an annular nozzle between the inside wall surface and the cylindrical extension such that said annular nozzle extends from the annular plenum to the annular orifice.

5. The valve apparatus of claim 4 , including a rim flange around the periphery of the flared inlet end section that abuts the valve body adjacent to the annular channel.

6. The valve apparatus of statement 5 , including a circular seal mounted on the rim flange.

7. The valve apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the annular plenum comprises an annular channel extending into the outlet end of the valve body, and wherein the annular channel is enclosed by the nozzle insert to form the annular plenum.

8. Throttle valve apparatus for throttling a flow of effluent gas in a vacuum pumping line of a CVD system that produces powder particles in the effluent, comprising:
a valve body with a flow channel that is defined by an inside wall surface of the valve body and that extends along a longitudinal axis from an inlet port to an outlet port;
a throttling closure member positioned in the flow channel between the inlet port and the outlet port;
an annular orifice adjacent to the inside wall surface facing toward the throttling closure member;
an annular plenum in the valve body connected in fluid flow relation to the annular orifice by an annular nozzle which is oriented to inject an annular flow of cleaning gas through the annular orifice and into the flow channel along the inside wall surface of the valve body parallel to and concentric with longitudinal axis and toward the throttling closure member;
an auxiliary duct in the valve body in fluid flow relation to the annular plenum and adapted for connection to a source of cleaning gas.

9. The throttle valve apparatus of claim 8 , including a cleaning gas supply valve connected in fluid flow relation to the auxiliary port for controlling a flow of cleaning gas into the auxiliary port.

10. A method of controlling powder and solid deposition in a throttle valve that has a valve body with a flow channel defined by an inside wall surface of the valve body and that extends along a longitudinal axis between an inlet port and an outlet port of the valve body, and a closure member in the flow channel, comprising:
directing two annular flows of cleaning gas toward each other in opposite directions from opposite sides of the closure member along the inside wall surface paralleled to and concentric with the longitudinal axis.

11. A method of controlling powder and solid deposition in a throttle valve that ha valve body with a flow channel defined by an inside wall surface of the valve body between an inlet port and an outlet port of the valve body, and a closure member in the flow channel, comprising:
flowing a first portion of a cleaning gas through an upstream annular nozzle positioned adjacent to the inside wall surface upstream from the closure member and directed along the inside wall surface toward the closure member; and
flowing a second portion of the cleaning gas through a downstream annular nozzle positioned adjacent to the inside wall surface downstream from the closure member and directed along the inside wall surface toward the closure member.

12. The method of claim 11 , including:
flowing the first portion of the cleaning gas into an upstream annular plenum for distribution to the upstream annular nozzle; and
flowing the second portion of the cleaning gas into a downstream annular plenum for distribution to the downstream annular nozzle.

13. The method of claim 12 , including:
flowing the first portion of the cleaning gas from the upstream annular plenum through an upstream annular nozzle to the upstream annular orifice; and
flowing the second portion of the cleaning gas from the downstream annular plenum through a downstream annular nozzle to the downstream annular orifice.

14. The method of claim 13 , including:
producing a choked flow condition in the upstream annular nozzle; and
producing a choked flow condition in the downstream annular nozzle.

15. The method of claim 11 , including directing the two annular flows of cleaning gas intermittently in opposite directions from opposite sides of the closure member toward each other along the inside wall surface.

16. The method of claim 11 , including directing the two annular flows of cleaning gas in pulsed flows in opposite directions from opposite sides of the closure member toward each other along the inside wall surface.

17. The method of claim 11 , including directing the two annular flows of cleaning gas in steady-state flows in opposite directions from opposite sides of the closure member toward each other along the inside wall surface.

18. The method of claim 11 , wherein the cleaning gas is a non-reactive gas.

19. The method of claim 11 , wherein the cleaning gas is a reactive gas.

20. The method of claim 11 , including moving the closure member back and forth between the opened and closed positions in the flow channel while directing the two annular flows of cleaning gas in opposite directions from opposite sides of the closure member toward each other along the inside wall surface.

21. A method of controlling powder and solid deposition in a valve that has a valve body and that extends along longitudinal axis with a flow channel defined by an inside wall surface of the valve body between an inlet port and an outlet port of the valve body, and a closure member in the flow channel, comprising:
directing at least one annular flow of cleaning gas into the flow chamber along the inside wall surface toward the closure member parallel to and concentric with longitudinal axis.

22. The method of claim 21 , including directing the annular flow of cleaning gas into the flow chamber by flowing the cleaning gas through at least one annular nozzle positioned adjacent to the inside wall surface of the valve body and oriented to inject the cleaning gas along the inside wall surface toward the closure member in an annular jet flow that is parallel to and concentric with a longitudinal axis of the flow chamber.

23. The method of claim 22 , including flowing the cleaning gas into an annular plenum for distribution to the annular nozzle.

24. The method of claim 23 , including flowing the cleaning gas through the annular nozzle and out of

Assignees

• Mks Instr Inc

Inventors

• Gu Youfan
• Grout Matthew C

Classifications

• Y10T137/0419

  Fluid cleaning or flushing · CPC title

• F16K1/22 Primary

  with axis of rotation crossing the valve member, e.g. butterfly valves · CPC title

• B08B9/0321 Primary

  using pressurised, pulsating or purging fluid (E04F17/126 takes precedence) · CPC title

• C23C16/4412 Primary

  Details relating to the exhausts, e.g. pumps, filters, scrubbers, particle traps · CPC title

• F16K27/02

  of lift valves (for reducing the flow resistance of screw-spindle lift-valves F16K1/06) · CPC title