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Meyer Tool completes NEWFIRM dewar for AURA and NOAO
Cold Facts (Fall 2004, Vol 20, No 4)
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Meyer Tool & Mfg., Inc. has just completed another aluminum cryogenic dewar vessel for a world-class astrophysics program.
The NEWFIRM Dewar was built for the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) and the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO). The NEWFIRM dewar is the outer vacuum shell of the NEWFIRM Instrument, a facility level infrared instrument to be installed at NOAO's 4-meter telescopes in Hawaii and Chile. The dewar consists of five separate chambers with 41.38" inner diameters x ~58" overall height, two cylindrical weldments with multiple rectangular ports, one domed weldment, one conical weldment and one a precision machined 5" thick ring. Constructed of 6061T6 aluminum, the vessel assembly was helium mass spectrometer leak tested to1x10-8 std cc/sec helium. Meyer Tool met all of AURA's stringent inspection requirements including dimensional measurement of the dewar under vacuum. |
Aura NEWFIRM Dewar
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AURA NEWFIRM Dewar being constructed
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Supply of this aluminum dewar case continues Meyer Tool's long tradition of supplying vacuum tight aluminum weldments for basic science applications. Meyer Tool Vice President, Ed Bonnema, said "The word seems to be getting out in the astrophysics community regarding our abilities in aluminum welding. AURA's project engineer told me that a deciding factor in choosing Meyer was a recommendation by one of the project reviewers, whom we had built an aluminum dewar for several years ago."
Other recent aluminum vacuum chambers include the HAWC Cryostat Dewar Case for the University of Chicago, the Diagnostic Instrument Manipulator Vessel for the National Ignition Facility and a cryogenic dewar case for the University of Florida. |
