Vacuum Oven

On space missions with various subsystems unwanted contamination from only one subsystem can lead to damage, malfunction or even failure of any of the subsystems present. To minimize the risks of contamination in space through undesired volatile species, measures have to be taken already on ground. These measures require a bake out of the subsystem before delivery to the spacecraft and might even include bake out of individual mechanical parts, printed circuit boards (PCBs) or harnesses which are located after assembly deep inside the subsystems to remove undesired volatiles. These volatiles can be water, solvents of paint or any other material which is known to outgas in vacuum.

To bake out all sorts of equipment, the IRF SpaceLab has the Heraeus VT 5042 EK vacuum oven available.

Technical specifications

Dimensions Chamber (inside): $410 mm$ x $360 mm$ x $340 mm$
Pressure: <$10^{-6} mbar$
Temperature: Room temperature to $+250°C$ nominal
Logging: Pressure logging
Vacuum Flanges: $2$ DN 100 ISO-K
Vacuum Feed Throughs: List of possible connectors available on request
Dimensions Mounting Plate: Floor: $410 mm$ x $360 mm$ with 105mm diameter hole; Two shelfs: $400 mm$ x $320 mm$ can be mounted at $45 mm$ and $190 mm$ height
Material Mounting Plate: Aluminum
Pattern Mounting Plate: Flat surface
Optional Equipment: Residual gas analyzer

White baking oven with a glass viewport and door handle. On the left are the control knobs. The oven is mounted on a sturdy platform. Vacuum flanges are visible on the bottom. — Heraeus VT 5042 EK baking oven

Photos: Philipp Wittmann, IRF