Titanium sublimation pumping systems and performances on the Tandem Mirror Experiment-Upgrade (TMX-U)

This paper presents a brief history of the TMX-U Titanium Sublimation Pumping process (gettering). Titanium sublimation pumps offer an economical means of pumping chemically active gases (especially hydrogen) at high speeds, and serves as additional pumps, along with liquid nitrogen-cooled panels, to provide pumping during each physics experiment. Because of the size of the system, a complex computer program was written which is run-time compiled, and then run by the computer. With the multi-tasking capability of the computer, five programs are used in operation and run simultaneously. All getter wire history, deposition, and system notes are stored on the external disc drive. The progress and performance in the four years the system has been used, two year manually controlled, and two computer controlled with be covered. Emphasis on the computer control system and its by-products, which enhance the operation of the TMX-U, will be the subject of this paper